Affiliation:
1. Department of Social Studies Teacher Education, Graduate Education Institute, Trabzon University, Trabzon, TÜRKİYE
2. Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education, Social Studies Teaching, Fatih Faculty of Education, Trabzon University, Trabzon, TÜRKİYE
Abstract
This study aimed to assess social studies teachers’ legal literacy levels and their perspectives on legal literacy education. The study was conducted with 160 social studies teachers in the first stage and 10 selected teachers in the second. Instruments were the legal literacy scale and a semi-structured interview form. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The results indicated that teachers generally possess a high level of legal literacy. However, a notable portion of them do not perceive themselves as legally literate, citing insufficient education, knowledge, experience, and interest in law as reasons. Furthermore, challenges related to the abstract nature of the subject and difficulties in effectively teaching it to students were identified. To address these issues, teachers suggested real-life applications, making the lessons more tangible, developing teaching materials, and enhancing professional development.
Reference35 articles.
1. Bounds, H. M. (2000). Mississippi educators and prospective educators’ knowledge of school law as it relates to selected components of student rights and tort liability [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. The University of Mississippi.
2. Brown, Q. L. H. (2004). An inquiry into secondary teachers’ knowledge of school law in one rural southwest Georgia Country [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Georgia Southern University.
3. Bryman, A. (2006). Integrating quantitative and qualitative research: How is it done? Qualitative Research, 6(1), 97-113. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106058877
4. Buyukozturk, S. (2020). Sosyal bilimler için veri analizi el kitabı [Handbook of data analysis for social sciences]. Pegem.
5. Cengelci-Kose, T., & Bursa, S. (2020). Pre-service social studies teachers’ perceptions of legal literacy. Journal of Uludag University Faculty of Education, 33(2), 372-388. https://doi.org/10.19171/uefad.609049