How Can I Describe Social Studies Curriculum in the First Three Years of Primary School? A Case Study1

The aim of this study is to determine the opinions of a multigrade class teacher on the nature of social studies lesson, the structure of the social studies curriculum, and the teaching process of social studies lesson. The study was structured in line with a holistic single case design which is contained in the tradition of qualitative research. The teacher participating in the study is 29 years old and has been serving as a teacher for 7 years. The data collection tools used in the study were semi-structured interview form and observation form. In the process of designing the data collection tools, the literature was reviewed and the expert opinions were taken into account. The expert opinion was also considered with regards to the validity and reliability of the questions included in the interview form and the questions on which the experts had a mutual consensus were determined and included in the list of questions. The content analysis was used in the analysis of the findings obtained from the study and the themes were determined after the records of the interviews had been deciphered. Three themes, which are the nature of the social studies, opinions on the social studies curriculum, and opinions on how to put into practice the social studies curriculum more efficiently in village schools, were determined within the scope of the study. The themes determined in this regard were analyzed within the context of the problematic of the study. Based on the findings obtained from the study, the opinions of the multigrade class teacher on the nature of social studies were found to be consistent, social studies were found to be an essential discipline to achieve citizenship skills, and the opinions of the teacher on putting into practice the social studies curriculum were found to be positive. The suggestions provided by the study within the context of the challenges encountered in the process of teaching social studies in village schools include the following: a separate curriculum should be designed for village schools, teacher’s guidebooks should be adapted to the village conditions, and particularly, the information technology applications should be developed in terms of quality.