Democracy and Democracy Education in the Parameters of Rights, Freedoms, Equality and Responsibilities
Assoc. Prof. Feyyat Gökçe
Abstract
The present study was carried out with the aim of revealing the observations and expectations of 416 teachers
serving in Bursa regarding democracy and democracy education in Turkey. In the study, in order to obtain
teachers’ observations and expectations related to democracy in the right, freedom, equality and responsibility
parameters of democracy, a 7-point Likert type scale was used. According to the teachers’ opinions, in Turkey,
rights are used at a rate of 37%, freedoms are used at a rate of 42%, equality is realized at a rate of about 35%
and responsibilities are fulfilled at a rate of 34%. A high and significant negative correlation was found between
the teachers’ expectations from democracy and their observations. In the study, 93% of the teachers stated that
democracy in a country can be achieved through education. Based on this data, the teachers’ opinions about
democracy education were obtained with a semi-structured interview form. According to the results obtained
from the interview form, a great majority of the teachers stated not having received a sufficient democracy
education, either through their schools or their families, where they believe that democracy education should
begin.
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