Contemporary educational values of teachers’ academy foundation and their transmission to teaching practices in Turkey

Abstract

This study concentrates on the definition, importance and purposes of education and aims to determine the values standing out within the scope of education concept. Concept of learning which mostly takes place within discussions of education is also mentioned and then the discussion moves to adult education and adult learning. Different models of adult learning are mentioned in the study and then the discussion moves to a study of new values in education. In this regard, new perspectives within the scope of the concepts of teaching and learning are emphasized and an analysis of the new values is made. The importance of the leadership the school administrators will execute at schools and teachers will make in the classrooms is emphasized as an integral part of those new values. The qualities that the new generation of administrators and teachers are expected to have are also mentioned in this context. Definitions of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the functions of NGOs are analyzed in the study and examples from the NGOs in the field of education are given. After mentioning the leading values in this field, what kind of contributions the NGOs can provide in the implementation of those new values are discussed. Teachers’ Academy Foundation (TAF) is studied in methodology chapter and the data obtained from the interviews with three groups of participants are analyzed through the method of content analysis. The information about TAF activities, design of the programs and the trainers is involved in the study. In the interviews I have tried to obtain information about TAF activities and to determine the values standing out in those activities within the scope of two research questions. In the findings of the study, the values standing out from participants’ answers and the comparisons among different groups of participants take place.