Why Elective Religion Courses Are Not Preferred? (The Case Of Ordu Province)

Abstract

Considering the history of the republic, it can be said that 2012 is a turning point in terms of religious education in Turkey. Beginning from this date, for the religion lessons, the presence of which is still discussed, an opportunity to be preferred optionally as well as the compulsory education emerged. When the weekly course schedules published in 2012 are examined, it appears that many lessons appealing a wide range of interests and skills are included in the schedules. Among these lessons, Koran, Life of the Prophet Muhammad and Basic Religious Knowledge lessons were included in the "religion, morality and values" group. The research was carried out in 2016-2017 academic year by using the survey model and questionnaire technique on 559 students studying at five different schools in Ordu province. The findings showed that the most important reason why students do not prefer elective religion lessons is that they accept themselves sufficient in terms of "religious knowledge" and want to take undergraduate education in a field other than theology. The most important result of the research with regard to the program development is the unwillingness of the students caused by the repetition of the same topics in religion lessons. The repetition of the similar subjects at almost every education level in partially different ways appears as a negative effect in the preference of elective religion lessons by the students. Moreover the issues such as lack of sufficient information about the contents of the elective lessons, competencies of teachers and education techniques are among the factors that negatively affect the preferences of the students. Decision-makers should remove the repetition of religious subjects from the program and the need for information and guidance on elective courses should be fully met.