The Transition from Positivism to the Process of Postpositivist/Constructivist in The Elementary School Science Curriculum in Turkey

The aim of this study is to identify the transformations experienced by the elementary science course in Turkey and reveal the paradigms that affected the objectives and outcomes of the program. The historical development of the process has been divided into two stages. The first one is the later stages of the Ottoman State and the Republican Era, when positivism was prevalent. The second stage includes the period starting from 2004 onwards. The evaluation was based on the objectives and outcomes of the elementary science curriculum.The positivist science approach which was prevalent in the elementary curriculum during the Republican Era is best manifested in the objectives of the science course. This was the case until the year 2004, when the effects of postmodern epistemology started to partially be seen with the initiation of the new elementary curriculum based on the ‘constructivist approach’. However, constructivizm is evident mostly in instructional practices and strategies, and did not go beyond pedagogy