Normative Pedagogical and Political Limits of Democracy Education in the Social Studies Course Curriculum of the Turkish Century Education Model: Normative Pedagogical and Political Limits of Democracy Education in the Social Studies Course Curriculum of the Turkish Century Education Model

Ali Haydar Akarsu

doi:10.5281/zenodo.19246728

Authors

Ali Haydar Akarsu Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19246728

Keywords:

Social Studies Curriculum, democracy, citizenship education, normative boundaries, critical citizenship

Abstract

Curricula are foundational political texts that reflect societies' ideals for the future and their conceptions of acceptable citizens. This study aims to analyze the normative limits within which democracy education is constructed in the Social Studies Course Curriculum (SSCC) within the scope of the Turkish Century Education Model (Türkiye Yüzyılı Maarif Modeli [TYMM]), which came into effect in 2024, and the pedagogical consequences of this. Normative limits are conceptualized through how the curriculum positions democracy, within which rights and freedoms, what kind of citizen subject it constructs, how it defines legitimate forms of participation, and how it frames democratic conflict. The research is a qualitative study conducted through document review and conceptual content analysis. The findings show that the curriculum establishes democracy not as a universal rights-based framework, but as a form of governance moralized with local/national references, on the virtue-value-action axis. The discourse of active citizenship prioritizes a type of responsible citizen focused on volunteerism, conformity, and service rather than a model of a critical, rights-claiming subject. Despite the emphasis on pluralism, democratic conflict and opposition processes are depoliticized within a discourse of unity and solidarity. Consequently, while the Turkish Social Studies Curriculum produces a narrative of a purely national democracy, it appears to limit the development of universal democratic citizenship capacities such as critical thinking, political literacy, and advocacy. It is suggested that, alongside the emphasis on virtue and values, the curriculum should place a stronger and more independent emphasis on universal human rights documents (e.g., the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and citizenship rights in the Turkish Constitution, and that the content should be enriched to enable students to see themselves as part of the global world

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Normative Pedagogical and Political Limits of Democracy Education in the Social Studies Course Curriculum of the Turkish Century Education Model