Examining Project Schools from the Perspectives of Teachers

Abstract

Project schools were first introduced in 2014 with the approval of the Ministry of National Education. Between 2014-2018, there were a limited number of project schools. However, with the change in the high school entrance system in 2018, all the schools accepting their students with high school entrance exam transformed into project schools. This study aims to introduce and evaluate Project Schools, a new type of high school in an education system that already has many kinds of high schools, according to teachers’ views. The present study was conducted through a case study, a qualitative research method. 35 teachers of different branches working in four different kinds of project schools located in the central districts of Konya, İstanbul, Antalya, and Adıyaman participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through descriptive analysis. At the end of the study, it was found that teachers have positive thoughts towards project schools. On the other hand, they think project schools have certain operational problems. It was also revealed that the aim of the project schools and the expectations from teachers working in these schools are not clear, that the teachers are expected to do extra work that is not stated in their job definition, that the teacher selection process is obscure and must be done according to objective criteria including central exam. The teachers also state that the curriculum of these schools needs to be different from others and must be suitable for their type and characteristics.