Propagandizing Social Studies Education through Media Production: An Action Research

This study was carried out with 44 students attending the Social Studies Education Department of Faculty of Education at Abant İzzet Baysal University, who chose the elective Media Literacy Course. In the study, that was planned as an action research, the assistant professor of the course acted as “researcher” and the students (teacher candidates) choosing the media literacy course as “implementers”. The researcher and his students decided to work out the following problem on which they all agreed with each other: How can we change negative thoughts of the students attending the other departments of the Faculty on Social Studies? In the present study, which has “the action research” as its method, a six-stage process was followed, namely (1) identifying the problem, (2) finding out solutions, (3) implementing the solutions, (4) evaluating the implementation of the solutions, (5) changing the thoughts of participants and (6) general evaluation. The preliminary surveys carried out to identify the problem revealed that, unlike what had been expected by both the researcher and the implementers, the students attending other departments of the Faculty did not have negative points of view toward Social Studies and that, on the contrary, they had positive points of view regarding that field. Thus, the purpose of the study had to be shifted from “what had been planned earlier” to “to change the erroneous perceptions of the teacher candidates of social studies to the effect that the students attending other departments of the Faculty have negative points of view on social studies”. The researcher, together with the implementers, formed the SSPG (Social Studies Promotion Group) with a view to attaining their new goal. In order to solve the problem that was determined as new goal after the preliminary surveys, both the researcher and the implementers opted to apply “a propaganda-based media production process” in elective media literacy courses. The action research that ended with the display of the prepared posters constituted a process giving the students an opportunity to gain important and fruitful experiences. The proof of these constructive results within the framework of this action research is the fact that the implementers (candidate teachers) admitted and expressed having: (1) known, now, their field of study better that before, (2) noticed the richness of scope of their field of education, (3) increased and strengthened their knowledge in this field, and (4) better appreciated their field of study.