The Teaching of Ataturk as a Historical Hero in the Social Studies Lesson: A Study on Social Studies Teacher Candidates

In recent years, the removal of the ideological issues from the textbooks and contents has come into question. Many researchers have made works and comments about the place and status of Ataturk in the syllabus. Particularly, the ideals such as decontamination from the militarism, staying away from a dominant doctrine, peaceful education approach, avoidance of blind patriotism, gaining global perspective stand out in the critiques towards Social Studies and T. R. (Turkish Republic) Revolution History and Kemalism (Ataturkism). This study aims to demonstrate the basic views of the candidate teachers as the selected study group, on the granting of place to Ataturk as a historical hero in Social Studies Lesson. In the study, total of 141 teachers were defined as a working group studying the social studies teacher section. This basic research design will be used as descriptive model in the study. In light of results of study, social studies teacher candidates perceptions about Ataturk were high and according to them, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk can be taught as a historical hero because of various reasons.