booklet pdf

A booklet with information about the educational

system in “TURKEY”

Table of Contents Timetable: ...................................................................................................................................................2

Subjects in each level ..................................................................................................................................2

Subjects in each level: .............................................................................................................................3






Cross-curricular issues. Ex: sexual education, drug addiction, domestic/gender violence ...........................9

Discipline, classroom management and school rules ................................................................................10

Paying attention to diversity (new arrivals to the school; blind, dead and handicapped students; social

background) ................................................................................................................................................11

School’s organization .................................................................................................................................13

Extra-curricular activities ...........................................................................................................................17

Bilingualism ...............................................................................................................................................24

Assessment .................................................................................................................................................25

Teaching methods .......................................................................................................................................27

Timetable: Subjects in each level. (An example) Secondary Teaching In Turkey (Non-compulsory)

Subjects in each level: 9th Grade

Subject Compulsory / Optional Number of classes per week

English Compulsory 10

Turkish Literature Compulsory 3

Turkish Grammar Compulsory 2

Mathematics Compulsory 4

Physics Compulsory 2

Chemistry Compulsory 2

Biology Compulsory 2

Geometry Compulsory 2

History Compulsory 2

Geography Compulsory 2

Arts/ Physical Education/ Music Optional 2

Health Science Compulsory 2

Religion and Ethics Compulsory 1

Guiding Compulsory 1

Total : 14 Total : 37

First class 8.40 - 9.25

Second class 9.35 – 10.20

Third class 10.30 – 11.15

Fourth class 11.25 – 12.10

Lunch break 12.10 – 12.50

Fifth class 12.50 – 13.35

Sixth class 13.45 – 14.30

Seventh class 14.40 – 15.25

Eighth class (There are classes only on

Monday and Tuesday)

15.30 – 16.15

Level Age

9 14

10 15

11 16

12 17

Subjects in each level: 10th Grade (Science Groups)












Psychology Compulsory 2


German Compulsory 2



Democracy and Human Rights Compulsory 1

Military Science Compulsory 1

Project Preparation Compulsory 1


Total: 19 Total : 37

Subjects in each level:10th Grade (Social Sciences Group)








Psychology Compulsory 2


German Compulsory 2




Democracy and Human Rights Compulsory 1

Military Science Compulsory 1

Project Preparation Compulsory 1

Information Theory Compulsory 1


Total : 17 Compulsory Total : 37

Subjects in each level:11th

Grade (Science Group)










History of Turkish Revolution Compulsory 2

German Compulsory 2

Philosophy Compulsory 2

Turkish Grammar Optional 2

History Optional 1


Traffic and First Aid Compulsory 1



Total: 17 Total: 37


Grade (Social Sciences Group)








History of Turkish Revolution Compulsory 2

History Optional 2

Sociology Compulsory 2

German Compulsory 2

Turkish Grammar Optional 2

Philosophy Compulsory 2


Traffic and First Aid Compulsory 1



Total: 16 Total: 37


Grade (Science Group)










Geometry Optional 2

Physics Optional 2

Mathematics Optional 3

German Compulsory 2

Social Activity Optional 1




Total: 16 Total: 37


Grade (Social Sciences Group)




Turkish Literature Optional 3


Contemporary Turkish

Literature

Optional 3



Analytic Geometry Compulsory 2


Logic Compulsory 2

German Compulsory 2

Social Activity Optional 1




Total: 15 Total: 37

Cross-curricular issues. Ex: sexual education,

drug addiction, domestic/gender violence,....

Since cross-curricular teaching is relatively a new approach in education, teachers are having

in-service training . We try to adapt some topics into as many school subjects as possible such as sexual

education, drug addiction, alcoholism, the role of the women in an industrializing society and violence in

family.

For example, although sexual education is one of the main topics of Health Education, in

Psychology lessons, students discuss the psychological aspects, in literature lessons they read texts or

extracts from novels or stories on the issue. We also invite experts on the subject to give seminars to our

students.

When it comes to drug addiction , alcoholism and the harms of consuming tobacco products,

they are again the topics of Health Education and biology lessons. However, in English lessons for

example, reading texts, listening materials or videos are chosen dealing with these issues. Sociological

and psychological aspects are discussed in Sociology and Psychology lessons. We have recently invited

police officers from narcotic bureau in order to inform our students about the negative effects of these

addictions and their criminal results.

The role of women in society is changing rapidly in our country since more and more women

have started working instead of staying at home and taking care of their children. So this new situation

sometimes causes problems both out and in the families. Since most people are raised in traditional

patriarchal families, adaptation problems arise. The problems of women are discussed in most of the

school subjects such as Literature, English, Sociology, History and Citizenship and Human Rights.

Violence in society and family is also another important problem in our country. Because of the

traditional structure of the family, children and women used to prefer hiding it instead of applying to the

security forces. But today, thanks to the media and the education given at schools they are more aware of

their rights. In our school we try make our students understand and use their rights in Citizenship and

Human Rights Lessons. Materials consisting gender discrimination and violence are not chosen for any

lesson.

Discipline, classroom management and school

rules

Discipline issues are solved through a regulation which is prepared by The Ministry of

Education in Turkey. According to his regulation, reward system is preferred rather than punishments.

The Ss who are successful in their subjects or social activities and appreciated because of their behaviours

are honoured with certificates which will be very useful in their later lives. These are:

- Thank You Certificate,

-Appreciation Certificate and,

-Honour certificate.

There are four types of punishments applied to the Ss who are found guilty:

-Censuring the student,

-Putting the student out off the school for a short time,(3-5 days)

-Putting the student out off the school permanently, (Students enroll another school)

-Dropping the student out of formal education.

All these rewards and punishments are applied after they are discussed in detail through a couple of

commissions comprising of teachers and students who are elected by students in the beginning of the

academic year.

When the academic year starts, the counsellor teacher of each class gives a briefing about school

rules and these rules are put on the noticeboard in each classroom. When a problem arises, firstly, class

counsellor teacher tries to solve the problem by having private conversations. If the problem cannot be

solved, school guidance counsellors have interviews with the student and their families. If the behaviour

continues, then student is sent to the subcommittee of discipline ,which is composed of students and

teachers. The student is warned and wanted to change his or her behaviour and told what is going to

happen if she or he does not obey the rules and change the unappreciated behaviour. The student is

observed for a while by teachers and the members of the subcommittee. If the problem is still seen, then

committee of discipline has right to give one of the punishments mentioned above according to the

importance of the guilt. Anyway, it is more important to prevent these behaviours so Ss are encouraged to

take part in social activities in their free times. For this reason, our music room, arts room, library and

computer classroom are available all the time. They also take part in sports activities such as basketball,

football, volleyball, table tennis. We have school teams in those branches.

Every day, at least four teachers and an administrative staff are on duty to keep order in the school.

Paying attention to diversity (new arrivals to the

school; blind, dead and handicapped students;

social background) Students carry more than their backpacks to school. They also carry into the classroom experiences

and understandings from their world outside school. Diversity in our school presents a unique opportunity

for learning. To begin with, students can learn from each other by sharing their cultural traditions and

perspectives. In addition, the knowledge they have from their communities can be a springboard for

further learning, especially since it’s important to relate new information to what students already know.

Based on this principle,

We have collected some different teaching tips from our teachers.:

If our class includes group work, even if students choose their own team members, we insist that the

group composition must be as diverse as possible with regard to gender, race etc.

We try to pay attention to how we address different groups of students. We prefer to call all

students in the same way (e.g. by first name) as we refer to other students.We strive for as much

consistency as possible in the way we address each person in the class.

We monitor the questions and comments coming from the class to make sure that one group's

opinions are not over-represented. If people from some groups (race, gender etc.) are not volunteering

information, we ask for their opinion.

We use a random system for asking general questions or soliciting class participation so that every

student has the same chance of participating.

When students are speaking to each other, we monitor the discussion to make sure that students

show consideration and respect. Also we always try to make sure that all groups are able to participate

and we intervene if a person or group of people are trying to dominate the discussion.

If a difficult classroom situation arises based on a multicultural or diversity issue (or any difficult,

value or judgement-based situation), we ask for a time out while everyone writes down his or her

thoughts/opinions about the incident. This allows everyone to cool down and allows us to collect our

thoughts and plan a response.

When we adopt a text book, we make sure it is written in gender neutral or gender inclusive terms.

If the book includes photographs, again we make sure people of both genders, and of various races and

nationalities are involved.

If groups work on more than one task, we use a rotating leader system. Each member of the group

must take a leadership role on one task, or on a major part of the task. This assures that all members of the

group, regardless of gender, race or ethnicity, have a chance to learn leadership and organizational skills.

As our students are chosen through a national examination, we usually do not face with learning

problems. But we have some students having hyperactivity and consentration issues. In order to motivate

and having them involved in the classroom activities, most of these students are given more

responsibilities in and out of the classroom. We also have a guidence counselor service with two

counselor teachers who try to help students having problems with their families, lessons etc.

When it comes to physically impaired students, our school has a lift, lavatories specially designed

for them. And we are working on a project for designing a library for the hearing impaired. When the

project finishes, we will be able to send CDs of classical books anyone who needs them for free. Our

students are going to read the books in the studio with the guidence of our literature teachers. With this

project we aim to give our students the sense of social responsibility.

New students and their parents are invited by our counselor teachers and they have a meeting with

them about the rules, system etc. We want them to fill a form in order to know the student. This form is

also given to the classroom councelor and if the student has any problems, we have the chance to take

preventive measures.

School’s

organization

Extra-Curricular

Activities

ERGÜN ÖNER MEHMET ÖNER

ANATOLIAN HIGH SCHOOL

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL

ACTIVITIES

Bilingualism

The official language in Turkey is Turkish so, local languages are not used in education. Bilingual

students have no speaking or understanding problems in our school.

Assessment

ERGUN ÖNER MEHMET ÖNER ANATOLIAN HIGH SCHOOL

OUR APPROACH TO EVALUATION OF SUCCESS

General Principles:

Our general principle is that “each student can learn every new information in parallel with his

own development level.” Therefore the important thing is handling the learning process mutually in a

sensitive way.

Our main goal is enabling our students to develop their “learning to learn” skills, to enrich their

abilities in researching, problem solving and without drawing them into an exams-marks anxiety.

At our school, the evaluation of success is made with respect to the principles below:

All learning processes are

Directed towards target behaviours

Planned

Realised in parallel with a high quality teaching system

Evaluated in an objective way

The main purpose of exams at our school is to detect what and how much our students learning and

according to the results to take preventions to eliminate their difficulties in learning deficiencies and

mistakes. The general frame is the regulation of the Ministry of Education.

THE MARKING SYSTEM

The marking system is over five. The success is evaluated by four and failure by two marks.

All exams, term homework and projects are evaluated over 100. These marks are written on teachers’

notebooks and marking tables over 100. The end of term marks of each subject are given according to the

arithmetic average of marks and these marks are matched with 0 to 5 as follows:

GRADE İN NUMBERS MARKİNG

Very good 5 85-100

Good 4 70-84

Medium 3 55-69

Pass 2 45-54

Can’t Pass 1 25-44

Unsuccessful 0 0-24

The number of written exams must be at least 3 for subjects which are three times or more a week

and must be at least 2 for subjects which are once or twice a week.

THE EVALUATION OF WRITTEN EXAMS

At the end of each exam teachers detect at which subject and how much students are successful. If

the success is low they searche and evaluate the reasons for that.

THE CONTENT AND TIME OF WRITTEN EXAMS

The date of written exams must be announced to the students at least a week ago. The students

can’t take more than two exams on the same day. Written exams are generally consisted of a lot of

questions with short answers. In respect to the properties of subjects some exams may consist of limited

number of questions with long answers.

ORAL EXAMS

All students should be given at least one oral exam mark for each subject and this may certainly

increase.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF EXAM RESULTS

Teachers announce all exam, term homework and project results to students within maximum 15

days. They give them feadback about common mistakes and lacking points. In case of a student’s request

teachers look over exam papers once more with the student.

Teaching methods.

Our students come to our school with different levels of English and as it is not possible to

make level classrooms legally, we have to face with quite mixed classrooms. We take the course from the

beginner (A1) level so some students who have some English may get bored in the first couple of months.

To prevent this we give some extra activities for such students.

We aim to have Ss who will able to communicate effectively, accurately and fluently. We try to

design a student-centered course, so most of the time we ,teachers , have the role of monitor, advisor and

facilitator.

How we chose topics and classroom materials:

We try to cover a range of topics taken from daily life situations in order to satisfy our teenager

students’ needs and interests. These topics are also authentic in many ways. Our primary goal is to have

Ss communicate with foreign language speakers in daily life situations. Other elements such as structure,

vocabulary or skills targeted at functions.

Language Areas and Structure Sets:

Grammar cannot be taught separately when we consider a language as a tool of

communication. Our aim is not to teach grammar but to give integrating syllabus backed by meaningful

activities. That means , grammar is presented in a context from real life which gives students

opportunities to work the rule out of it. Grammar rules are also presented in various tasks for different

learning styles; Visual, Kinaesthetic, Auditory and Multiple intelligences of which we should keep loyal

to while teaching four skills. Ss feel more secure and sure about grammar structures after they do practice

tasks, workbook activities and unit tests.

Vocabulary Sets:

Vocabulary teaching cannot be considered as an independent study from other skills. It should

be conducted in a context of reading writing or listening because words cannot represent their whole

meaning in real life when we use them separately. The target vocabulary should exist in the whole context

to become more meaningful and to give students the opportunity to guess their meanings and usage. So,

we encourage Ss to guess the meaning of the words through the context instead of giving the meaning

directly or letting the Ss look them up in the dictionaries. After Ss do comprehension activities, they

should go back to reconsider the meanings of the words. They negotiate the meaning with their pairs.

Finally they check meanings referring to us, teachers, or dictionaries if necessary.

Language Tasks and study Skills

All types of skills are conducted in a context.

1. How to Conduct a Listening or Video Lesson:

-Pre-listening activities give reason and raise curiosity for listening. A classroom discussion on

the title, picture etc. are the widely used techniques to handle this stage. With videos silent watching and

then discussing the topic may be a useful .

-When Ss listen or watch for the first time, they usually work individually. Comparing with

friends gives them opportunity to focus on the material and negotiate the meaning in the second listening.

It also provides opportunity for correction. The number of listening or watching depends on the listening

activity and the need of the classroom.

-Post-Listening stage usually contains eliciting ideas from different Ss in order to raise more

attention and attendance. Since correcting mistakes all the time discourages Ss ,especially while they are

speaking, we try not to overcorrect them. Instead of student-teacher interaction, we prefer student-student

interaction but sometimes some Ss tend to dominate the lesson so we have to play the role of a moderator.

2. How to Conduct Reading Lessons:

As we aim to create independent reader with minimum usage of dictionary, reading passages

and books are tried to be chosen according to Ss’ interests, ages and ways of thinking.

-Pre-reading: This stage should be done effectively since it is the most important part of

creating curiosity and attracting Ss’ attention to the lesson. If Ss have no reason for reading, a text doesn’t

make a sense for them. Ss compare and discuss preparation questions, pictures provided with the text so

that they can have an opportunity to communicate, be familiar with the topic. At this stage teachers

should be the monitor. Unless the Ss desperately need help, teacher should not interrupt the conversations.

-While-Reading: Most of the time we want Ss read the text silently to get the general idea.

Then while they are reading for the second time, some tasks such as finding the irrelevant sentences,

finding the suitable title for each paragraph, synonyms of the words indicated in the text, classic question-

answer studies, true-false questions etc. The answers are discussed after the reading process is over.

-Post-Reading: Ss are encouraged to write responses to the ideas or problems discussed through

the discussions and the text. By this way, Ss will be able to develop critical thinking and intellectual

background.

3.Writing

As writing is the production stage of learning a language, Ss usually find it challenging most of

the time. But if some steps are followed, Ss will be able to write more effectively and realise their

improvement gradually. Moreover, Ss will be able to experience the pleasure of creating something out of

their own background as an outcome of their own learning. Also writing activities must be contextual in

order to make writing rationale. Some answers must be cleared in Ss’ minds such as “What?” (the topic) ,

“Why?” (Ss should see a good reason for writing. They do not want to write just for the sake of writing or

because we teachers want them to do so.), “How?” (formal/informal etc.) While working on a difficult

subject such as formal letters, we have to make a step by step guidance and then want them to write a

similar one at home as a homework. Some projects are displayed in or out of the classroom and that

motivates them.

Keeping a portfolio: We usually keep our students’ writings in their portfolios throughout the

academic year. This enables Ss be aware of their own progress. It also urges Ss to take their own

responsibilities. We have a correction code table so we usually do not correct their mistakes, instead we

just show them that there is a mistake and it must be corrected.

Since we think that only teachers can turn any source or course book into a perfect material,

we give priority to guidance.

booklet pdf

Education

compulsory total

history compulsory

geometry compulsory

philosophy compulsory

ethics compulsory

mathematics compulsory

geography compulsory

weekenglish compulsory