Inclusive education for refugee children: Preservice social studies teachers and their critical thinking skills

Arzu Saldıray and Ali Meydan
Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, Turkey

The purpose of this study carried out with preservice social studies teachers in the final stage of transition to professional life was to investigate the sources they used for information about recent refugee mobility in Turkey, and their way of questioning the reliability of these sources. The study also analysed their views on the subject, within the context of critical thinking competencies and their views related to the approaches to be followed with refugee students in their future roles as teachers. This qualitative study used "criterion sampling", a purposive sampling method based on holistic single case design. Within this context, 43 students attending the social studies education program of a university in Central Anatolia in the fall semester of 2019/2020 academic year created the study group. The data were obtained with observation, interview and document analysis methods. According to the findings, preservice teachers' information sources about recent refugee mobility included their social environment, especially their teachers and friends. The majority of preservice teachers did not question the reliability of the information sources they used. It was determined that the preservice teachers had discriminatory attitudes towards Syrian refugees, although nationalist ideology and prejudiced perspectives were dominant.
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Authors: Arzu Saldıray completed her doctoral study in Curriculum and Instruction program on citizenship education and critical thinking in higher education. She prepared her masters study on gender in hidden curriculum in the same field. After her teaching experience in public schools, she is currently working as a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, Turkey. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3261-4843 Email: arzusaldiray@nevsehir.edu.tr Ali Meydan, an academician at Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, Turkey, received the title of associate professor from the Inter-University Board on 27 June 2012, and was appointed to the professor position in 2017. Professor Meydan has national and international published articles, books, papers and projects in the fields of geography education, social studies teaching, environmental education, cultural geography, and teacher training. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1278-096X Email: meydan@nevsehir.edu.tr Please cite as: Saldıray, A. & Meydan, A. (2023). Inclusive education for refugee children: Preservice social studies teachers and their critical thinking skills. Issues in Educational Research, 33(1), 327-351. http://www.iier.org.au/iier33/saldiray.pdf