Primary school teachers' opinions on Turkish activity and workbook materials prepared for refugee students in Turkey

Abstract

As part of the project to support inclusive education for multilingual refugee children in the Turkish education system, books have been prepared with the support of the European Union to teach the Turkish language effectively. These books are distributed free of charge to students included in the PIKTES+ Project scope and are also available for free download to the public on the ministry's website. The teaching textbooks aim to assist teachers and students by providing information, correcting misinformation, promoting scientific thinking, and developing desired attitudes and behaviors. In this context, the purpose of this study is to examine the "Turkish Activity Book for Foreign Students," "Turkish Exercise Book for Foreign Students," and "Turkish Workbook for Foreign Students" prepared for refugee students based on the opinions of primary school teachers. The research was conducted as a case study, a type of qualitative research method. The study group consisted of 12 primary school teachers who continued their duties in the Beylikdüzü district of Istanbul during the 2023-2024 academic year. Criterion sampling, one of the purposive sampling methods, was used to select the study group. Data obtained from the interviews were evaluated through content analysis. The interview questions were designed and implemented to determine the opinions of primary school teachers regarding the appropriateness of the activities and content in the respective books for helping refugee students acquire the four basic skills in Turkish (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).