Reflections to Future in Primary Education Programs in Turkey

Problem Statement: The rapid development in science and technology today makes changes in the societies, and these changes make growing generations to learn not only the past and today but also to improve projections related to their future. For the individuals to perceive the events and incidents occurring around them, and to achieve a wide understanding of the world past, today and future should be interrelated in the educational programs, and perspectives should be created concerning the future. Purpose of the Study: The aim of this study is to determine the reflections through future in primary education programs. With this aim in mind, the following questions are asked: what kind of reflections to future were made in 1) the general explanations of Primary education programs (introduction, vision, general aims and the structure of the program), and 2) the elements of the program (Leaning field, themes, achievements, teaching-learning process and evaluation). Method: This study aiming to determine reflections through future in primary education programs was conducted in a qualitative method of screening models. Documentary analysis technique was applied of qualitative methods in the study. In this study, Life Studies, Turkish, Science and Technology, Social Studies and Mathematics teaching Programs which are in use in primary schools are analyzed, and reflections concerning the future in the mentioned programs are revealed. The data sources of the study are Life Studies, Turkish, Science and Technology and Social Studies programs which were prepared and put into practice by Ministry of National Education. In the study, the reflections to future related to general explanations (Introduction, vision, general aims and the structure of the program), and elements of the program (learning field, themes, achievements, teaching-learning process and evaluation) were determined. The investigations were held on the basis of emphasis and references to future in the programs. Findings and Results: A lot of reflections to future in “Turkish Teaching Program” and “First Reading Writing Teaching Program” are observed both in explanations parts of the programs and elements of the programs parts. One of the themes of Life Studies Teaching Program “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” theme is directly related to future. Moreover, some of the skills, personal qualifications and values in the program have features that can be related to future. Although there are a lot of direct reflections to future in the Science and Technology Teaching Program’s explanations, not enough reflections could be found in the elements of the program. There are reflections to future in the explanations of Mathematics teaching Program, but in the elements of the program no reflections to future could be observed. Conclusions and Recommendations: When the results related to programs are handled together, primary school programs are found to have enough reflection to future. When programs are considered; by nature Social Studies Teaching Program has the most reflections to future; Turkish, Science and Technology and Life Studies programs have enough reflections to future; however, Mathematics Teaching program has the least number of reflections to future among all the programs investigated. The following suggestions could be made according to the results of this study; 1) The reflections to future of the primary education programs should be determined by application-oriented studies. 2) How other programs applied in primary education reflect to future should also be investigated. 3) Studies concerning the effects of the reflections of primary education programs to future should be designed.