Teachers’ Opinions on Alternative Approaches in Social Studies Education: Poetry and Music Module

Abstract

There are many methods and techniques used in social studies education. Some of them are good guides for students in the subjects which they want to learn, but others cannot. Therefore, alternative methods should be used in order to understand the social studies lesson better for students. Poetry and music are some of these alternative forms. In terms of applicability of this method, opinions of teachers of social studies working in various middle schools in Nevsehir province were taken. Qualitative data collection tools were used in the research and descriptive and content analysis methods were used in the analysis of qualitative data. A semi-structured interview form prepared by field experts was used as data collection tool. In addition, other field experts have been consulted for the validity of the form. The data were analyzed using descriptive and content analysis methods. Categorical analysis technique was used in content analysis. In addition, internal reliability of the questionnaire was increased by quantifying qualitative data by making direct citations from the interviews, and by giving examples from teacher opinions about the questions, it was aimed to explain the opinions of the teachers better. The opinions of the teachers, the applicability of poetry and music to social studies course has been put forward. Studies and findings show that teachers' opinions on the use of poetry and music in social studies are positive.