The different perspectives that emerge from the articles serve to emphasize the significance of educational opportunities from early childhood to adulthood, from storytelling to citizenship, from the classroom to a globalized world, from involving the “other” to thinking through first principles. The authors offer theoretical, empirical and practical ideas for improving the second oldest profession in the world, teaching.

Sando Karikó explores the dilemma arising in institutions where both conformity and non-conformity are at stake. The question arises regarding the appropriate balance. He notes the rise of conformist expectations in institutions, an especially important issue in school settings where both are appropriately sought in some degree, but where conformism seems to hold the edge. He takes the reader through a thoughtful journey, one that leads ultimately to such concepts as autonomy and authenticity. He suggests no easy answers, but he makes it clear that an overbalance of conformity erodes an important elusive goal of education. One is reminded of the dual translations from Old French to English of the term education, which can mean to train or mold educare) or to set free or lead out (educere).

Sinead Fitzsimons and Martin Johnson point to the increasing globalization of the “education industry,” as indeed it might well be termed, and the resultant , consequential change in governance of education that has occurred over the past several decades. Using a case study approach, they delve into outcomes of a across-national partnership, something that might have been difficult to achieve in past years. They identify and develop four principles that undergird the nature and outcomes of such endeavors and the lessons learned as a result of their inquiries.

W. Jason Niedermeyer offers new insights into an old, perhaps the oldest, form of teaching and learning, that is, storytelling. He cites anthropological perspectives that inform us that this unique and typically informal approach to mentoring, one which has existed across time, space, and culture seemingly forever, represents an “imagination to imagination” transfer of thought from one generation to those that follow across the years. His thoughtful article clearly underscores the appeal and effectiveness of this all too often undervalued style of knowledge gathering and sharing.

Jing Xiang and Ying Yan have selected the popular children’s picture book, I Wanna Iguana, by Karen Kaufman Orloff and illustrated by David Catrow. The story is familiar to children growing up in Western societies, but our authors use it as a compelling case study in teaching and learning with Chinese children. The book focuses on a universal theme in childrearing, that is, a little boy’s plea for a pet; however, in this case an iguana. The subsequent interactions between child and mother are sensitive and filled with thoughts to stimulate both the imagination and insight of young children. The authors provide a convincing case for the use by teachers of all ages to use “whole books” as teaching tools.

Kriztina Kovacs addresses the familiar “inclusion” idea, placing it under the lens of instruction for intellectually disabled learners at the kindergarten level. A key point she makes is that social acceptance comes about though inclusive education, and that to sequester intellectually disabled children from mainstream school experience actually defeats that estimable goal. She carefully develops both the pedagogical and legal arguments that support inclusion. The reader soon learns that what may be supported by research and legal argument does not lead automatically to needed changes in the way thing are. A key point she offers is that “teacher acceptance” of disabled children is fundamental. She offers a panoply of constructive ideas and practices for teachers in inclusive classrooms. Her advice is something all teachers should heed.

Chen, I-Chi, Ng Lee Peng, & Chong Chin Ann focus on two familiar themes: burnout and citizenship behavior. They carefully document, on the basis of their research, the link between the two. While cause and effect relationships are often difficult to document, they do provide convincing evidence that when burnout occurs, and it often does in our increasingly demanding world of teaching, a diminution in citizenship behavior is found. They point to examples of stress-inducing phenomena in the lives of university teachers, ranging from rapid increases in educational technologies that require new skills beyond subject matter knowledge to the current pandemic of Covid-19. They cite diminished feelings of engagement, achievement, emotion, feelings that clearly must be addressed.

Ecenaz Yigit, Omer Faruk Keser, & Levent Uzun ask the question, “why can’t we learn foreign language in Turkey?” This question has often been asked in my own country, the USA. The authors address their question with an empirical study, one involving 100 volunteer students at Bursa Uludog University. The authors’ mixed methods study yielded such results as although a generally positive attitude toward foreign language learning is present, these positive perceptions collide with high levels of anxiety and learned helplessness. Among other things, they suggest that language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing be disaggregated for instructional purposes. They modestly conclude that their study ought to be considered a beginning, and that further research involving different age groups, for example, is advisable.

Joe Munyoki Mwinzi engages the reader with his argument for the centrality of philosophy of education in matters of theory, policy, and practice. He points to the increasing emphasis on individualism that can lead to a decline in interdependence and the value of meeting others’ needs. as an example of a pragmatic but unexamined phenomenon in current educational practice. His response is to integrate into the curriculum across subject matter a meaningful philosophy of education, one that addresses questions of purpose, integrity, and value.

Gülşah Tikiz Erturk has employed a documents analysis approach to a study of values inclusion in Turkish textbooks for English language teaching. To be sure, values and both taught and caught beyond the scope of textbook inclusion, but textbooks do represent a published sense of curriculum, in spite of the fact that classroom life has many nuances beyond the print medium. Textbooks can also be examined over time in order to document changes in emphasis. Erturk has focused on textbooks assigned to 14+ learners in school settings in Turkey. The author’s investigation indicates that such values as benevolence, universalism, openness to change, and self-direction are prominent.

Alina Boutiuc-Kaiser & Nadine Comes offer an insightful review of Natascha Hofmann’s book, Bildungswege und gesellschaftliche Teilhabe junger Roma in Deutschland (2019). [Educational pathways and social participation of young Roma in Germany: Insights into the everyday realities of Roma refugees from South Eastern Europe].The book deals with substantive societal acceptance of with young Roma refugees in Germany. The problems of integrating young Roma individuals and groups into German society is vexing, and Hofmann’s answer to an improved situation is that “education as the key to individual life chances and participation in social life.”

On behalf of the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board of our Journal I would like to remind you again of the following:

• We will continue to maintain a broad thematic focus on educational developments from historical, international and comparative perspectives. Furthermore, not only educational scientists and practitioners can exchange information about their research results, but also representatives of related fields in the human and social sciences. We publish articles that are scientifically verifiable, permeated by humanistic, democratic values, social responsibility, respect for autonomy, diversity and the dignity of individuals, groups and communities. We stand for liberal, independent educational research and publication activity and against the unrestrained commercialization of access to scientific publications.
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We look forward to further high-quality contributions: articles, essays, book reviews, conference reports and information on research and teaching projects.

About the Author

Prof. Dr. Arthur K. Ellis: Director of the Center for Global Curriculum Studies, Seattle Pacific University (USA); Head of the biennial international symposium and research project “Educational Innovations in Countries around the World”; e-mail: aellis@spu.edu

Abstract: The “profane” meaning of conformism is first provided by American philosopher and liberal thinker William Penn, in his work dated from around 1700. According to Penn, conformity is a civil virtue whose price is the loss of freedom. The description of conformity as deprivation of freedom becomes stronger in 20th century philosophy from Heidegger through Fromm up to Fischer’s definition as “the sinking of the Self into the Anyone is conformism.” Education and pedagogy have serious debts as to the recognition of and solutions to the problem of conformity. In the community relations of the students, the principle of the structural regularity of increasing conformity, and in our schools, the easily adapting and more so conforming student have become the ideal. And where is the place, the value of conformity and non-conformity in society? And first of all: what can education do against the deceptive contrast of conformity – non-conformity. That is a matter of great importance.
Keywords: conformity, non-conformity, community, autonomy, education

摘要 (Sándor Karikó: 顺从性的大众社会还是非顺从的反叛？ 教育可以做些什么来解决这一二分法：顺从性与非顺从性）：顺从性的“亵渎”含义最早是由美国哲学家和自由派思想家威廉·佩恩（William Penn）在他1700年创作的作品中提出的。佩恩认为顺从是一种公民的美德，其代价是自由的丢失。在20世纪的哲学中，从海德格尔到弗洛姆，再到费舍尔的“将自我沉入每一个个体即是顺从”的定义，对顺从的描述是对自由的剥夺 — 这一说法变得愈发强烈。教育学在承认和解决顺从性问题方面负有重大责任。在学生的社区关系中，不断增加的顺从性的结构规律性原则以及在我们学校中易于适应且更加顺从的学生已成为理想之选。那么，在社会中顺从与非顺从的地位和价值在哪里？ 首先：教育能够对顺从与非顺从之间的欺骗性对比做些什么？ 这是一个非常重要的问题。
关键词：顺从，非顺从，社区，自治，教育

摘要 (Sándor Karikó: 順從性的大眾社會還是非順從的反叛？ 教育可以做些什麼來解決
這一二分法：順從性與非順從性）：順從性的“褻瀆”含義最早是由美國哲學家和自由派思想家威廉·佩恩（William Penn）在他1700年創作的作品中提出的。佩恩認為順從是一種公民的美德，其代價是自由的丟失。在20世紀的哲學中，從海德格爾到弗洛姆，再到費舍​​爾的“將自我沉入每一個個體即是順從”的定義，對順從的描述是對自由的剝奪— 這一說法變得愈發強烈。教育學在承認和解決順從性問題方面負有重大責任。在學生的社區關係中，不斷增加的順從性的結構規律性原則以及在我們學校中易於適應且更加順從的學生已成為理想之選。那麼，在社會中順從與非順從的地位和價值在哪裡？首先：教育能夠對順從與非順從之間的欺騙性對比做些什麼？這是一個非常重要的問題。
關鍵詞：順從，非順從，社區，自治，教育

Zusammenfassung (Sándor Karikó: Konformistische Massengesellschaft oder nicht-konformistische Rebellion? Was die Bildung tun kann, um die Dichotomie Konformität – Nicht-Konformität aufzulösen): Die “profane” Bedeutung des Konformismus wird erstmals vom amerikanischen Philosophen und liberalen Denker William Penn in seinem um 1700 entstandenen Werk dargelegt. Penn zufolge ist Konformismus eine bürgerliche Tugend, deren Preis der Verlust der Freiheit ist. Die Beschreibung der Konformität als Freiheitsentzug wird in der Philosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts von Heidegger über Fromm bis hin zu Fischers Definition als “das Versinken des Selbst in den Jedermann ist Konformismus” stärker. Erziehung und Pädagogik haben große Schulden, was die Anerkennung und Lösung des Problems der Konformität betrifft. In den Gemeinschaftsbeziehungen der Schülerinnen und Schüler ist das Prinzip der strukturellen Regelmäßigkeit der zunehmenden Konformität und in unseren Schulen der leicht anpassungsfähige und mehr noch konforme Schüler zum Ideal geworden. Und wo ist der Platz, der Wert von Konformität und Nonkonformität in der Gesellschaft? Und vor allem: Was kann Bildung gegen den trügerischen Gegensatz von Konformität – Nonkonformität – tun? Das ist eine Frage von großer Bedeutung.
Schlüsselwörter: Konformität, Non-Konformität, Gemeinschaft, Autonomie, Bildung

Резюме(Сандор Карико: конформистское массовое общество или нонконформистский бунт? Чем может помочь образование при выявлении специфики дихотомии «конформизм – нонкорформизм»?): Классическое определение конформизму было изначально дано американским философом и либеральным мыслителем Уильямом Пенном в его труде, увидевшем свет ориентировочно в 1700 году. Согласно этому определению конформизм – это мещанская благодетель, за которую установлена конкретная цена – утрата свободы. Описание конформизма как утраты свободы становится популярным в философии двадцатого века – это прослеживается от Хайдеггера и Фромма до Фишера. По Фишеру конформизм – «это подчинение себя другому или другим». Воспитание и педагогика имеют неоплаченный долг в том плане, что до сих пор до конца не осознана и не решена проблема конформизма. В коллективных отношениях между учениками идеальным вариантом становится принцип структурной регулярности возрастающего конформизма, а идеальным поведением учеников – умение легко подстраиваться и приспосабливаться, комформность. В связи с этим возникает вопрос: а где место и какова ценность данной дихотомии? И самое главное: что может сделать образование для разрешения этого ложного противоречия (конформизм – нонконформизм). Это вопрос, имеющий большое значение.
Ключевые слова: конформизм, нонконформизм, коллектив, автономия, образование

Adaptation or conformity?

If Castoriadis’s statement that we live in the most conformist period of modern history (Castoriadis, 1994, p. 48) is true and, furthermore, one accepts the criticism of Miklós Tamás Gáspár that today’s Hungarian society is a ‘chameleon-like’ order which adapts to societal changes and does not set any kind of moral requirement for citizens: they do not have to be ‘good’, generous (Gáspár, 2020, p. 5), one can rightfully expect that one has a considerably rich and sure knowledge of conformity. With the accumulation of different types of knowledge in a large quantity, its interdisciplinary adaptation should not pose any issues. Nevertheless, one might also have the impression that along with the various intellectual endeavours (first and foremost sociological, social-psychological and politological works), the philosophical and artistic (art-historical) approaches have been marginalised, which is really lamentable and incomprehensible to me. What is more, the science of pedagogy has so far only been able to present a considerably limited amount of results on this theme. The major problem in fact is that conformity research has not been able to provide us with a satisfactory, straightforward and unified interpretation: there are too many misconceptions, statements not profoundly proven and even misbeliefs and stereotypes. The popular and spectacular but mostly superficial views only aggravate the uncertainty. Let me highlight three of the problems to be clarified:

1. Can researchers from different kinds of disciplines agree on a common conceptual basis of conformity? Can it at all be expected to come up with a unified meaning of conformity accepted by everybody?
2. What should be done with the emerging propagation of non-conformity? Primarily, what is the relation of non-conformity to conformity?
3. Where and when does the pedagogical aspect of these problems of conformity and non-conformity emerge? Last but not least, do we want to take steps against conformity and non-conformity with the help of education?

Although it is obvious that there are many questions to be answered, I would like to shortly discuss and summarise the three above-mentioned dilemmas with the proposition of some theoretical morals I consider important. As will become evident, I could condense the whole of my investigation into one single question: Is conformity identical to adaptation in itself? Let me indicate my answer in advance, obviously it is not.

“The sinking of the Self in the Anyone”

The theme of conformity was introduced to social sciences with the theory of the sociologist, Robert Merton in the second half of the 20th century. According to him, conformity is a general and instinctive reaction which inherently maintains the stability and continuity of society. In other words, there is a necessary, self-explanatory and “neutral” form of adaptation. In parallel with it, a consciously professed adaptation which does not stem from personal conviction is a negative phenomenon in itself. His concepts merge into one another: he uses adaptation, conformity and over-conformity. (Merton, 1959)

The problem in that case is that various meanings are used, and there is no clear-cut distinction among them. The indication of the borderlines among the different connotations does not take place, which obviously causes uncertainty. The uncertainty has been conveyed through various pieces of research. Its typical example is the book on conformism by the Italian academic, Angelica Mucchi Faina. According to her, it is important to separate conformism in its broad sense which is approaching the behaviour, way of thinking and emotions of others in any manner from its narrow sense which means adapting to a given way of thinking and acting, because it is the dominant one in that particular society or community he problem is to find where the borderline between conformity as a successful integration of individuals into society and futile, servile conformity is (Mucchi-Faina, 1998, p. 8, p. 117). The dual meaning of conformity unravels: on the one hand, the general and necessary conformity in a broad sense, on the other, the futile, harmful and servile one in a narrow sense. According to the Italian psychologist, public awareness does not usually distinguish between the two interpretations and primarily uses the second, pejorative sense. Seizing the exact borderline between them is however missing, and, lastly, researchers in that discipline have not been able to carry out this task. They only realise that two meanings emerge.

Sociology and social psychology have come up with several propositions in relation to the discrepancy between these two connotations. For example, Wiswede debates positive and negative conformity: Conformist behaviour triggers negative associations in some cases, in others positive ones. Anybody not pestering others and meeting social expectations is labelled a conformist in a positive sense it is of negative nature in a sense that one adjusts the best of one’s beliefs and knowledge to that of the others (Wiswede, 1976, pp. 11-12, p. 96). The researcher, Peuckert makes a distinction between supple conformity (in German: Anpassungskonformität) and attitude conformity (Attitüde-Konformität) (Peuckert, 1975, pp. 11, 125). The latter will be the natural, inherent adaptation without value judgement. Lastly, let me refer to the proposal of the Hungarian sociologist, András Hegedűs. One should separate the conceptions of conformity in a manner that one uses conformity in its inevitable sense without value judgement from conformity in a way that means adapting to the norms of its supposed or actual superiors without using critical reflection (Hegedűs, 1981, p. 177).

Without going into further details concerning social-psychological experiments (others have already done it), it is obvious that a new viewpoint has been implemented into conformity research. The phenomenon has been linked to group influence and pressure: the opinion of individuals is different before (or without) the group pressure than that of after (or with) it. After certain antecedents (the “autokinetic” examination of Muzafer Sherif), Solomon Asch with the help of his famous line judgement experiment pointed out that healthy, grown individuals are also willing to profess opinions which are in opposition to facts, their own experiences or all of them (Asch, 1951, p. 70) The main merit of social-psychological experiments is that they deny the psychological myth according to which humans are egocentric, arbitrary and irrational beings. Conversely, in the case of society functioning, there are inevitably rational uniformities. Despite that, the necessary prudence and critical thinking are not unjustified. Furthermore, one must also realise that the “Asch studies of conformity may not be universal (…) the Asch effect should not be assumed to be normative” (Perrin-Spencer, 1981, p. 20). To put it differently, one cannot be sure that conformity is based on general human propensity and can hardly consider it to be a characteristic feature. A further problem is that attempts to distinguish between these concepts have also been made, for instance in the case of sociology. Here, Ackerman urges that “one must separate emotionally healthy conformity from the superficial and defensive type of conformism which does not serve the interest of the actual integration of individuals” (Ackerman, 1969, p. 334).

The ambiguity and uncertainty originating from these problems also surface in the related Hungarian social psychology. György Csepeli uses the following definition: What is called conformity is basically the expression of the need for group members. (Csepeli, 1979, p. 93) However, Tamás Oláh firmly claims that conformism means cringing behaviour in everyday life it is used in the same sense in social psychology (Oláh, 1978, p. 22, p. 51).

On the basis of the sociological and social-psychology overview presented up till now, an important conclusion can already be drawn. It is not necessary to condense different meanings into the usage of one single concept. The clairvoyance is hindered by the fact that the root-word conveys two fundamentally contrasting connotations: on the one hand, a general inevitable one without any value judgement from a moral point of view which means an adaptation to the norms and laws of the given society, and, on the other hand, a less universal and actually negative, harmful, cringing and servile conformity. The former one is an inexorable condition of the normal functioning of society, and, at the same time, a function of the survival and welfare of each individual no matter what their individual goal is. The latter one is a distorted form of adaptation meaning a servile behaviour which individuals can, of course, admit consciously but can also deny. Generally, one accepts the former one as the objective law of cohabitation and functioning, and condemns the latter one. Nevertheless, these two meanings are interchangeably and arbitrarily used without any valid reason. Arguably either the interchangeability or arbitrary utilisation are inadequate. It is time to get rid of associating several connotations with one single concept.

It is obvious to me that differentiated interpretation and usage of concepts is not only a desirable but necessary procedure. It is important for researchers to agree upon an unequivocal and universal semantic content of conformity and stick to it consistently. The original meaning of the concept which can be considered as its classical sociological and philosophical sense could help us establish its new common meaning.

Its etymological meaning originates from the Latin ‘conformare’ (to adapt). In fact, the interpretation widespread in public awareness and sometimes disciplines that the phenomenon is nothing else but the sheer adaptation to something and/or somebody also stems from this origin. As one has already seen it, such a sense can only lead to simplification and superficial knowledge causing turmoil. So, as such, it does facilitate its clarification.

It is also known that conformism has a religious meaning, as well. According to this, a conformist in England was a person loyal to the Anglican Church, and, in contrast, someone who did not accept the teachings of the established church was called a non-conformist. An interesting religious historical correlation could unfold at that point, nevertheless, in the following I would like to focus on its secular meaning.

Its secular and philosophical understanding – as far as I know – was first established by the American liberal thinker, William Penn, at the beginning of the 18th century. In his book written around 1700 (it does not have an exact publication date), he defined the concept in the following manner: conformity is such a virtue for which the price is the loss of liberty (Penn, 1971, np). Another American philosopher, Emerson, interprets it in a similar manner. In his famous essay, he emphasizes that “[s]ociety is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity.” (Emerson, 1988, pp. 2-3). Here I would like to note that I make an important distinction between conformity and conformism: the former one refers to the process of the phenomenon, the latter to the very existence of the trend. Later on, in history, Nietzsche laments that the modern era is becoming subjectless, uniqueness is gradually disappearing, “compulsory external uniformity [is reigning] […] modern man suffers from a weakened personality […] Instead he masks himself as an educated man, a scholar, a poet, a politician” (Nietzsche, 1989, p. 97). Heidegger further elaborates on the description, in possibly the most suggestive part of his most influential work:

In this way, the ‘they’ disburdens Dasein in its everydayness. Not only that; but disburdening it of its being, the ‘they’ accommodates Dasein in its tendency to take things easily and make them easy […] Everyone is the other, and no one is himself. The ‘they’, which supplies the answer to the who of everyday Dasein, is the nobody to whom every Dasein has always already surrendered its itself, in its being-among-one-another (Heidegger, 2010, p. 124).

From many conformity researchers having reflected on the above-mentioned ideas of Heidegger, let me highlight the ideas of two of them. The less known Thomas Barfuss interprets the ideas of the authors of Being and Time in his book on conformity:

Mr. Dasein and Mrs Dasein were unable to find the escape route from conformity” (Barfuss, 2002, p. 217). Ernst Fischer comes up with the briefest definition grasping the deepest layer of meaning: ‘The sinking of the Self in the Anyone’ is conformism (Fischer, 1964, p. 97).

It becomes obvious based on the above-mentioned quotation that social theory and philosophy regard – nearly exclusively – conformity as an unequivocally negative social phenomenon. In accordance with all this, it is a state deprived of freedom in which individuals do not think, decide, feel and act as they would otherwise do. Some researchers unmistakeably summarise the whole range of problems by replying to the fundamental questions: Who is a conformist? What is conformism? A conformist is a person who does not have his own principles and actions. He adapts to any groups in ‘chameleon-like’ manner. The conformist action is hideously corrupting virtuous life (Peters, 1974, pp. 194-195, p. 251). Ivanov, a Russian sociologist, only strengthens the standpoint of the quoted author. According to him, conformism is the inevitable subordination of the personality to the exterior, officially approved clichés and standards, it is the obedience to ‘the social elite’ and attention to all those who matter. It is the form of existence of a pared-down personality (Ivanov, 1980, p. 84).

On the basis of social scientific tradition and a part of socio-psychological and sociological investigations (probably a decisive part of it), one can rightfully emphasize that conformity’s sole meaning is the distorted and exclusively harmful manifestation of adaptation. The phenomenon of adaptation in a broad sense should strictly be separated from its distorted and noxious manifestation. Adaptation in a broad sense, as seen above, is the rational and natural acceptance of basic social norms, principles, rules and laws. The integrity of the self will not disappear because of it. In consequence, it is not at all justified to label adaptation as conformity, what is more, adaptation should not be considered as a given part of conformity either.

Based on the facts mentioned above, I would like to offer the following definition: conformity is a kind of adaptation which comes with the mutilation and many times complete denial of the Self, it is the manifestation of subservience and compromise, by which the individual loses and denies his own conviction, integrity and freedom. Its consequence is that he does not know anymore who he actually is.

In relation to the above-mentioned conception of conformity, let me make two important remarks:

1. In Hungarian public awareness and public life, one usually comes across the overwhelming argument that in Hungary during the period of the regime change (end of the 1980s, beginning of the 1990s) the conformity problem became more accentuated. The phenomenon of a large number of citizens becoming conformists caught one’s eye: they changed their point of view, conviction and behaviour without any problem, often several times. As they said and wrote: The Road to Damascus has become crowded (referring to the biblical events when Saul suddenly became Paul). And it seems that the phenomenon of conformity has not disappeared even nowadays. A contemporary publication claims that even today ‘Being servile’ reigns. (…) Nodding and curtseying, (…) hey Kadar’s people, hey! (Dévényi, 2020, par. 8). However, we must look for the roots of the phenomenon of conformity deeper in Hungary. Only one further comment: Sándor Petőfi (he was a Hungarian poet in the 19th c.) made a similar observation in the middle of the 19th century: “Until March 15 entire Hungary was a servile country, a country as humble as a dog” (Petőfi, 1956, p. 97). The start of systematic conformity research would also be justified in the light of similar remarks. I consider it important even if I do not agree with those who utilise the similitude of the Road to Damascus to describe the phenomenon. Becoming Paul – in accordance with the original story – is not an example of opportunism, as he had fundamentally changed, his inner self had been completely transformed, and he had become a new person in all respects. Citizens can go through such a genuine, open, critical and self-critical transformation: every person has the right to go through that. The individual who experiences such an alteration cannot be regarded as a conformist. Nevertheless, the person who alters easily and repeatedly throws out his or her convictions, principles and behaviour patterns with no remorse, can be called conformist.
2. The other addition touches upon a serious philosophical dilemma. If one accepts the interpretation that conformism means opportunistic adaptation and the conformist such a person who frequently and easily changes his or her standpoint and behaviour, because they do not have a firm intrinsic guiding principle (see the following lines of Attila József: “My leader leads inside of me.”), then what should one do with Descartes’s four-century-old maxim? Namely, that nothing remains in the same state forever (…) I would have made a big mistake (…) against pure reason, because now, if I considered something right at the moment, then I would oblige myself to consider it right later on, when it may not be or when I may not consider it that way (Descartes, 1992, p. 37). The challenge is considerable: What standpoint should one take? Do we condemn conformism and conformist people regarding them as negative and harmful manifestations or stick to Descartes’ idea (as things change, one should change, too)? Does one become conformist if one openly admits that one changes regularly? If things alter all the time, and one flexibly adapts to them, then is it a positive behaviour? If yes, how should one accept the rise of the conformist person continuously in adaptation? Then should conformism not be considered negative? In general, what is the link among conformism, altering things and adapting to the environment? These are behemoth and exciting questions which deal with a deep philosophical dilemma into which conformist researchers could do independent investigations. I must admit that I cannot answer this question at the moment. Nevertheless, I am sure that human adaptation has such a form in which the individual’s integrity and level of freedom are curbed or we do not want to make use of all our abilities, skills and resources. This resignation, this conception (and practice) of human adaptation can be contested from a philosophical, historical viewpoint and condemned from a moral one.

Non-Conformity against Conformity

As seen above, according to many academics, the phenomenon of conformity is a harmful social development. Many of them tend to think that its positive counterpart is non-conformity. The non-conformist adaptation will be the example to follow. In the public awareness, press and sometimes even literature, its appreciation and a myth according to which it is superior to conformity are strongly present. Practically, the Western students’ movements in 1968 closely examined the question of conformity. The students’ revolt, which started in nearly 50 countries, shook the life and political mechanisms of societies. The ideal and practice of protesting against the conformist world fascinated the young people. The sociologist, Cooley, set the tone for the theoretical foundations: “[Y]outh glories in nonconformity” (Cooley, 1967, p. 304). Later, the students firmly declared their goal: “breaking with the tradition, conformity, order and formalities: they wanted passion, blood and real life.” (Feuer 1969, 35) Adam Michnik, from the new wave left wing thinktank, drew his conclusions from 1968 in the following manner: “You must be non-conformist” (Michnik, 1998, p. 19). If one wants to articulate this in a universal manner: “Whoever wants to be human has to be non-conformist” (Emerson, 1988, p. 20).

Nevertheless, in my humble opinion, such and similar excessive evaluations of non-conformity cannot be accepted, neither in theory nor practice. In terms of the latter, one could experience that, for example, the rebellion of the 68er West German students had transformed back into conformity by the middle of the 1970s. At that time a new philosophy of life was starting to become popular: ‘Dear God. Make me spineless, so that I can work in the Civil Service.’ One should not be surprised that the majority of student leaders were integrated into the state ‘mechanism’, into the Civil Administration or into State agencies. It is obvious that one cannot fight against conformism with non-conformism.

Theoretically, it turns out that many researchers question the justification of the establishment of the conformity – non-conformity opposition. First of all, let me refer to the excelling social psychologist, Crutchfield, who wittily pointed out the false dilemma of the dichotomy. According to this researcher, conformity is the unprincipled alignment to the opinion of group mates, and non-conformity is the unprincipled resistance to it (Crutchfield, 1955, pp. 191-198). To put it differently, these two forms of adaptation have a common origin, it is giving up autonomy and depending always on the others. Thus, “conformity is thinking and doing what the others are professing and doing, non-conformity is taking a position which is opposed to that of the others. In both cases, one is led by the opinion of the others, not by one’s own conviction. Consequently, non-conformists are actually similar to one another as are conformists. The borderlines between these two forms completely merge into each other, one can easily switch between them. György Lukács, a well-known Hungarian philosopher summarizes that in modern societies non-conformist conformists emerge (Lukács, 1976, pp. 797-798).

It is clear to me these two concepts are relative: one cannot go beyond the boundaries of one of them with the other, as they are not the oppositions of each other. In this context, one must pay attention to the remarks of two social psychologist siblings:

The laymen often think of conformity as a personality trait: there are the conformers and then there are the non-conformers. Whether the layman thinks of himself as a conformer or not may depend upon whom he is comparing himself to. If he is considering himself relative to those he considers beatniks, hippies or bums, he is staunch conformer – he is not, in his own eyes, one of those awful non-conformers who are likely to reject mother, God, and Country all at once. However, if he is asked if he believes in ‘changes for the better’ (whatever they are), he will suddenly assume that he is a brave non-conformer unshackled by inhibitions and fears of the old fogies. While we often are attracted by the idea of conformity as an enduring personality trait, we may be unwilling to accept it in ourselves (Kiesler, & Kiesler 1969, p. 11).

The authors correctly recognise that these concepts are relative, there is no real opposition between them: the dilemma of conformity and/or non-conformity is a pseudo one. One can only agree that it is not a personality trait.

After all that, the question is: if they do not form real alternatives, then how should a person be divergent from the others? To find an answer, let us turn to the Russian social psychologist, Petrovsky who harshly criticises the results of related American experiments: we must re-evaluate – argues the researcher – the model of group cooperation proposed by the American psychologists. The presented model (such as, Asch, Deutsch, Kraus, Gerald, Perrin and others – S. K.) cannot be regarded as an authentic model of the relationship of people in a given community, as it does not mean anything to those who participate in the experiment. In the given case, the values with which the group could have conflicted were missing, in other words, there would have been no dispute. The real alternative to conformism is social self-determination and not non-conformism (Petrovsky, 1973, pp. 75-76,). The criticism of the author is true obviously from a given point of view – in the sense that artificially constructed ‘laboratory’ results are completely different from the data based on processes taking place in reality, not to mention the real conflicts of interest and value preferences, especially their role in social processes. On the other side of the coin, it is not really sound to underestimate the importance of empirical research. Even if the criticism of the experimental data is justified, one must not forget the general human characteristic that we desire social acceptance, and it is the basic foundation of normative influence. Conformity is the shortest way to social acceptance. Humans are guided by two basic desires, one of them is to belong with the others and the other is to be unique (Papyrina, 2012, p. 468, p. 474). To put it in another way, people want to become similar to the others, but they desire to differentiate themselves from the other members of the group.

I agree with the solution proposal made by Petrovsky, namely that the real community offers social self-determination for actually going beyond conformism and non-conformism together as a group. In fact, one can find the solution in terms of (the frequently mentioned and many times discredited) social existence. The questions in that matter are: What is the essence of the real community? When does a group become a community? and How does social existence relate to the two forms of adaptation?

Without going into the details of the rich literature on the topic of community, I must shortly refer to my own interpretation. It is evident for me that the community is neither constructed from above nor artificially created, what is more it is not an organisation that subordinates individuals, as Petrovsky claims. It is not a diffuse group (“podsztávnájá gruppá”) but an organic and superior cooperation constructed from its grass roots in which each member of the community has an equally important role as the organisation embracing them has (organisation, institution). If it comes into being, social and individual existence will come together just as the community and individual. Sociability and individuality nurture each other, a unified entity emerges: an individual can only exercise its power through social cooperation, and vice versa the community thrives on the will, fantasy and deeds of its members. If the organic cooperation increases, it will make the development of social existence of quality possible. Let me add the expressive example of Dworkin: an orchestra can play a symphony, but a sole musician cannot. It is not the case of a collective action in a statistical sense, because each member of the orchestra not only has to play a certain part of the musical score, but they should play together as an orchestra, each of them must be willing to contribute to the performance of the group, they should not play isolated tones (Dworkin, 1993, p. 3). A symphony played in synchrony and harmony is authentic and becomes a general and remarkable collective experience.

In that sense, what is the role of conformity and non-conformity in a community? One can face some uncertainties in relation to answering the question. Kim, the philosopher of the Lomonosov State University reckons that both forms of adaptation can be found, in addition, one can easily switch from one to the other, so these two phenomena are not mutually exclusive. In general, conformity and non-conformity necessarily exist in social interactions (Kim, 2014, p. 84, p. 94). Others are not so permissive. For example, the Mehlhorn pedagogue siblings warn us that creativity and conformity exclude each other. They state: “Our educational system trains conformists, stereotypical individuals instead of free, creative and authentic thinkers” (Mehlhorn, & Mehlhorn 2003, p. 25, p. 28). They are certainly right, but I would like to elaborate on the criticism: in a real community (in the above-mentioned sense) there is actually no place for either conformists or non-conformists. Both of them – as I have already mentioned above – are distorted forms of adaptation, and the community does not consider its members as subordinated servants but autonomous individuals.

The primary duty and responsibility of the disciplines dealing with the topic (especially practical pedagogy based on theoretical pedagogy) is the recognition and promotion of the correlation that the community is able to avoid the false dilemma of conformity and nonconformity. More exactly, it would be desirable to raise the awareness of community formation and its functioning which can banish these extreme forms of adaptation. The real community – emphasized again – is free from all kinds of conformist and non-conformist forms of adaptation. The correct theoretical direction is indicated by Ferenc Lóránd, a Hungarian pedagogy researcher whose results have been disregarded, which is incomprehensible to me. The transformation of our pedagogical culture is both useful and reasonable in a manner to allow the youth to accept the world by denying it and to deny the world by accepting it (emphasis by S. K.). If the denial of reality becomes stronger, the individual will become marginalised. In contrast, if reality is accepted, the individual will give up on his sovereignty and will become conformist (Lóránd, 1999, p. 36, “tlb”). The community can work its “fine” distance out: identifying oneself with the norms of the community does not hinder the headway of the individual, but it extends and enriches it. It is true the other way around: the objections and arguments are not the spectacular manifestations of rebellion, but they are part of the natural cohabitation.

I am aware that it is hard to put the differentiated relation and proportion of acceptance and denial into practice, and it is even harder to make it widespread. However, if one renounces the task, it can result in the survival of the false dilemma of conformity and nonconformity.

The above-mentioned quotes (the ideas of Mehlhorn and Lóránd) indirectly imply the pedagogical aspect, namely the examination of my third objective (the big or even the biggest challenge of education):- the aspect of education: the formation of the “Polite”,” Rebellious” and “Autonomous” Individual. In fact, one could launch the pedagogical research on conformism and all the related correlations from this starting point. Nevertheless, pedagogy faces a huge challenge: the elaboration on the topic in Hungary has such a fall-back that it would be an illusion to try to come up with a coherent and grandiose examination. It is an old scientific experience that one cannot omit research phases without any negative repercussions. One must simply be satisfied with a modest objective, a small result (for the first attempt). I would like to draw the attention to two theoretical conclusions hoping that it can help the pedagogical research conducted later on find the right direction.

It seems evident to me that the polite person is the conformist, the rebellious one is the non-conformist, and the autonomous individual is the positive example with the help of which or whom one can fight against both conformism and non-conformism.

I have already mentioned above that the extreme and distorted forms of adaptation cannot be regarded as personality traits. At least in the sense that nobody is born as a conformist or non-conformist. Neither of them is predestined, but both of them are the results of social (economic, political or psychological) processes, otherwise these social processes can make conformism and non-conformism disappear. If it is true, it can be admitted that one can fight to overcome them. Obviously, it does not mean that one should mock or criticise such a behaviour. Neither can one expect much more from its moral condemnation. One should primarily concentrate on how the positive example could be made convincing, meaning how to emphasize the power and importance of social existence (and those of the individuals who are part of it). One can rightfully hypothesize that the more the autonomy of individuals and institutions develops and solidifies, the more the conformist and non-conformist manifestations lose their significance. One can teach autonomy to individuals, and communities can also be educated to be autonomous. One can of course fight conformism and non-conformism in many ways and with many tools (for instance, in the spheres of politics, economics and the media – that should be the scope of other studies), although the frontlines of education seem to be self-explanatory. This approach has not yet been exploited by theoretical and practical pedagogy. It is not true that these disciplines cannot do anything in that matter, they are still in the very early stages of their work. In fact, one should draw the attention to and sacrifice energy on why and how we should educate people to be autonomous. I think nothing can replace this task, – to articulate it more precisely – this mission.

According to my beliefs, we can and must educate people towards autonomy. This superior task is first and foremost the responsibility of professionals dedicated to education, as other people or organisations do not show the same willingness to do so. If one ignores, simply orally supports or supports the endeavours for autonomy only in official declarations, it will result in society being infantilised. In order to avoid that, people trying to improve the pedagogical culture, especially the leaders of and participants in educational work can do a lot about it. They can do even more than many would think.

It is obvious that pedagogical research has not really or pusillanimously dealt with the correlations of the themes of school-conformity and school-autonomy. It is not a coincidence that the question of school and conformity was not scrutinized first (meaning the last few decades of the last century) by researchers of pedagogy. The representatives of and those who were responsible for pedagogy did not say a word. The psychologist, Péter Popper, a Hungarian psychologist articulated a sharp criticism in the 1970s: in our schools the well-adapting and conforming pupil has become the universal ideal (Popper, 1975, p. 354). László Lengyel, a Hungarian economist, provided further insight into these problems and included higher education in his criticism: at restricted mass universities, in an imitating and colonial system, the mass production of prefabricated and conformist students was taking place (Lengyel, 2001, p. 32,). After these remarks, there was nothing to be found on the subject. The conformism problem remained unchanged, but in the last few decades something has happened in the frameworks of pedagogy. It seems that pedagogy is starting to recognise the issue. A self-critical attitude can be observed in a book published in 2017: a traditional pedagogical practice forcing students to take a passive and receptive position reigns, children must adapt to the school and not the other way around (Radó, 2017, p. 11). Our educational system is in a rather narrow state, and that has serious repercussions. The author continues in his new publication in the following manner: all influential participants have given up their integrity (Radó, 2017, p. 67). Tamás Vekerdy, a Hungarian psychologist, who is blessed with a rather strong pedagogical affinity comments on the unfortunate situation such that the good old Prussian meat grinder is returning: in the front you squeeze the student in, and on the other side, it ejects the standardised subject. (Vekerdy, 2019, p. 8). A particularly neglected area of the pedagogy is the education of disabled children (Kovács, 2014). Last but not least, let me quote the harsh criticism of the pedagogy researcher János Szüdi, who died last year (as one can read in his iconic book entitled Csináljuk rossz iskolát! [Let’s make a bad school!]: in an education system serving the interest of the political power, there is no freedom of education, there are no free schools. The child feels good in school if he feels that what is happening there serves his best interests, if he feels that he has equal rights in the community, he is a respected member of it, and if he feels that he is part and not the passive subject of the learning process (Szüdi, 2019, p. 7).

The above-mentioned critical initiative can be a firm foundation in the battle of pedagogy against conformity. It is obvious to me that one must break with the phenomenon of conformist adaptation if one wants individuals (and their organisations) to think independently and freely about the world and themselves in order to live and function autonomously. If one understands and accepts this correlation, then one is just few steps away from the realisation that the solution is not offered by the non-conformist model but by the establishment of a community in which the endeavour to be autonomous becomes natural. Neither the obedient nor the rebellious youngster should be the ideal but the social and autonomous human being!

On the basis of this short inquiry, I have become convinced that the most effective way to struggle against conformity and non-conformity is to set the endeavour for autonomy as a positive example. One can criticise and condemn these distorted forms of human adaptation, but such an approach will produce less results. Instead, one should rather concentrate on the question of how the autonomy needs of the individuals, organisations and institutions could be facilitated and how our autonomy needs could be served on a high level or at least a higher level than at present. One must rethink many arguments and interests. The proper political willingness and standpoint are not exclusive but, nevertheless, extremely important requirements for such a long-term process. However, I have not dealt with the political (especially politico-educational) and politological aspects of the topic, there is no doubt that sooner or later one must pose the decisive question: To what extent do politics – the whole trend with its various rules, measures and laws – serve the endeavour for autonomy? And vice versa: to what extent does it force young people (and of course everybody else) into servile adaptation? It can hardly be contested: as countries and states do need autonomy (along with different kinds of international cooperation), concrete individuals can rightfully expect society to secure their own autonomy. From that perspective, it is not really reassuring to me that in the new NAT (Hungarian National Curriculum) the definition and objective of autonomy are not present in either its introduction/preamble or in the point called ‘Key Competencies and Skills’, which further strengthens my presupposition that in terms of educating towards autonomy and independent reflexivity, politics and educational politics have many tasks to fulfil. First and foremost: they must at least set a few goals.

From a pedagogical viewpoint, it is a fundamental criterion that neither conformist nor non-conformist teachers and pedagogues (or even parents and everybody else) should be able to effectively stand up against these extremes of human adaptation. Or is it an inconvenient question to ask what kind of people pedagogues are: conformists or non-conformists? Do they possess the competency to be autonomous and skills of being autonomous? If they belong to the above-mentioned categories, one cannot expect them to not educate their pupils in either a conformist way or a non-conformist one. The pedagogue who is neither conformist nor non-conformist can, of course, do so, he or she can become an autonomous personality, a positive example. One of the teachers’ most important traits (if not the most important) is authenticity. I hope that for most of us authenticity is a superior moral content, a valuable virtue which means that the ideas, beliefs and communication of that given person are in harmony with his or her deeds, behaviour and whole existence. A person is authentic if his or her thinking and personality materialise in the person in an own unique way. (Karikó, 2005, pp. 47-48).

Concluding Thoughts – Instead of Conclusion

No matter how the discourse on conformity, non-conformity, autonomy and authenticity develop, all of us can agree that an indispensable requirement for autonomy is free thought. Intentions, competency and skills in that matter are beautiful ideals, however, at the same time, one of the certain ways to react negatively (if not the most certain) is clamping down on conformity and non-conformity. It should be clearly seen that this problem will persist for a long time in practice. On the one hand, because the misbeliefs and myths in connection with conformism and non-conformism have deeply infiltrated our consciousness. On the other hand, finding solutions for this long-term project requires a lot of energy and firm moral commitment. And it is not even sure that we are ready for that. I can only answer the question (Must you conform?) posed by the American author, Lindner (1956), chosen as a motto for this article in the following manner: one should not necessarily identify oneself with conformism, when it is desirable to reject non-conformist behaviour. One should look for the solution elsewhere, beyond the accepted definitions!

References – with some additional comments [in square brackets] by the author

• Ackerman, N. (1969). The Psychodynamics of Family Life. New York: Bases Blodis.
• Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of Group Pressure upon the Modification and Distortion of Judgments. In Guetzkow, H. (Eds.). Groups, Leadership and Men: Research in Human Relations. United States: Carnegie Press, pp. 177–190.
• Barfuss, Th. (2002). Konformität und bizarres Bewusstsein [Conformity and bizarre Consciousness]. Hamburg: Argument Verlag.
  [The Heideggerian effect can clearly be detected here.]
• Bass, B. M., & Berg, I. (Eds.) (1971). Conformity and Deviation. New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers. Preface, unnumbered pages.
  [The anthology is the standard work of the literature in the field. William Penn’s book in German: Früchte der Einsamkeit (1693-1718), Heidelberg, Karl Winters Universität Buchhandlung. Der Konformist.]
• Castoriadis, C. (1994). En mal de culture [Being without Culture]. In Esprit, (205.10), pp. 40-50.
  [Conformity is a phenomenon of extreme significance. See, for example Gramsci, A. (1970). Filozófiai írások. [Philosophical Writings] Hungary, Budapest: Kossuth Kiadó.]
• Cooley, C. H. (1967). Human Nature and the Social Order. United States, New York: Schocken Books.
  [This work of the sociologist author has become a classic nowadays.
  Crutchfield, R. (1955). Conformity and Character. The American Psychologist, 10 pp. 191-198. Furthermore Ballachey, E. L., Crutchfield, R., & Krech, D. (1962). Individual in Society. A Textbook of Social Psychology. United States, New York: McGraw – Hill Book Company Inc.]
• Csepeli, Gy. (1979). A szociálpszichológia vázlata [The Sketch of Social Psychology]. Hungary, Budapest: Népművelési Propaganda Iroda.
• Descartes, R. (1992). Értekezés a módszerről. [Discourse on Method] Hungary, Budapest: Matúra Bölcselet, Ikon Kiadó.
  [This realisation can be considered as the classical opposition to conformity.]
• Deutsch, M., & Krauss, R. (1965). Theories in Social Psychology. New York: Basic Books.
• Dévényi, I. (2020). Miniszterúrnak tisztelettel jelentem… [I Report to Mr. Prime Minister with Respect that…] In Magyar Hang, June. 9.
  [The sentence written here appears in many opposition manifestos.]
• Dworkin, R. (1993). Szabadság, egyenlőség, közösség (Freedom, equality, community).
• Emerson, R. W. (1988). Magabiztosság. [Self-Reliance] Új Symposion [New Symposium].
  [If I mention this journal, I must raise your attention to another article: Új Symposion [New Symposium]. (1965) – republication: Ex Symposion, (2019): Tomislav Ladan: Konformizmus és non-konformizmus. The author discusses the topic’s literary aspect. Last but not least: Emerson, R. W. (1932) Essays. First Sevilis Self-Reliance. United States, Washington: Washington National Home Library Foundation.]
• Feuer, L. S. (1969). The Conflict of Generations. United States, New York, United Kingdom, London: Basic Books, Inc. Publishers.
• Fischer, E. (1964). A fiatal nemzedék problémái. [Problems of the Young Generation] Hungary, Budapest: Gondolat.
  [At first glance, one might think that the most condensed and deepest definition of conformity is articulated here. Furthermore Asch, S. (1956). Studies of Independence and Conformity. In Psychological Monographs (70. 9) Washington, United States: American Psychological Association (pp. 1-70). Social psychology vividly and sometimes critically reflected on the results of Asch, for example.]
• Heidegger, M. (2010) Being and Time. United States, New York: Sunny Press. [Conformity research makes use of the ideas of the famous existential philosopher.]
• Ivanov, V. G. (1980). Kollektivizm ili konformizm. Lenizdat [Collectivism or Conformism].
  [A PhD dissertation was written on the given topic.]
• Karikó, S. (2017). Hitelesség a nevelésben és a kommunikációban [Autenticity in Education and Communication]. In Dombi A., & Dombi, M. (eds). Pedagógikum és kommunikáció. Hungary, Szeged: SZTE JGYPK.
  [The teacher can also fail if he loses his authenticity.]
• Karikó S. (2005). Konformitás és nevelés [Conformity and Education]. Hungary, Budapest: Okker Kiadó. Second Edition: 2008.
  [I would define it in the same way as I had done before even today, however, I do not exclude the possibility that the definition will become deeper and finer as a result of the research of others.]
• Kiesler, Ch. A., & Kiesler, S. B. (1969). Conformity. United States: Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
  [There is no actual difference between the two examined concepts.]
• Kim, V. V. (2014). Conformism and Non-Conformism as Mechanism of Production and Reproduction of Fanaticism in Society.In Filosofija (7). Russian, Moscow: Vestnyik Moskovskavo Universiija, pp. 84, 98.
  [The Russian researcher tends to interpret conformity as a personality trait.]
• Kovács, K. (2014): Integrated Education of Children with Special Educational Needs. In Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies. Vol. 5. Issue 2. pp. 99-111.
• Lengyel, L. (2001). Fiatal farkasok iskolái [Schools of Young Wolves]. 168 óra, okt. 11.
  [The author – as known – is not a pedagogical researcher, nevertheless it is worthwhile for pedagogical academics to take his idea into consideration.]
• Lindner, R. M. (1956). Must you Conform? USA, New York: Rinehart Publishing House.
• Lóránd, F. (1999). Az emberi minőség tisztelete a komprehenzív iskolában [Respecting Human Quality in Comprehensive School]. Új Pedagógiai Szemle, (49.1). Hungary, Eger: Eszterházy Károly Egyetem, pp. 3-36.
• Lukács Gy. 1976: A társadalmi lét ontológiájáról [Discourse on the Ontology of Social Existence]. Hungary, Budapest: Magvető Kiadó.
  [Lukács links the question of conformity to the phenomenon of manipulation (it is worth examining this correlation separately). I would like to highlight that the philosophical inquiries about the topic can be made use of along with the other related social sciences.]
• Mehlhorn, G., & Mehlhorn, H.-G. (2003). Kreativitätspädagogik – Entwicklung eines Konzepts in Theorie und Praxis. [Creativity-pedagogy – Conception of Development in Theory and Practice.] Bildung und Erziehung. Vol. 56, Issue 1, pp. 23-45. [According to the author, creative desiccation is a characteristic feature of our culture.]
• Merton, R. (1959). Social Conformity, Deviation and Opportunity Structures. American Sociological Review (24.2). United States, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, pp. 177-189.
  [Furthermore Merton, R. (1967). Social Structure. United States, New York: Free Press.]
• Moscovici, S. (2002). Társadalom-lélektan [Social Psychology]. Hungary, Budapest: Osiris Kiadó.
  [I must mention that the author wrote this study in 1972.]
• Michnik, Adam. 1998. Interview to Hungarian Newspaper, May 30.
• Moscovici, S. (2002). Társadalom-lélektan [Social Psychology]. Hungary, Budapest: Osiris Kiadó.
• Mucchi Faina, A. (1998). Il conformismo [Conformism], Italy, Bologna: il Mulino.
  [This is why the author claims that conformity is a tool to reach our goals and at the same an exploding mine. See 117.]
• NAT (2020). [Hungarian National Curriculum]. Magyar Közlöny (17). Hungary, Budapest: Magyar Közlöny Lap- és Könykiadó, pp. 290-447.
  [In the document, the discussion of autonomy has been omitted, the deficiency is especially obvious when one is reading the description of civic studies and the aims of the education of ethics.]
• Nietzsche, F. (1989). A történelem hasznáról és káráról [On the Use and Abuse of History for Life]. Hungary, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
  [Researchers could pay attention to his remarks.]
• Oláh, T. (1978). Társadalomlélektani vizsgálatok a konformizmusról [Social Psychological Investigations on Conformism]. In Élet és Tudomány. Vol. 12, Issue 22.
  [Szendi associates the conservative personality with the phenomenon of conformity.]
• Papyrina, V. (2012). Conformity and Uniqueness in Consumer Choices. In Journal of Consumer Behavior (11.6).
  [The author is the researcher and professor at San Francisco State University, one can consider her study as the contestation of Petrovsky’s criticism.]
• Perrin, St., & Spencer, Ch. (1981). Independence of Conformity in the Asch Experiment as a Reflection of Cultural and Situational Factors. In British Journal of Social Psychology (20).
  [It is surprising that the research conducted among British university students did not confirm Asch’s conformity value.]
• Peters, R. (1974). Psychology and Ethical Development. London: Georg Allen and Unwin LTD.
• Petőfi, S. (1956). Petőfi Sándor Vegyes művei [Miscellaneous Anthology of Sándor Petőfi’s Literary works of Art]. Hungary, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
  [The poet voiced his bitterness due to his indignation at the results of general elections in Szabadszállás.]
• Petrovszkij, A. V. (1973). K pasztrojenyiju szocialno-pszichologicseszkoj teorii kollektiva [Collection of Social Psychological Theories]. In Vaproszi Filoszofii (12).
  [In his latest work (Licsnoszty, Gyejátyelnoszty, Kollektiv. Politizdat, Moscow, 1982, 33.), he strengthens his standpoint: the decisive factor is not the influence of the individual but the firm value orientation.]
• Peuckert, R. (1975). Konformität [Conformity]. Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke Verlag.
• Popper, P. (1975). Nyilatkozat [Manifesto]. In Lénárd, Ferenced (ed.) Ifjúság és pszichológia [The Youth and Psychology]. Hungary, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
• Radó P. 1. (2017). Az iskola jövője. [The Future of the School] Hungary, Budapest: Noran Libro.
  [From the ethical perspective, autonomy means the defence of human integrity.]
• Scheff, Th. (1988) Shame and Conformity: The Defence-Emotion System. In American Sociological Review, 53.
• Szüdi, J. (2019). Csináljunk rossz iskolát! [Let’s Make Bad School]. Wesley János Hungary, Budapest: Lelkészképző Főiskola.
  [According to the author, the “all for the children” kind of program has been disrupted or it has turned the other way around. His most overwhelming statement is that the workload of children is far more considerable than that of teachers.]
• Tamás Gáspár. M. (2020). Torkos Matild interjúja Tamás Gáspár Miklóssal [The Interview of Matild Torkos with Miklós Tamás Gáspar]. In Magyar Hang, Július 24-30.
  [In the interview, the author voices – the already known – sharp criticism which can open up a debate, but at least it is worth thinking about it a bit.]
• Vekerdy, T. (2019). Engedelmes rabszolgákat nevelünk. (Teczár Szilárd interjúja Vekerdy Tamással) [We are Educating Obeying Slaves (The Interview of Szilárd Teczár with Tamás Vekerdy] Magyar Narancs, XXXI. 30. júl. 25. 8.
  [The development of critical reflexivity has been banished from our public educational system.]
• Wiswede, G. (1976). Soziologie Konformen Verhaltens. [Sociology of Conformity Behaviour]. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
  [There are two approaches to conformism: adaptation for the sake of the proper functioning of the system and the negative alignment from a social critical perspective.]
• Zajonc, R. (1968). Conformity. In International Encyclopaedia of the Social Science. United States, New York: The Macmillan Company and The Free Press.

Remark of the author: The unpublished version of this study was written in Hungarian. It was translated to English by Erik István Papp, philologist in English studies.

About the Author

Prof. em. Dr. Sándor Karikó: Emeritus, Professor, Philosophy of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Szeged (Hungary); e-mail: bacon@jgypk.u-szeged.hu

摘要（SinéadFitzsimons和Martin Johnson： 如何使用合作项目开发理论为国际课程计划伙伴关系提供指导）：在本文中，我们研究了与教育服务产业（ESI）相关的合作。我们从传播领域看文献，用来考虑道德策略和方法，以确保合作结果的有效性。以协作产品开发和对话理论作为基础，我们开发了四个原则，它们可以指导在基于教育的伙伴关系项目中的协作过程。而后，通过案例研究，我们将探讨这些原则是如何支持跨国伙伴关系项目的成果的。最后，我们借鉴这些原理来探究为了项目管理
在教育领域中公私合作伙伴关系而进行的课程。
关键词：课程审查，教育公私伙伴关系，教育服务产业，合作，协同产品开发（CPD）

摘要（SinéadFitzsimons和Martin Johnson： 如何使用合作項目開發理論為國際課程計劃夥伴關係提供指導）：在本文中，我們研究了與教育服務產業（ESI）相關的合作。我們從傳播領域看文獻，用來考慮道德策略和方法，以確保合作結果的有效性。以協作產品開發和對話理論作為基礎，我們開發了四個原則，它們可以指導在基於教育的伙伴關係項目中的協作過程。而後，通過案例研究，我們將探討這些原則是如何支持跨國夥伴關係項目的成果的。最後，我們藉鑑這些原理來探究為了項目管理
在教育領域中公私合作夥伴關係而進行的課程。
關鍵詞：課程審查，教育公私伙伴關係，教育服務產業，合作，協同產品開發（CPD）

Zusammenfassung (Sinéad Fitzsimons & Martin Johnson: Wie die Theorie der kooperativen Projektentwicklung genutzt werden kann, um Anleitungen für internationale Lehrplanpartnerschaften zu geben): In diesem Papier untersuchen wir die Kooperation im Zusammenhang mit der Bildungsdienstleistungsindustrie (ESI). Wir schauen auf Literatur aus dem Kommunikationsbereich, um ethische Strategien und Methoden zur Sicherstellung der Gültigkeit der Ergebnisse der Zusammenarbeit zu betrachten. Auf der Grundlage der kollaborativen Produktentwicklung und der Konversationstheorie erarbeiten wir vier Prinzipien, die den kollaborativen Prozess innerhalb eines bildungsbasierten Partnerschaftsprojekts leiten können. Anhand einer Fallstudie betrachten wir dann, wie diese Prinzipien die Ergebnisse eines länderübergreifenden Partnerschaftsprojekts unterstützt haben. Schließlich ziehen wir diese Prinzipien heran, um die Lehren für das Projektmanagement in öffentlich-privaten Partnerschaften im Bildungsbereich zu betrachten.
Schlüsselwörter: Lehrplanüberprüfung, öffentlich-private Partnerschaften im Bildungswesen, Bildungsdienstleistungsindustrie, Zusammenarbeit, kollaborative Produktentwicklung (CPD)

Резюме (Синеад Фитцсимонс, Мартин Джонсон: Как эффективно использовать теорию кооперативного проектного развития, чтобы успешно консультировать по вопросам международного сотрудничества в аспектах разработки учебных планов): В данной статье мы рассматриваем сотрудничество во взаимосвязи со сферой оказания образовательных услуг. При этом мы обращаемся к источникам из сферы коммуникации, чтобы рассмотреть этические стратегии и методы обеспечения валидности результатов кооперации. На основе концепции коллаборативного развития продукта и теории общения мы разрабытываем четыре принципа, которые управляют процессом коллаборации в рамках образовательного партнерского проекта. Далее на примере конкретного исследования мы изучаем, как эти принципы улучшают результаты международной кооперационной деятельности. В заключение мы еще раз обращаемся к данным принципам, чтобы рассмотреть стратегии проектного менеджмента в общественно-частных партнерствах, закрепленных в образовательной сфере.
Ключевые слова: контроль и ревизия учебных планов, общественно-частное партнерство в образовательной сфере, оказание образовательных услуг, сотрудничество, коллаборативное создание продукта

Introduction

As transnational connections and multinational collaborations increase across many industries and fields, it is not surprising that the education industry is also becoming increasingly globalised (Verger, Lubienski, & Steiner-Khamsi, 2016). This industry, often referred to as the Educational Services Industry (ESI) or the Global Education Industry (GEI), is a growing international sector that includes, but is not limited to, the global market that has been created for the production, exchange and consumption of educational resources, services, expertise and qualifications (Ball, 2007; 2012; Verger et al., 2016). One area of this industry is international consulting services. Education consultants can specialise in a range of areas and depending on their expertise will market their services to learners, parents, teachers, administrators or government bodies around the world. Education consulting services have also become more common in international development projects which incorporate education reform. Robertson, Mundy, Verger, & Menashy (2012) argue that this trend links to changes that have occurred in the governance of education since the 1990s. Since this time, international institutions, governments, firms, philanthropies and consultants have promoted partnerships involving new combinations of state and non-state actors working together to develop the education sector. These interactions often operate across local, regional and national contexts.

These cooperative partnerships, sometimes referred to as Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) (Robertson et al., 2012), offer rich opportunities to share expert knowledge and skills between global and local experts in order to foster positive and sustainable education development. However, positive and sustainable educational development is not a guaranteed outcome of international PPPs. For example, global education partnerships can lead to an increased risk of privatisation of education (Machingambi, 2014); unequal distribution of resources, neo-colonial pressures (Anwarudin, 2014) and the erosion of indigenous culture (Brock-Utne, 2012). These risks can also lead to high levels of social tension and can perpetuate social divisions (Cambridge University Press & Cambridge Assessment, 2019).

Literature on research-informed collaboration strategies relating to development projects funded by third party groups, such as inter-governmental agencies, but carried out by international experts and local stakeholder groups, such as Ministries of Education (MOEs), is sparse. However, this increasingly popular form of PPPs are worthy of consideration. This triangular approach to international educational development (Figure 1) creates rich opportunities regarding funding and shared expertise. Yet, it can also create challenges relating to prioritising local needs and perspectives, as well as fostering authentic collaboration between all groups. In these types of PPPs, local experts and international education consultants are co-partners in achieving the desired aim of the project. This paper will focus on this relationship and how an effective and collaborative partnership can be fostered.

Since there is currently a limited amount of academic literature available relating to effective approaches for transnational PPPs in the education sector, we argue that drawing from models of Collaborative Product Development (CPD) and conversation theory can provide valuable insights for how authentic and effective collaboration can be fostered in an education-based PPP. Through reviewing key literature, a conceptual CPD model, and conversation theory concepts such as epistemic stance and epistemic access, this article will investigate how an effective, equitable and ethical partnership was actively fostered in an international PPP project. We argue that paralleling a transnational PPP with conversation theory and a conceptual CPD model (Arsenyan, & Buyukozkan, 2014) provides effective collaboration principles for project managers wishing to foster effective, ethical and valid international partnerships in the field of ESI. Through sharing trialled strategies and underpinning research, we aim to present effective collaboration principles to establish valid authentic collaboration in hopes that this can provide insight to future international education projects.

Method

To investigate effective methods of collaboration for international PPPs within the education sector, we conducted a thorough literature review of international education development and considered publications and guidance material created by non-governmental agencies and inter-governmental agencies on the topic. Specifically, we focused on literature that discussed ethical collaboration strategies and methods for ensuring validity of the collaborative project design. As the literature in this area is limited, we began to look beyond literature pertaining to education-based projects to wider fields featuring equitable collaboration and communication.

We first considered conversation theory since an effective conversation can provide insight into effective communication strategies. Whilst conversation analysis has not developed a clear, systematic approach for analysing ‘action formation’ (Heritage, 2012a), which refers to the ways in which turns at talk attain recognisable actions, Mercer’s (2005) and Littleton & Mercer’s (2013) work using sociocultural discourse analysis has gone some way to outline how the use of open, exploratory talk can support the attainment of shared outcomes through fostering collective ‘interthinking’. Within conversation theory, the concepts of epistemic status and epistemic status were also insightful. Heritage (2012a) argues that effective and ethical communication must ensure that a minimum level of understanding is established across participants and that epistemic access is ensured, meaning everyone is given the appropriate information and access to the required knowledge needed to actively contribute and understand the communication (Heritage, 2012a). This is not to say that everyone will have an equal level of knowledge. In this way, those who hold specific knowledge and skills should be respected for their higher epistemic status relating to a particular area and called upon to share their expertise with those involved in the partnership. Epistemic status should shift depending on the topic or area of knowledge being considered (Heritage, 2013). For example, an international education specialist may have a higher epistemic status when discussing international policy, however a local educator will have high epistemic status in terms of relevance and value of international policy in the country context.

Exploring these elements of conversation theory were insightful, however they did not provide a feasible method for developing communication principles since in order to truly assess the quality of communication using conversation theory, a detailed discourse analysis of spoken dialogue would be required. This would have to take place after a cross-partner interaction occurred. Although this would provide valuable insights and will be discussed as an option for further research in the conclusion of this article, what our research team sought was guidance to inform collaboration principles which could be incorporated into PPP planning from its outset.

Our literature search also revealed an article by Krishna and Morgan (2004) entitled, “The art of conversation: eliciting information from experts through multi-stage communication.” This article applied Collaborative Product Development (CPD) and the field of game theory into conversation analysis. Game theory is the study of conflict and/or collaboration between individuals and/or institutions. It focuses on how interacting choices are a result of partner preferences and lead to specific outcomes depending on how these choices (often related to cost-benefit) manifest in interactions (Arsenyan, & Buyukozkan, 2014). Drawing on the CPD model devised by Arsenyan, Buyukozkan, & Feyzioğlu (2015), we developed a set of communication principles which can be applied to education-based PPPs, especially those relating to curriculum development projects.

To test the validity of these principles, we applied them to a 2019 case study. The case study involved an international PPP that included a UK-based university department where the authors were located, an intergovernmental funding agency, and a ‘foreign’ MOE located on a different continent from the authors. By ‘foreign’, we are referring to an education jurisdiction that is at a physical, cultural and contextual distance from the authors. Due to confidentiality agreements, the exact identities of these two partners cannot be shared. The aim of the project was for the university department to support the MOE in reviewing their national curriculum in order to identify strengths and weaknesses and to identify key areas for the MOE to reflect on, develop or replace. The intention was that the outcomes of this review could be used to guide and inform decisions in the Ministry’s upcoming national curriculum revision. A key focus of this project was to ensure that this partnership between the MOE and the university curriculum consulting group was driven by the wishes and needs of the MOE. The role of the university team was to offer international expertise and to support capacity development, but to not impose perspectives or specific education practices. In order to do this effectively, authentic collaboration had to be fostered. For this reason, this PPP serves as an excellent case study to investigate ethical and valid communication and collaboration principles.

Curriculum review as an international education service

Conducting a curriculum review is an important component of any curriculum enhancement process. Leading from Stenhouse’s (1975) definition of a curriculum as an attempt to communicate the essential principles and features of an education system in a form that is effective in practice, a curriculum review can be seen as an evidence-based analysis of what principles are being prioritised by an education system and how these principles are being conveyed to the learner (Gillies, 2006). Generally, a curriculum review involves an in-depth analysis of curriculum documents and resources, including policies, how these elements are put into practice in the classroom and what outcomes they lead to. Curriculum reviews can be conducted in a variety of ways and can vary in depth, breadth and level of stakeholder involvement. However, curriculum reviews are often believed to be strongest when they involve a consultative and collaborative process (Briggs, 2007; Reid, 2005; Barber, Chijioke, & Mourshed, 2010). Typically, the main groups who tend to be consulted in a national curriculum review process are senior teachers, senior administrators, elected local authorities, subject matter experts, university scholars and, in some cases, feedback from the general public (Levin, 2008; Hussain, et al., 2011). However, the breadth and depth of stakeholder collaboration is often limited by the time and resources allocated to the curriculum review process. Unfortunately, policy and curriculum change is frequently undertaken with poor regard for the contextual realities of practitioners that are situated closest to curriculum implementation (Chisholm, 2005).

Investigating the parameters of an effective curriculum review is becoming increasingly important as some believe there has been an epidemic of education reform over the last two decades with a sprawling, and often contradicting, array of curriculum theory (Paraskeva, 2018; Priestley, 2005; Dale, & Robertson, 2002). Dale and Robertson (2002) have suggested that curriculum restructuring has been an increasingly global agenda for education which often disregards national practices or policies. However, there is limited academic literature regarding how to conduct a curriculum review that is relevant, effective and aligns with national priorities. Priestley (2005) argues that contemporary reforms have often followed a top-down, centre-periphery model of decision making and dissemination. This lack of appropriate stakeholder consultation or theoretical consideration has negatively impacted on the coherence of curriculum development which has led to a theoretically agnostic approach to curriculum development (Priestley, & Humes, 2010). This absence of a quality curriculum review due to a lack of stakeholder consultation has also led to curriculum development initiatives being developed and delivered in ‘ignorance or defiance of teachers’ beliefs and missions’ (Goodson, 2003, xiii). We argue that for ethical and valid education-based PPPs, the local voice should not just be seen as a stakeholder, but as a collaborative and equal partner that holds invaluable knowledge, skills and insights.

UNESCO (2013, 2017) promotes a three-step approach to curriculum review. The first step involves reviewers examining a range of curriculum documents, textbooks and other materials widely used in the classroom for coherence, quality, breadth and depth. This step may also involve a comparative study where curriculum documents are mapped against other jurisdictions’ documents in order to highlight similarities and differences. This process is often referred to as curriculum mapping (Greatorex, et al. 2019). The second step focuses on examining teaching practices, school conditions and resources, pupil performance data and considering the perspectives of key stakeholders such as teachers, parents, school administrators and students. When conducting a system wide review, ideally a range of schools, ages and abilities are considered within the review in order to build a realistic picture of how education is being experienced across a wide range of learners. UNESCO (2013, 2017) positions the curriculum review as a necessary component of any curriculum development process since it provides developers with the vital information needed to understand the current situation of the education provision. The third step of UNESCO’s proposed curriculum review process involves conducting a participative curriculum review workshop which allows a variety of stakeholders to analyse findings from step 1 and 2, and then to draw conclusions and potentially form recommendations for curriculum change. The goal is to bring these various methods of inquiry together in order to arrive at a consensus of how best to further enhance the curriculum (Levin, 2008). UNESCO (2017) argues that the curriculum review process should be the responsibility of the people who are experienced in current curriculum provisions and are aware of its strengths and weaknesses within the context in which it is applied. In this way, ‘local’, which we use to refer to those for whom the curriculum is designed, contribution is essential.

The inclusion and exclusion of particular groups as stakeholders can be a very contentious decision in the curriculum review process (Chisholm, 2015). Haider (2016) argues that there is a need to involve practitioners in curriculum review and curriculum development in order for the development to be successful. For example, in the 2005 South African curriculum review, the decision to not include any teachers or teacher union representatives was highly criticised (Chisholm, 2005). As a result, South African teachers were wary of the change and did not actively support its success (Taole, 2013). These findings highlight that curriculum change is unlikely to happen unless the review and development process actively engages those who are directly involved in applying effective reform and have awareness of contemporary classroom realities (Cuban, 1998) since they are the critical change agents and stakeholders for curriculum implementation (Taole, 2013).

The challenge of accessing local insights and perspectives has amplified since curriculum reviews increasingly involve international experts for guidance and consultation. In curriculum development practice there is a well-established tradition of employing cross-national comparison work for trying to understand the qualities of different education systems (e.g. Barber, & Mourshed, 2007; Elliott, 2014; de Bruyckere, 2013; Schmidt, 2004) . These cross-national comparisons and consultations are one aspect of the rapidly expanding Education Services Industry (ESI), which includes education companies and ‘edupreneurs’ (Ball, 2007). ESI works across various levels and forms of education including curriculum development, delivery, management, training and professional development (Ball, 2007). In many cases, especially in developing countries, international experts are being contracted to support or lead the curriculum development process. In more extreme cases, the international consultant imports models and curriculum from other contexts without adaptation.

Curriculum review and development research presents an opportunity for transnational working that can offer a number of benefits. One of the benefits of this type of approach is that it provides an opportunity for those outside of a system to offer a perspective that is a resource for reflection for those within the system. This external perspective enables trends and patterns to be recognised that may be overlooked from those within the system (e.g. their perspective may be framed by a long-standing and taken for granted cultural view). In addition, engagement with external actors offers an opportunity to draw in expertise from those who have been through curriculum development, and who may have insights into the challenges and issues around such an experience.

At the same time, the opportunities outlined above need to be balanced against the challenges that also relate to working outside of the context in which the curriculum is implemented. Yates (2016) highlights that it is important to recognise both the big picture and the localised perspectives in curriculum review work. Where a researcher’s proximity to a context of study is significant, it is possible that nuanced meanings around a curriculum can be difficult to rationalise. To paraphrase Goffman (1961) , it is difficult to understand the logic of behaviours from a distance, even though those behaviours make complete sense to the participants who are located in a specific context. Another challenge relates to the work that is needed to establish effective communication across remote contexts. There is a persistent and longstanding literature about how the problems of interruption, lag, lack of paralinguistic data, and narrow bandwidth can undermine meaningful sense making (Bower, 2008; Brennan, 1998; Condon, & Čech, 2010; Daft, & Lengel, 1986; Dennis et al., 2008; Gaver et al., 1993; Honeycutt, 2001; Joiner, & Jones, 2003; Lemley et al., 2007) . When conducting a review of a foreign curriculum, we argue that there is an additional initial step which must take place. In these international projects, the first step should be a collaborative mission shaping consultation which allows the local partners to inform their international partners of their aims and vision. This could include elements such as:

• The role they believe their education provision should fulfil
• Their educational priorities
• Strengths and weaknesses that they currently witness in their curriculum
• Their vision for the future of education in their country or jurisdiction
• Important documents, policies and stakeholders that they believe should be considered in the review process

Many of these areas may involve contentious local issues which sometimes leads to international consultants acting as a mediator between opposing views. If contextual specificities and realities are ignored, the possibility for a smooth and efficient development process is greatly limited since a curriculum must evolve according to the needs of the specific learners, society and context in which it will be delivered (Haider, 2016). In this way, collaborating with local partners and stakeholders is essential for fostering ethical and sustainable educational development. Local partners also hold valuable insights into the lived curriculum (Rahman & Missingham, 2018).

When conducting curriculum review through an international partnership, the necessity to gain this insight is significantly heightened. Stakeholder perspectives are an important contribution to evidence-informed policy research (EIPR) (Burns, & Schuller, 2007). National stakeholders, who can be seen as jurisdiction experts, working collaboratively with international experts will have the ability to sift through the vast amounts of available information and data and select the evidence that is most applicable and reliable for conducting a review that leads to effective recommendations. This collaboration with the jurisdiction experts and the international experts has the potential to create a powerful partnership. As UNESCO (2017) states in their curriculum development guidance, all decisions in the curriculum development process must be based on real information. This information does not necessarily have to be empirical or quantitative, but it must be of ‘sufficient substance to provide reliable and valid advice to curriculum decision makers’ (UNESCO, 2017, p.7).

Although there is literature relating to accessing stakeholder voices in education development projects, there is little literature relating to how to work collaboratively with local partners as equals in the project planning phase. Decisions must be made regarding how collaboration should be fostered and which partner should lead on particular aspects of the project. These decisions will have an impact on the curriculum review process since the interactions involved at this phase of the process will greatly influence the quality of the review’s outcome (Chisholm, 2015). Boreham’s (2004) work on organisational learning suggests that successful change is more likely if spaces are opened for dialogue and if power relationships are reconstituted in order to provide equal voice for the individuals enacting change. Although initially intended as a technology-centred process and used primarily by economists, CPD theory offers valuable insights into how authentic collaboration can be fostered. According to CPD, collaboration must emphasise the widespread involvement and interdependence between partners at all levels, frequent and regular information exchange, integration of business processes and joint work and activities (Lamming, 1993).

Reflecting on authentic collaboration using CPD theory

There is a developing field of research that considers the ways that professionals interact within and across organisations (e.g. Cooren et al., 2011; Willis et al., 2010) . When focusing on the interactions associated with a curriculum review, these interactions are fundamentally linked to authentic collaboration and are essential in ensuring the validity of the review process. From a curriculum and assessment perspective, validity is concerned with the links between information, interpretation, and action. Validity, therefore, describes the relationship between data and the interpretations and actions that derive from those interpretations. When applied to the case study curriculum review project with the MOE, validity pertains to whether a valid and ethical method for fostering collaboration has been employed, thus enabling a valid outcome – an accurate and applicable curriculum review. CPD theory can provide valuable guidance for how this can be achieved.

In many situations, those with the power to make decisions lack important knowledge or skills about the consequences of their choices. As a result, decision makers tend to consult relevant experts before making final decisions (Krishna, & Morgan, 2004). Although Krishna and Morgan are focusing on technology development, there are transferable elements that provide insight for education-based PPPs. Considering literature within the field of CPD tells us that ensuring active collaboration by the decision makers and the experts through multiple stages of communication leads to higher rates of knowledge transfer and more optimal outcomes in the partnership (Krishna, & Morgan, 2004).

Camarinha-Matos and Abreu (2007) argue that in order to maintain competitive advantage and sustainability in rapidly growing markets, firms seek to collaborate with other firms in order to enhance their product development efforts. These collaborative networks encourage sustainability and also increase the chances of product improvement through the pooling of knowledge and expertise. Littler and colleagues (1995) have found that more and more firms engage in collaborations in order to improve quality and benefit from complementary knowledge. In this way, sharing knowledge is seen to increase efficiency of the project as opposed to slowing down the development process. Therefore, CPD emerges as a way for organisations to increase efficiency and effectiveness. This is similar to some of the motives behind funding educational PPPs discussed above.

In our case study, we apply CPD theory to go beyond product development and to include idea development. When applying this to a curriculum review process, the ‘product’ that is being developed pertains to the ideas that are devised around what methods of data collection and analysis should be used during the review process. These methods will inevitably impact the curriculum recommendations that emerge from the review and will eventually influence the outcome of any curriculum changes that occur in light of the review.

There are many valuable insights that emerge from CPD literature that can be applied to education-based PPPs. For example, Goyal and Joshi (2003) recognise that CPD does not solely result in an enhanced project. Like education-based PPPs, CPD partnerships can also lead to the creation and sharing of knowledge, the setting of new standards and the sharing of facilities and resources. The incentive to collaborate goes far beyond the creation of the final product (Bhaskaran, & Krishnan, 2009), whether it be a technological tool or a curriculum review report. The product itself has a specific use and applicability. However, the knowledge and skills that are acquired through the process can influence future thinking and can significantly impact on how the organisation works overtime.

We argue that applying effective CPD approaches can help to foster a collaborative epistemic stance between partners. ‘Epistemic stance’ refers to the moment-by-moment expression of epistemic status within relationships (Heritage, 2012b). However, much of this is linked to context specific, sociocultural norms. This is why Littleton and Mercer (2013) argue that sociocultural discourse analysis should be taken into consideration when critically analysing any group interaction. Therefore, instead of drawing on the mathematical models employed by game theorists, we take a more contextualised stance and argue that sociocultural reflexivity is more effective for ensuring a successful education-based PPP than relying on a mathematical model of cost and benefit. This is also true since the ‘products’ or methodological ideas that are being focused on are not technological in nature, nor are they primarily concerned with market value. Instead they focus on supporting high quality education systems. We argue that education itself is situated within sociocultural realms. Although certain knowledge and skills transcend sociocultural boundaries, the delivered curriculum must be able to successfully function within, and is arguably a product of, the society it is developed for.

Drawing from Arsenyan and Büyüközkan (2014), successful CPD is assumed to be based on effective collaboration. In their model, effective collaboration is based on four sub-dimensions including trust, coordination, co-learning, and co-innovation (Arsenyan & Büyüközkan, 2014). Combined with Littleton, & Mercer’s (2013) ideas of effective interthinking and exploratory talk, we devised four principles to guide the collaborative process of the curriculum review:

1. Trust: Relevant knowledge and information should be shared. The specific knowledge, perspectives and skills of each partner should be trusted as having value.
2. Coordination: Partners should be working towards a common goal. Differences in time, space, sociocultural environment and resources should be taken into account and appropriately accommodated to ensure a common goal can be worked towards.
3. Co-learning: There must be a recognition that upskilling and knowledge acquisition will occur on all sides of the partnership, with the epistemic status of partners shifting depending on the skill and knowledge that is required. Co-learning also involves the ability for different parties to challenge and critique one another in a constructive way. Co-learning should not only be planned in the early phases of the project, but should also occur organically as particular knowledge and skills emerge as being valuable.
4. Co-innovation: The final ‘product’ should be a result of co-innovation, which means it should be a collaborative process that results in innovative and bespoke solutions that specifically emerge as a result of the collaboration.

These four principles guided the collaborative process of the project. We will now go deeper into the case study and how these four principles were applied. We will then reflect on their effectiveness in fostering valid collaboration in education-based PPPs.

Case study

The context for the case study is a large, multi-strand curriculum review project for a foreign Ministry of Education (MOE). The project had a multi-partner dimension that included a UK-based university department that was commissioned to provide a range of observations and recommendations to inform the work of a funding intergovernmental agency and the curriculum development body of an MOE about possible areas of the curriculum that required reform.

In order to provide a comprehensive review of the curriculum in the country of focus, the university department designed a project that included a series of stages. These stages involved a variety of methods that would cumulatively build a picture of the country’s curriculum programme. These stages included a policy analysis, a detailed evaluation of the local curriculum, a review of selected curricula from other countries, stakeholder consultations and an analysis of system capacity.

As part of this broad project the authors contributed to the curriculum review task. This involved carrying out a review of different curricula so that the MOE could see their own curriculum in relation to those of other jurisdictions. A key feature of the review design was that it needed to include capacity development for the MOE’s curriculum body so that they could continue with the curriculum review process once the partnership was complete. To ensure that this authentic transfer of knowledge and skills took place, three workshop meetings were planned during the project lifetime.

These workshops served as pivotal points in the project’s progress as they established a collaborative working space, enabled capacity building for all partners involved, and brought an increased level of validity to the project’s final output. The workshops were an opportunity to: (1) present their established method of curriculum analysis; (2) to develop the capacity of the local participants to design and use a method of analysis that was applicable and effective in the study context; and (3) to select the curricula that would be analysed so that the most useful insights were gathered.

Prior to the workshops, analysis had been carried out to gauge the current educational conditions in the country, and these analyses included data from the policy analysis and the local curriculum content review. There had also been a range of stakeholder consultation activities and project team conversations to gather perspectives around the current educational provision and around any aspirations for future development across national, regional, and local levels. The workshops were informed by the outcomes from these earlier phases of work and were expected to feed into an overall synthesis report.

To achieve these aims, specific workshop planning and implementation strategies were put in place. The process used to prepare, facilitate and reflect on the workshop can be connected to the four principles derived from CPD theory (discussed above) as a way to ensure equality and collaboration.

1. Trust: An important component of trust building related to setting the conditions whereby an equality of voice could be attained. For our development this involved organising it so that a member of our university team could spend time in the host location of the curriculum initiative (the ‘visiting lead’). As part of this physical presence the university representative had the opportunity to engage directly with the MOE team. Whilst this engagement involved the visitor being sensitive to the appropriate social norms of the host context, it also involved important reciprocal cultural exchange with the university representative being taken to locally valued social events by the MOE team. This social engagement also allowed all of the group to get to know each other. Morgan & Symon (2002) note that open workplace communication leads to trust, and they acknowledge that this is difficult to construct remotely. This point coheres with arguments drawing on media richness theory (e.g. Daft, & Lengel, 1986; Trevino et al., 1987) , which suggests that team trust (and performance) is improved when participants have access to more information about each other. Martins et al. (2004) observe that this often includes social and informal (i.e. non-work-specific) information about other work colleagues. Another component of communication that we attended to was to ensure that we dealt with questions or requests for information from the MOE as quickly as possible. The fast return of information when engaged with remote interactions sends a message that these requests are being prioritised, and by connection, that the relationship is valued. This also helps to ensure that a vacuum of information is not created in which distrust can grow.
2. Coordination: As well as the communication issues covered in the previous point, the attainment of coordination requires that the partners should be working towards a common goal. This goal focus can be considered to be a macro-level consideration. To attain this, differences in time, space, sociocultural environment and resources should be taken into account and appropriately accommodated. Taking an ethnomethodological perspective, which underpins much conversation theory (e.g. see Heritage, 2001) , the attainment of the macro level goals requires a focus on micro level interactions (Goffman, 1963) . In essence, this is an appeal to consider how the participants interact at the micro level to ‘live’ the macro level goals. One such interaction, which we have alluded to above, is to ensure in the planning stage that there is an opportunity at times for physical collocation of team members from across the distributed teams. We also acknowledge that collocation is not possible in all cases, which means that there is a requirement to consider the conditions of the remote interactions at the project planning stage, which in our project involved email or telephone/video communication. For our project we ensured that we planned times for interaction that were sensitive to the time differences of all of the partners. This ensured that one institution did not take priority, as this could signal a lack of parity of status between the partnership institutions. We also ensured that we considered the working patterns of the participating partners, so as not to schedule work that disregarded important cultural norms, such as worship or rest days or national holidays.
3. Co-learning: For this principle there must be a recognition that upskilling and knowledge acquisition will occur on all sides of the partnership, with the epistemic status of partners shifting at different parts of the project, depending on the skill and knowledge that is required. Co-learning should not only be planned in the early phases of the project but should also organically occur as particular knowledge and skills emerge as being valuable. In our project we planned that the workshops would be opportunities for rich interaction for sharing some of the expertise that we could contribute to the partnership. One thing that we wanted to encourage was a tangible transfer of practical knowledge. Specifically, our university department has expertise in research methods that can be used to compare curricula. As part of our contribution to the development we created a document that outlined the methodological steps for carrying out a curriculum review exercise. We also devised a series of interaction and collaborative exercises that could be carried out in a workshop with MOE team members so that this rationalised methodology could be contextualised and discussed. This document can be seen to represent a boundary object (Star & Griesemer, 1989) since the document was useful for focusing the disparate teams on common processes. It also provided a platform for decision making in a divided labour situation, which is a common feature of PPPs. For example, the methodology document that we provided allowed the local partnership team to consider who had the most appropriate expertise to complete the different task elements, such as curriculum document data collection, stakeholder consultation to decide which curriculum elements should be the focus for the review, and how to deal with the analysis of these elements.
4. Co-innovation: the final CPD feature highlights that the final ‘product’ of the partnership will be a result of co-innovation. This means that the collaborative process will result in innovative and bespoke solutions. A consequence of the iterative process of creation is that it is unlikely that the specific outcomes of the process can be anticipated in advance. The structuring for this emerging process is the shared common goal that is the focus of the partnership. By returning to the aims of the development it is possible for the partnership to work to a common goal as new decisions need to be made in the light of unfolding events. For example, the choices around which curriculum elements to review will have consequences in terms of decisions about the timing and resources required, particularly where resource availability is likely to be limited. Having the project aims as a joint reference point allows the partners to come to compromises about how best to achieve the desired common outcomes (e.g. how many elements from how many curriculum documents should be reviewed). This process of interaction conforms to the notion of ‘interthinking’ (Littleton, & Mercer, 2013) , where participants combine their collective thinking. Achieving interthinking, which in a way represents a form of co-learning as participants come to see the problem from the perspective of others, requires the conditions of trust and coordination which are also outlined as elements of CPD. This point demonstrates the extent to which CPD is an integrated model rather than being a collection of separate elements.

In order to assess the effectiveness employing these principles, the project team integrated various methods of participants’ feedback (see Table 1).

Table 1: Forms of feedback captured by the project team in order to assess the level of authentic collaboration gathered.

There is a possibility that additional questions could have provided additional insight into valuable areas of collaboration that were not otherwise considered in this project. We argue that even though CPD principles were integrated throughout the project cycle, collaboration could always be improved and deepened. There must be constant reflection on how additional collaborative measures can be put in place, whilst also considering how efficiency and project goals can still be effectively achieved according to the desired timeline. In this way, the mathematical models used within Game Theory would be a valuable next level of analysis where cost/benefit of collaboration within educational PPPs can be assessed.

Discussion and conclusion

In this paper we have outlined how CPD and conversation theories can be used to support and reflect on the validity of international PPPs. We have highlighted that there is a lack of research literature pertaining to collaboration strategies for development projects funded by third party groups but carried out by local stakeholder groups in collaboration with international experts. As these collaborations become more common, we seek to contribute to this literature by considering a case study of a transnational PPP, where we used a conceptual CPD model. This model comprises of four dimensions – trust, coordination, co-learning and co-innovation (Arsenyan, & Buyukozkan, 2014) and promotes effective collaboration principles for project managers wishing to foster effective, ethical and valid international partnerships.

To explain the validity of these CPD principles, we also looked to conversation theory, which is itself underpinned by an ethnomethodological perspective. According to this perspective, effective communication takes epistemic status into account, which means that the participants engage in moment-by-moment expressions of understandings with epistemic imbalance driving the interaction (Heritage, 2012a, p. 32) . All parties should be seen as experts on certain areas of knowledge and skills, and the achievement of the high-level shared goals of a development rely on the micro level interactions that help participants to ‘live the macro level goals’ of the project.

We argue that by applying CPD theory to the process of international curriculum review, valuable insights can be gained into how valid and ethical collaboration can be fostered. CPD is implicitly reflexive. Moreover, being collaborative is not just a group of individuals sharing or contributing. The interactions must involve the dimensions of authentic trust, the coordination of common goals, co-learning and co-innovation in order for authentic and valid collaboration to be fostered.

We argue that the above case study serves as an initial entry point into a wider consideration of the value of incorporating CPD principles into international education projects. Incorporating elements of CPD can increase the level of reflexivity that occurs within these collaborations and can support the validity of the processes that are applied. CPD stresses the importance of incorporating active listening, respect and the acknowledgement of expertise among all partners. CPD also highlights that this collaboration is an ongoing process rather than a set of boxes that must be ticked. Brinberg and McGrath (1985) remind us that “validity is not a commodity that can be purchased with techniques… Rather, validity is like integrity, character, and quality, to be assessed relative to purposes and circumstances” (1985, p. 13).

Some level of consultation and collaboration is vital for any successful national curriculum review. This is more difficult to achieve with international curriculum partnerships, however it is even more vital for ensuring the review process is done in an ethical and valid way. Our exploration of these dimensions of CPD show how interrelated they are. This point reiterates that the development of valid communication is a holistic process, with the conditions of CPD helping participants to overcome particular barriers to authentic and equitable interaction, such as physical and temporal distance and cultural insensitivity.

Although international PPPs have their challenges, they offer a range of benefits to all parties involved and can also lead to benefits within the wider educational jurisdiction. For example, PPPs enable a sharing of expertise, perspectives, skills and knowledge that would not be gathered to the same level of deep understanding if the partnerships did not take place. These insights and shared knowledge can then be shared within each partner’s wider network leading to deeper understandings, sensitivities and awareness of different approaches to education, thus decreasing the dominance of post-colonial approaches.

There are several areas worthy of further research based on the findings of this article. Firstly, further insights must be gained regarding how ethical reflexivity is currently being conducted in the field of ESI. As this is a transnational field, there are questions regarding where and how ethical considerations are upheld. In addition, it would be valuable to apply the method of discourse analysis to PPP exchanges and to investigate how the principles of conversation theory can provide insight into how collaboration is fostered or stifled.

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About the Authors

Dr. Sinéad Fitzsimons: Researcher, Research Division, Cambridge Assessment, University of Cambridge (UK); e-mail: fitzsimons.sinead@gmail.com

Dr. Martin Johnson: Senior Researcher, Research Division, Cambridge Assessment, University of Cambridge (UK); e-mail: johnson.m2@cambridgeassessment.org.uk

摘要（W. Jason Niedermeyer：执教，被迫学习：讲故事在教育中的作用概述）：
人不仅有讲故事的本能，而且还有听故事的本能。当信息从讲故事者传达给听众时，通常一些课程也在被传授着。这些故事是文化传播的工具。然而，在评估如何将其在课堂上的非正式教学中的有效性用于实现类似教育目标的研究中还存在着差距。这项跨学科研究的目的是正式评估故事在人与人之间和跨代之间传递信息的方式，以及这些技能在课堂上的使用程度。
关键词：批判性思维，实践，教学方法，社会认知，认知科学，学习理论，讲故事，叙事

摘要（W. Jason Niedermeyer：執教，被迫學習：講故事在教育中的作用概述）：
人不僅有講故事的本能，而且還有聽故事的本能。當信息從講故事者傳達給聽眾時，通常一些課程也在被傳授著。這些故事是文化傳播的工具。然而，在評估如何將其在課堂上的非正式教學中的有效性用於實現類似教育目標的研究中還存在著差距。這項跨學科研究的目的是正式評估故事在人與人之間和跨代之間傳遞信息的方式，以及這些技能在課堂上的使用程度。
關鍵詞：批判性思維，實踐，教學方法，社會認知，認知科學，學習理論，講故事，敘事

Zusammenfassung (W. Jason Niedermeyer: Zum Lehren getrieben, zum Lernen gezwungen: Ein Überblick über die Rolle(n) des Geschichtenerzählens in der Bildung): Der Mensch hat den Instinkt, nicht nur Geschichten zu erzählen, sondern ihnen auch zuzuhören. Wenn die Botschaft vom Geschichtenerzähler an das Publikum weitergegeben wird, werden häufig Lektionen vermittelt. Die Geschichten dienen als Gefäße für die kulturelle Weitergabe. Dennoch gibt es in der Forschung eine Lücke, in der evaluiert wird, wie ihre Wirksamkeit im informellen Unterricht in einem Klassenzimmer genutzt werden könnte, um ähnliche pädagogische Ziele zu erreichen. Ziel dieser interdisziplinären Untersuchung ist es, formal zu evaluieren, auf welche Weise Geschichten zur Informationsübertragung zwischen Menschen und über Generationen hinweg genutzt werden und in welchem Maße diese Fähigkeiten im Klassenzimmer genutzt wurden.
Schlüsselwörter: kritisches Denken, Praxis, Lehrmethoden, soziale Kognition, Kognitionswissenschaft, Lerntheorien, Geschichtenerzählen, Narrativ

Резюме(В. Ясон Нидермайер: И к научению обязанный, и к учебе привязанный: о роли (ролях) нарративной коммуникациив образовании): Человек обладает способностью не только рассказывать какие-либо истории, но и выступать в роли активного слушателя. Если к слушателю с чем-то обращаются, зачастую в послание кодируется некий наставнический знак. Если использовать образное сравнение, можно сказать, что истории, нарративы являются сосудами, через которые осуществляется трансфер культурного знания. При этом в исследовательском дискурсе на данный момент есть участок, где обсуждается эффективность применения нарративных стратегий для достижения определенных педагогических целей в учебной аудитории. Целью данного междисциплинарного исследования является определение того, как задействовать нарративы для трансфера информации между людьми, в том числе на протяжении нескольких поколений, и в какой степени использовать данный потенциал в учебном дискурсе.
Ключевые слова: критическое мышление, практика, учебные методы, социальная когниция, когнитивистика, теории обучения, нарратив

Introduction

Defining human uniqueness has become a cottage industry. It has been claimed that our species is unique because of language, culture, art, and teaching, among other seemingly elevated activities related to our cognitive capacity. This movement has inspired a counter movement of sorts, inspiring ethologists, psychologists, cognitive neuroscientists, and even philosophers to investigate the degree to which non-human animals have the theory of mind, grasp of syntax and semantics, and the pedagogy necessary to also be considered little linguists and culturally transmitting artistic beasts.

In the past decade, the movement has come to investigate the evolutionary underpinnings of the practice that exists at the confluence of these activities, storytelling. Anthropologists have recently concluded that

Once the process of making meaning had begun, it is not a giant leap to see what we might call ‘figurative language,’ a system of sounds and gestures that enables the emergence of metaphor. The use of gestures and sounds to represent something else—an experience, a thought, a hope, or some other facet of the imagination … our ancestors were developing the capacity to share what was in their minds, to imagine and to share their imaginings. They were developing the capacity for a central facet of all human lives: the ability to tell stories. (Fuentes, 2017, p. 205)

This universal cultural practice is thought to be so engaging because stories “form a point of intersection between the most emotional, subjective parts of the mind and the most abstract and cerebral” (Carroll, 2006, p. 42). Our active imaginations allow the mirror neurons inherited from our primate ancestors to be activated by the words uttered (or written) by a storyteller (Gazzaniga, 2008). And just as our primate relatives can be inspired to act by watching others engage in an activity, so can humans be inspired to act through story (Gottschall, 2013). This extension of our imagination may explain why leaders throughout time are often gifted orators with relatable life stories (Niedermeyer, 2012).

Since it has been concluded that, “although storytelling talent varies from individual to individual, all normally developing humans capable of understanding stories are capable of telling stories” (Sugiyama, 2005, p. 180) and that “The love of fiction—a fiction instinct—is as universal as hierarchies, marriage, jokes, religion, sweet, fat, and the incest taboo” (Dutton, 2009, p. 109), it would seem that the universality of narrative understanding paired with stories’ capacity to inspire action make them a potentially ideal pedagogical delivery device. And yet there has been little done with regard to reviewing the varied nature and size of stories and their effect on student understanding of content, concepts, and curriculum. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify the effects and affects of effective stories and storytellers, the structure of stories, and their current use in classroom settings. The review will proceed in a de facto chronological order, following along the path in which a typical human’s understanding of stories and narrative progress. This process will begin with the storyteller, and then proceed through how the body and mind construct and deconstruct increasingly complex stories as people garner a greater understanding of their own experiences and culture and seek to transmit them to others. Finally, the paper will conclude with a review of the ways in which the cultural institution charged with educating children, our school system, has leveraged stories across grade levels and subject matter in an attempt to ascertain whether stories are being used as effectively in classrooms as they might be.

The storyteller and the point of the story

For a story to exist, there must be at least two people, a teller and a listener. In such a scenario, “the storyteller models human behavior” (Sugiyama, 2005, p. 186), demonstrating the actions of heroes and villains, the paths to success and failure, and the emotions evinced by all participants. That has meant that, throughout time, storytellers were

teachers (…) providing lessons in how a priest ought to be addressed, how classes of people—women and men, kings and warriors—ought to behave with respect to one another, how the social structure is maintained through such agencies as the intervention of Nestor, how kings (and gods) are petitioned for favor, how ritual sacrifices are to be carried out, how captured concubines are to be treated, and even how one should comport oneself at a table (Dutton, 2009, p. 116).

By positioning the storyteller as the purveyor of the collective knowledge, he/she becomes, for the extent of the story, the cultural conscience for the group. Therefore, in pre-literate cultures, the storyteller ‘ (…) is at once a storyteller and also a tribal encyclopedist.” (Havelock, 1963, p. 83).

For the person cast as the storyteller, he attempts to effect “not a transfer of his own intentions, but a conventional realization of traditional thought for his listeners, including himself” (Peabody, 1975, p. 176). This description suggests that storytellers attempt to present their material as objective factual accounts with definitive purposes for their telling. However, by choosing to present information in the form of a story, there is an implicit understanding that “The oral song (or other narrative) is the result of interaction between the singer, the present audience, and the singer’s memories of songs sung” (Ong, p. 146). The story becomes a dialogue between the teller and the listeners (Kane, 1998), where the “meaning of a (…) work is not in the events it recounts. It is how events are interpreted that makes a meaning” (Dutton, p. 124). Therefore, the presentation of a story may elicit as many interpretations as there are listeners. This variability, however, does not mean that there are not identifiable universal purposes for storytelling.

Jo-Ann Archibald, a scholar of indigenous mythology and herself a tribal storyteller, has concluded that, in general, “Stories have the power to make our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits work together” (Archibald, 2008, p. 12). The ends to which stories can be made to activate this internal ecology, however, are quite varied. Among the most widely identified purposes of stories is as a vehicle for the transmission of information (Gottschall, 2013). The “Myths are repositories of practical wisdom” (Kane, 1998, p. 39), full of “factual (or putatively factual) information” (Dutton, 2009, p. 110). The information that is transmitted may be about foraging (Sugiyama, 2001b), medicine (Sugiyama, 2001a), or way-finding (Kane, 1998; Sugiyama, & Sugiyama, n.d.), but because it is delivered in the form of a story, it provides the listener “a vivid and memorable way of communicating information“ (Dutton, 2009, p. 110).

The information that is transmitted does not have to be purely of a declarative sort. Rather, because “Stories encourage us to explore the points of view, beliefs, motivations, and values of other human minds (…) Stories provide regulation for social behavior” (Dutton, 2009, p. 110). These behaviors may include understanding family relationships (Ong, 1982) and how to navigate interpersonal interactions (Sugiyama, 2001a), but it can also be used to coordinate with others (Clark, 2016). By turning “their private imaginings into shared, public fictions” a member can create a normative pathway for cooperating with members of the group, a practice that is “qualitatively different from anything observed outside our own species” (Wyman, 2014, p. 183). The variety of group-level applications explains why for the Metis, an indigenous group in Canada, “Storytelling was a social institution, an ‘oral university’ that taught people young and old about being ‘human’—that is, how to function in the community” (Maclean & Wason-Ellam, 2006, p. 9).

In addition to stories being used to transmit discrete information, they may also be for making sense of events (Gottschall, 2013). Stories allow a person to “frame events and sentences in larger structures (…) These larger structures provide an interpretive context for the components they encompass” (Bruner, 1990, p. 64). While these stories may initially play out in an individual’s mind, “personal narratives are often co-constructed with others, and thus tend to feed the structures and expectations of society back in so that they become reflected in the models that an individual uses to make sense of her own acts and choices” (Clark, 2016, p. 286). These narratives, whether they are internalized or shared, can be used to manipulate the listener (Sugiyama, 2001a). When used as a form of self-talk, the narrative can enable an agent to find solutions to more difficult tasks (Alderson-Day, & Fernyhough, 2015). When used on listeners, it may be to achieve an end that might not otherwise have been achieved (e.g. to impress a potential mate) (Gottschall, 2013). In either (or both) case(s), the cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner concluded that “Getting what you want very often means getting the right story” (Bruner, 1990, p. 86).

The right story can also be used to prepare listeners (and readers) for life’s challenges (Gottschall, 2013). The cognitive linguist, Daniel Dor, maintains that this use is possible because “Language (…) allows speakers to intentionally and systematically instruct their interlocuters in the process of imagining the intended experience, as opposed to directly experiencing it” (Dor, 2014, p. 106). Preparing in this fashion is low-cost (Dutton, 2009; Sugiyama, 2005). It allows a listener to “witness a variety of adaptively momentous actions (for example, rape, adultery, incest, conspiracy, homicide, ostracism) from multiple perspectives (for example, victim, perpetrator, accessory, kinsman, friend, enemy)” (Sugiyama, 2005, p. 186). Because a person will likely experience many of these charged actions and feel compelled to respond in an emotional fashion, the preparation provided by a story may help modulate the response. This may be why the comparative literary theorist, Eugene Eoyang, declares that the value of “Literature [is that it] offers no facts, no formulas, no answers: what it presents are theories of life, hypothetical experiments in the imagination” (Eoyang, 2012, p. 14).

Though all of these functional applications exist, it is possible, as some theorists have argued, that storytelling may be nothing more than a byproduct of humans’ possession of an imagination, working on our brain like a drug (Boyd, 2009). It is undeniable, however, that stories presented in the form of a narrative are a cultural universal. But what, exactly, constitutes a story?

Storytelling structures

It seems that narrative, like love, is a concept that most people feel they can understand but in actuality, can be difficult to define. In his book, The Art Instinct, Denis Dutton (2009) concludes that “the most abstract characterization that can be given stories is that they involve (1) a human will and (2) some kind of resistance to it” (p. 118). Some researchers omit the need for character, instead focusing on the causal and temporal relationships between events (Bordwell & Thompson, 1997). Most, however, expect there to be a character with agency, leading to evolutionary literary theorist Michelle Sugiyama (2005) to declare

The literary consensus is that stories consist of character, setting, actions, and events—linked temporally and/or causally—and conflict and resolution (…) Psychological support for this view comes from story grammar research (…) This research yielded a consensus regarding the essential components of narrative that parallels the literary one: the generation of narrative requires at least one character, setting, states and events, sequence, causal connections, goal-oriented action, and resolution. (p. 180)

It therefore seems that the compulsion to tell stories is innate. As such, one would expect there to be a developmental process to storytelling, and the cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner’s late career work addresses this expectation.

It is Bruner’s (1990) conclusion that there are four components to story grammar—(1) Agentivity, (2) Linearization, (3) Knowledge of the canon, and (4) A narrator’s perspective—that develop (largely) sequentially (p. 77). The former two components likely develop because humans are mobile, social animals (Clark, 2016). The latter two components, however, are more affected by the local environment—or setting, which Sugiyama stipulates is “a representation of the potential sources of conflict in a given set of circumstances—that is, a localized representation of ‘the system of forces that regulate all possible action’” (Sugiyama, 2005, p. 186). Based on the amount of storytelling that is engaged in around the household as a child grows, his/her developmental trajectory can be affected, and his/her understanding of what is canonical may differ. Should a child be raised in a household that celebrates birthdays, then hearing that someone is happy on his/her birthday requires no further explanation; however, hearing that someone is sad requires context because it is not canonical. It takes a while for a child’s understanding of their physical and social canons to develop, which may be why the narrator’s perspective is last to develop—it requires not only a theory of mind, but also an understanding of why and how a non-canonical tale might have transpired and the ability to convey this realization linguistically. The integration of these four aspects of story grammar may explain why Bruner felt confident in his assessment that “The typical form of framing experience (and our memory of it) is in narrative form [and] (…) that what does not get structured narratively suffers loss in memory” (Bruner, 1990, p. 56). This conclusion may also explain why we do not have many memories predating our third years (Wang, & Peterson, 2014), the age at which most children have achieved at least rudimentary forms of their story grammars (Bruner, 1990).

Story Structure

Since the use of narrative helps us structure memories of our own experiences as well as vicariously experience those told to us by others, several questions are begged. How large or small can stories be to have functional value? Do stories of different sizes or presented in different modalities have different effects on the listener/reader? And what kind of information is typically conveyed through different types and lengths of stories? These questions need to be answered in order to determine the various and best use of stories in a classroom.

Embodied Cognition. It is quite possible—perhaps it is more accurate to say likely—that our understanding and production of stories predates our ability to tell them. Researchers in the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of embodied cognition have concluded that not only do we think with the help of our body but we also predict outcomes. That makes humans, in the mind of philosopher Andy Clark (2016), “perceivers [and] (…) imaginers too: they are creatures poised to explore and experience their worlds not just by perception and gross physical action but also by means of imagery, dreams, and (in some cases) deliberate mental simulations” (p. 84). The capacity to envision agency that acts within a given setting to overcome obstacles preventing the achievement of a goal aligns with the aforementioned definitions of “story” provided by narrative theorists coming from disparate disciplines.

As described by Bruner at length in his book Acts of Meaning, the process of developing these internal stories is one that develops over time. It is as if, as Clark (2016) describes it, our mind works on “finding the most parsimonious model that successfully engages the sensory flow” (p. 271). As our linguistic ability develops in parallel with our perception of agency and our imagination, these various processes begin to interact with one another (Vygotsky, 1986; Prinz 2014), and the compulsion to use stories to explain phenomena grows (Bruner, 1990). We are compelled to determine causal relationships as well as to intuit our fellow agents’ intentions and to put those together into a coherent narrative that allows us to act on our own behalf. Those stories, however, do more than help us understand our present situations—they also help us make sense of those ideas and feelings that are more difficult to grasp.

Metaphor. In many ways, Lakoff and Johnson (2003), sparked the embodied cognition movement with their publication of the seminal work, Metaphors We Live By. In it, they concluded that “we tend to structure the less concrete and inherently vaguer concepts (like those for the emotions) in terms of more concrete concepts, which are more clearly delineated in our experience” (p. 112). Those experiences—once causality and intentionality have been identified (i.e. they have been storied)—provide us with an understanding of how entities interact with each other. According to Lakoff and Johnson, as we attempt to use our discoveries and share them with others, our language provides

data that can lead to general principles of understanding. The general principles involve whole systems of concept rather than individual words or individual concepts. We have found that such principles are often metaphoric in nature and involve understanding one kind of experience in terms of another kind of experience” (p. 116).

Taken from this perspective, a metaphor is effectively a short story, whereby the agents are the new and old experiences. The conflict, or “tension” as Ricoeur (2004) terms it in his book The Rule of Metaphor), is the potential for a relationship between them. The resolution, therefore, is the identification of how the old provides us with a greater understanding of the new (or vice versa). The analogical nature of the relationship that has been created can then be leveraged in novel situations that gives an actor an advantage over someone who does not have that internal metaphor (Epstein, 2019).

Proverbs. For Lakoff and Johnson (2003), “Metaphorical imagination is a crucial skill in creating rapport and in communicating the nature of unshared experience” (p. 231), and it can produce simple yet profound understandings that can be shared between individuals. Metaphors can also be used to transmit information through more than the space between two people—they can also be used to communicate through the time between generations. The metaphors that are used to transmit cultural knowledge, however, are often repackaged as proverbs.

Used by nearly every culture on the planet, proverbs utilize the mind’s capacity to create analogies by making the metaphors implied. Ranging from those used in China [e.g. A gentleman is ashamed to let his words outrun his deeds. (Confucious, Book XIV: 29 in Reagan, 2005, p. 140)], to those used in Meso-America [e.g. Be not called twice, like the wind art thou to go. (Reagan, 2005, p. 102)], to those used in Africa [e.g. If you take a knife from a child, give him a stick (Reagan, 2005, p. 65), these micro-stories cogently, coherently, and succinctly capture values and concepts that are key to navigating socio-cultural environments.

The stories then become both more concrete because they focus on a single agent but they simultaneously become more abstract because they force the listener to infer the relationship. The use of proverbs means that “Cultural learning (…) [is] not merely (…) a producer of more and more ‘grist’ (transmissible facts about the world) but a source of ‘mills’—the ‘psychological processes that enable us to learn from the grist of others’ (Clark, 2016, p. 281; Heyes, 2012, p. 2182). These ‘mills’—“intuition pumps” for the philosopher Daniel Dennett (2013)—become the means by which a person can find clarity within a situation that initially seems incoherent. The person begins to recognize that the something in the situation fits a proverbial pattern, and according to at least one scholar of myths, “the knowledge of pattern is the beginning of every practical wisdom” (Kane, 1998, p. 37).

Parables. The power of metaphors and proverbs to provide insight to situations through the perception of hidden relationships and patterns is also a limitation. The brevity of the stories forces listeners (or readers) to provide the context, and they are therefore limited by the breadth of their experiences. The power of a more complete story comes from its ability to develop the context—the characters are enmeshed with the setting as they attempt to achieve their goals. The listener is then provided with , “a concealed knowledge about relationship that is available only in story” (Kane, 1998, p. 45). The boundaries generated by the story allow listeners to immerse themselves in the tale, allowing them to experience its transpirations along with the hero or heroine through mental imagery. This capacity has been recognized as important by no less than Immanuel Kant, who concluded, “‘[F]or the human being,’the postulates of practical reason need ‘to be represented through something visible (sensible) (…) for the sake of praxis and, though intellectual, made as it were an object of intuition’” (in Kronman, 2016, p. 45). It seems that through stories, we are better able to grasp the abstract concepts that steer our concrete reality.

Stories that are told by members of a culture countless times become parables, whereby listeners are granted access to not only the patterns provided by metaphors but they also begin to see the patterns of patterns. For some cultures, these are explicitly presented as dilemmas, whereby “‘in contrast to ordinary folktales, a dilemma tale is not brought to a conclusion by the narrator, but it ends on a question which is followed by a lively discussion by the audience’” (Kubik, 1990 in Reagan, 2005, p. 68). The discussion can ostensibly go in any direction with the audience during one presentation agreeing on a solution that was hardly considered during a different session (Archibald, 2008). Parables that promote such discussion are achieving their aim, for according to Kierkegaard (1978), these stories are meant to “challenge one to a different level of being” (p. 23).

Stories may also be used to convey particular bits of ecological knowledge. In one story shared by the Dene and Inuit of North America, the caribou herds occasionally slip into a large hole in the earth that is covered with caribou skin by a pair of guardian rabbits. When it is time, the rabbits will release the caribou back into the world. Therefore, when wildlife biologists observed a rapid decline in caribou numbers in the early 1980’s, attributed the cause to overhunting, and then were shocked when the herd’s decline turned into an explosion, the Dene and Inuit were non-plussed; the caribou’s behavior fit a pattern that had been transmitted culturally for generations (Kane, 1998, pp. 42-43). Stories like this exist in cultures across the globe, conveying knowledge about the relationship between the elements presented within the bounds of the stories (Arnold, 2017).

Stories work—be they ones we have heard before or not—because they activate our associative memories. We observe characters with familiar traits facing familiar obstacles presented by familiar foils even in newly presented narratives because we process predictively based on our previous experience and because there are only so many stories a storyteller can produce. In the work that was the product of twenty-eight years of research, The Seven Plots, Christopher Booker (2004) enumerates (and demonstrates) the limited number of trajectories a story can take. Booker drew the conclusion that stories are either about (1) Overcoming the Monster, (2) A Quest, (3) A Voyage and Return, (4) Rags to Riches, (5) Comedy, (6) Tragedy, or a (7) Rebirth. Overlaps exist between these story types and large works are likely to have different plots active at different times for different characters. However, the element most likely to affect the way in which a story’s plot is presented—and therefore the way in which the listener/reader sympathizes with the hero or heroine—is whether the story is presented orally or textually.

Oral Epics. In the first comprehensive investigation into the effects of text (vs. orality) on humans and culture, the scholar Walter Ong (1982) concluded that oral epics, in many ways, become cultural foundations for groups. They are used to impart knowledge on everything from royal lineages to social customs, from rules of navigation to battle tactics. Among some African tribes, it was recognized that

The stories are manifestations of the tribal memory, the origin and history of the group, the deeds of their great men and women, their victories and defeats in war, their experiences which led to individual and group success and those which led to individual and group failure. (Uka, 1986 in Reagan, 2008, p. 69).

The classicist Eric Havelock (1986) found that these performed stories became a type of instructions, whereby “you do what you are told to do, in this case by a voice which is collective, a voice of the community. The story requires a body of language ‘encoded’ (…) to carry the necessary instructions” (p. 69). It was the cultural expectation that listeners would internalize the messages conveyed by the stories. As this cultural response occurs, a feedback loop is generated where “Myths are embodied in the customs of a people, and the customs replicate the essential patterns of a mythology with each of its aspects a sign pointing to another sign in an endless circularity” (Kane, 1998, p. 194).

This expectation ensures epics that are told and retold for generations codify the myths of a culture into a true mythology. The stories become more memorable when told with the rhythmic cadence and imagery provided by a gifted storyteller (Kane, 1998; Ong, 1982). What captivates an audience, however, is an epic’s use of a hero going through the kind of transformation dictated by the tale’s plot (Booker, 2004). Ong (1982) referred to these heroic characters as ‘heavy,’ and suggests that because they were presented as people (or gods) with strengths and weaknesses, the audience could grasp the completeness of their character. Booker (2004) concurs, finding that the heroes of epics, once they have completed their transformation, have been made whole, activating both the masculine virtues of power and control as well as the feminine virtues of empathy and understanding. Through their external achievements—slaying the beast, reaching the end of the quest, returning home from the journey—the heroes achieve internal totality, and become paragons of virtue for members of a culture to aspire to emulate. The listeners, like the hero or heroine, may have to kill a predator that is threatening their herds, or travel to find an artifact of value, or face a perilous journey home, and should they keep their wits about them, there exists the possibility they could show themselves to be as strong or clever as their epic heroes. But even if they do not, they will certainly, by undertaking the endeavor, grow in the process.

Novels. The oral nature of the epic ensured that even the deep personal growth of a hero was manifested externally and shared with others through the conduit of the storyteller and the presence of an audience. Once writing came to not only exist, but to be used as a means by which to internalize stories, the underlying purpose of what would previously have been labeled epics changed. Rather than encouraging listeners to imagine physical obstacles in the quest to achieve external goals, readers were also left to deal with the psychological obstacles to achieving internal goals. This additional—perhaps primary—burden was born by authors because “As language became separated visually from the person who uttered it, so also the person, the source of the language, came into sharper focus and the concept of selfhood was born” (Havelock, 1986, p. 113). The awareness inspired by writing meant that heroes could not be romanticized as manifestations of the human ideal; rather, they became characters saddled with the same emotional baggage, behavioral idiosyncrasies, and psychological burdens as those that populated the reader’s actual life. As Ong (1982) describes, “The novel is clearly a print genre, deeply interior, de-heroicized, and tending strongly to irony” (p. 159). Heroes turned into protagonists and failure became a possibility. Sentimental and dark versions of the seven plots emerged, with heroes either only outwardly achieving their goals but not demonstrating a complete transformation or instead allowing their character to be drawn toward the shadow versions of masculinity and femininity (Booker, 2004).

By penetrating the psychology of the reader, literature has been shown to generate cognitive responses and experiences in readers that parallel those of hallucinations (Alderson-Day, Bernini, & Fernyhough, 2017). And as with hallucinations, readers can be inspired to act in accordance with the internal speech a text can generate. We can be convinced by fiction (as opposed to non-fiction), as described by the English professor and evolutionary psychologist Jonathan Gottschall (2012), to “drop our intellectual guard [because] (…) We are moved emotionally, and this seems to leave us defenseless” (p. 152). This phenomenon can be implicated in

the way the publication of Goethe’s The Sorrow of Young Werther (1774) inspired a spate of copy-cat suicides; the way novels such as 1984 (George Orwell, 1948) and Darkness at Noon (Arthur Koestler, 1940) steeled a generation against the nightmare of totalitarianism; the ways stories such as Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison, 1952), To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee, 1960), and Roots (Alex Haley, 1976) changed racial attitudes around the world. (Gottschall, 2012, p. 148).

The development of the novel, it seems, activated our innate individual and social psychology in a way that oral stories could not, laying the groundwork for the most profound use of stories in human history.

Religion. Through their use of sweeping epics, smaller parables, and stories of every size in between, oral cultures manage a mythology that guides the practices of a community. Often these mythologies are centered around gods and goddesses with humans susceptible to their desires and adhering to their expectations, producing what by all counts is a fully formed religion. Historically, “mythtelling [was] an instrument for keeping the expanding populuations of the Neolithic in line” (Kane, 1998, p. 21). As those populations expanded, however, there existed a need to transfer cultural knowledge with fidelity not only through space but through time (Ong, 1982). The advent of writing provided a conduit for the codification of cultural norms and practices and its emergence alongside farming practices helped those cultures with exposure to both expand. Therefore, as the

‘Big God(s)’ religions (like those in the modern-day Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) emerged alongside those initial increases in social complexity and coordination just after the transition to domestication and agriculture (in the last 10,000 years or so). As populations became more complex, with larger towns and increasing inequality of wealth and activity, their gods became more moralizing (setting standards for behavior), interventionist (having the potential to have direct effects on human lives), and powerful. (Fuentes, 2017, p. 210).

Though many of the phrasings in these books indicate their origination in the oral tradition (Havelock, 1986; Ong, 1982) by turning the stories into literature, its lessons were shared more widely and without the kind of modifications oral mythtellers often make for their audiences (Havelock, 1986; Ong, 1982; Archibald, 2008). So, even as “The conception of God and his relationship to people, including the rendering of concepts such as original sin, faith, and forgiveness, appeared impressively designed to cultivate an attitude of civic compliance,” (Wilson, 2007, p. 243), it seems that, over time, “worship became more important than the relationships they originally sanctified” (Kane, 1998, p. 45). Rather than be taken metaphorically, the push for literal interpretation of the sacred texts became possible as print copies became widespread, thereby enhancing the opportunity to evangelize strict interpretations of the text (Kronmann, 2016).

And yet, even as the opportunity for contextual manipulation for canonical religious stories began to disappear, the rationale behind ensuring that they were being told remained the same: to produce a better, more just society. As Kronmann (2016) describes in his tome on the evolution of Western philosophy and religion, for Kant, “Immorality is (…) a social disease that requires a social cure. It must be fought through the establishment of an ‘ethical community’ devoted to strengthening the ‘moral disposition’ that society itself corrupts” (p. 452). Religion, it seems, uses its stories to produce self-perpetuating ethical communities.

By using a cascade of stories to produce citizens of predictable moral fiber, it seems the goal of a religion is the same as that of the stories produced by our embodied cognition: to enable an agent to act in a world that he/she understands through prediction. Those predictions are a product of expectations built from experiences and associations that produce patterns in an agent’s mind. The greater the number of experiences and associations an agent has the ability to use, the greater the number of affordances he/she has in a given situation (Clark, 2016). Therefore, it would seem that the goal of stories, at every level of deployment, is the same as the goal of education: to increase students’ feeling of agency by providing them with an increasing awareness of their available affordances. It naturally follows then that if stories are good at producing experiences and associations that they could be used to great effect in teaching. The question then becomes, how are they used? And how might they be used even better?

Stories in indigenous education

Indigenous education and storytelling, while not synonymous, are inextricably bound to each other, because, as one researcher put it, “Families who use stories to teach children important life principles have raised their children ‘right’” (Eder, 2007, p. 279). This perspective likely derives from the implicit assumption—supported by cross-cultural documentation—that by grounding children in their ancestral pasts and cultural mythology they not only are developing a sense of the group’s identity but also provided with potential solutions to problems that recur across generations (Palacios, 2012). These shared narratives also create a

shared perspective on how to evaluate and interpret experiences, which leads to a shared moral perspective. In this regard, an understanding of a self through time influences the way in which the past in constructed, and the way in which the past in constructed influences the way in which the self is conceptualized (McKeough et al., 2008, p. 151).

The use of storytelling to create a cultural lens through which to view both the world and the self enables an educator to foster a sense of agency in students through the depiction of heroes that embody the values of the culture (Carter-Black, 2007; McKeough et al., 2008; Okpewho, 1979).

Storytelling as a pedagogical practice, however, has been used by indigenous cultures as more than a way to transmit tradition and tales of what defines heroism. Storytelling is a sort of “‘oral university’ that taught people young and old about being ‘human’—that is, how to function in the community” (MacLean & Wason-Ellam, 2006, p. 9). Consequently, “storytelling strengthens group cohesiveness through a unified identity and implicit adherence to a set of agreed upon practices” (Palacios, 2012, p. 45-46). The identity that a group is promoting through story and transmitting through storytelling is a result of its history. For the Navajo, the stories convey a sense of harmony and balance between the masculine Protection Way of living and the feminine Blessing Way of living (Eder, 2007). Conversely,

Among African-American women, the liberating cathartic effects of storytelling are found to be helpful in finding meaning in their own lives, bonding with others over storytelling, validating and affirming one another’s experiences, allowing them to vent frustrations, resist oppression, and educate others (Palacios, 2012, p. 46).

Stories and storytelling can therefore provide a conduit for social and emotional learning, allowing the past to be remembered and reflected upon while providing a vision for the future. As one acclaimed First Nations storyteller explains, “’It is not important to preserve our traditions, it is important to allow our traditions to preserve us’” (Ellen White, quoted in Hampton, 1995, p. 22).

The information transmitted through stories, however, is not only of the existential variety. For many indigenous groups, stories provide an education on the details necessary to understand what Western culture would identify as different subject matter, ranging from geography (Koki, 1998) to history (MacLean, & Wasson-Elam, 2006) to art and science (Palacios, 2012). They can also be used to teach bigger concepts, like tolerance and acceptance, ideas that many Western classrooms are afraid to broach. As described by a Navajo storyteller, children learn through story and the succeeding discussion,

‘You do not make fun of people who are deformed or as we know them today—people who act like a boy or a girl [when of the opposite sex]. So you don’t make fun of them. They [have] had a very important life (…). Everything that we have has a purpose to it, and it has a spirituality part to it. So you teach young kids to respect all things, to care for one another, to care for the ill, to care for those who are less fortunate than you are, you see.’ (Eder, 2007, p. 287)

The stories allow students to see differences in displayed in context, thereby creating an almost ecological understanding of diversity.

Though the context created by the story allows the information to become grounded for the students (Bruner, 1990; MacLean, & Wasson-Elam, 2006), it is the discussion that happens after the story that cements their learning. This outcome occurs because, as described by First Nations storyteller Ellen White, listeners are told, “‘We’re going to lift all the little corners of [the story] (…) We’re going to lift this end and lift it and peek under there to see what is going on in there’” (Archibald, 2008, p. 135). It is through this process of listening not only to the story but also to others’ interpretations of the story that new details, ideas, and perspectives come to light. As described by MacLean and Wason-Ellam (2006), researchers working with the Metis people, “One tale reminds someone of theirs, which may in turn remind others or of more details than a previous one. Storytelling provides an opportunity for the uncovering of a new way of knowing” (p. 22). The stories also grant the audience insight to the storytellers themselves (Palacios, 2012), enabling them to see the teller not only as a role model (Archibald, 2008), but also

‘as someone different. They see me as a single parent, they see me as a grandmother that’s raising her granddaughter, they see me as somebody that was very, very poor, and I came from a single parent family (…) They see me as a whole.’ (Queedum in MacLean, & Wason-Ellam, 2006, p. 29)

By developing this connection with their audience, the storyteller can create a synergy between the teacher, the students and the content of the story that is characteristic of storytelling (Archibald, 2008), but that is difficult to achieve in other pedagogical practices.

There are specific practices within storytelling that bolster this synergy. One is the idea that the way a story is told can itself convey a message. As noted by Eder (2007),

if the cultural meanings are the in the content of stories, they are also likely to be found in the practices of storytelling (…) the aspects of storytelling such as its cyclical nature—whereby lessons emerge throughout the story—its use of implicit versus explicit lessons, and its focus on honoring relationships (p. 282).

By returning to the same stories or the same themes, cultures that span the globe (Archibald, 2008; Carter-Black, 2007; McKeough, et al., 2008; Palacios, 2012) manage to teach in a fashion that highlights not only recurrent nature of reality but also the experiences of a life that makes for a life well-lived (MacLean, & Wason-Ellam, 2006). Effective pedagogic storytellers also use the experiences of their listeners to foster connections between the stories and their lives. Researchers working with First Nations teachers concluded, “To make meaning, we make sense of something outside our experiences by pairing it with something known (…) one thing is not taken for another—it’s not a matter of substitution—but is a meaningful pairing” (MacLean, & Wason-Ellam, 2006, p. 17). This purposeful, real-time creation of analogies through the use of both explicit and implicit metaphors by storytellers across cultures (Archibald, 2008; Koki, 1998) promotes agency in learners investigating new content, concepts, and skills.

In many indigenous classrooms, these techniques have been brought to bear on the most traditionally academic of skills, literacy. Recognizing that being a part of a storytelling culture helps students acquire “ (…) an understanding of story structure and a proficiency in creating and sharing stories and legends, children are well positioned to use them in school literacy-related language tasks,” some researchers have discovered the pedagogical power of linking literacy and orality (McKeough et al., 2008, p. 150). This power likely derives from the finding that “ (…) when discourse patterns that correspond to the children’s experience with [I]ndigenous oral forms are recognized and incorporated into the school-based literacy programme, discontinuities between community and classroom begin to break down” (Francis & Reyhner, 2002, p. 52). Given the knowledge that competence in oral narratives is a significant predictor of literacy in later years (McKeough, et al., 2008), some researchers have advocated for explicit programs that utilize indigenous teaching techniques in not exclusively indigenous classrooms (Archibald, 2008; Carter-Black, 2007; Eder, 2007; Koki, 1998; MacLean, & Wason-Ellam, 2006).

The goal, however, could be about more than just developing literacy skills. Given the now well-established need for culturally relevant teaching, one indigenous scholar concludes,

Western schools are faced with the challenges of finding ways to acknowledge the diverse cultural experiences that students bring to school and to structure learning so as to bring out those experiences, allowing children to make their own connections between new knowledge and prior experience (…) By introducing new storytelling practices, teachers can provide much in the way of cultural learning while also modeling respect for different traditions. (Eder, 2007, p. 292)

The inertia for creating classrooms that value all students, cultures, and their associated stories is well-documented, and indigenous practices were seemingly the forerunner of (and perhaps impetus behind the) movement. But if stories and storytelling are more than just conduits for cultural relevance and rather the very vehicles of thought and memory, some savvy Western educators must have managed to find use for them in contemporary classroom settings. The question then becomes, in what ways and spaces have they been successfully deployed?

Storytelling in Western Classrooms

In traditional Western classrooms, the arguments for the deployment of stories and storytelling can be separated into two non-mutually exclusive dichotomies. The first of these is about who plays the role of the storyteller while the second is about the components of a student’s education that are affected by the use of stories. In the spirit of representing education as it is currently constructed, both of these dichotomies will be addressed in sections based on the chronology dictated by state-sponsored education.

Elementary Classrooms. A safe assumption, based on the traditional set-up of the Western classroom, would be that the teacher is cast in the role of storyteller. Several studies have shown that a classroom which deploys this technique promotes student enjoyment by facilitating interaction in the in the learning process (Al-Mansour & Al-Shorman, 2011; Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer, & Lowrence, 2004; Makinney, 1996; Myers, 1990; Zarei, & Ramezankhani, 2018). Perhaps it is the bonds that have been created that promote the trust necessary to effectively facilitate the transmission of knowledge (Harris, & Corriveau, 2011) or maybe it is the narrative and figurative language help bridge the gap between students’ imaginative and practical worlds that allows for learning (Yeoman, 1999). Some studies have even demonstrated that stories told with greater attendance to prosody promote retention of information (Goldman, Meyerson, & Cote, 2006; Loutrari, Tselekidou, & Proios 2018; Mira, & Schwanenflugel, 2013). In any case, it should not be surprising that recent studies spanning the globe are suggesting that teachers should spend at least some of their time in the classroom as the storyteller (Al-Mansour, & Al-Shorman, 2011; Loutrari, Tselekidou, & Proios 2018; Zarei, & Ramezankhani, 2018).

There is also significant literature suggesting the educational value of placing the students in the role of storytellers. Because students naturally use narratives for various purposes various cultures have different understandings of what constitutes a good story (McCabe, 1997), providing students with opportunities to express themselves as storytellers in oral or written form at the very least seems theoretically promising. In practice, the outcomes have been even more than that. One emerging practice is having students produce disruptive stories, or stories that upend the traditional trajectories of common fairy tales. In one study, students who were provided with opportunities to produce their own disruptive stories gained not only a greater appreciation of the importance of perspective in a narrative, but also generated new meanings for stories (Yeoman, 1999). As described by the students themselves “Instead of waiting for your prince to come, you could be something else” and “It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, you can still be a knight in shining armour. All you have to do is get some armour and put it on” (Yeoman, 1999, p. 435). Teachers, like Karen Gallas (1990), who engage in such practices, recognize “that children’s stories are making statements about how they understand their world, [and] that conviction sways the course of my teaching, take[ing] it in new directions and deepens its impact” (p. 161). Students’ stories have been effectively used to help deliver curriculum ranging from its use introducing science lessons (Gallas, 1990; Rubin, 2013) to creating the first texts students use to read (McCabe, 1997) to promoting advanced language arts skill development (Groce, 2004). In some cases, the overt use of storytelling hasn’t been shone to be any more effective than some more traditional methods for the purposes of academic growth, but it has been shone to increase student engagement (Zarei, & Ramezankhani, 2018) and to encourage participation by previously reluctant students (Mages, 2018), suggesting the benefits of storytelling may be more than academic but in the socio-cultural development that it has promoted since time immemorial.

There is even a methodology that positions the teacher as the primary storyteller while positioning the students as not only participants but co-creators of the story. Total Physical Response (TPR) Storytelling is a technique that was an outgrowth of the Total Physical Response methodology developed by Asher that leveraged how children learned their mother tongues by pairing body motions to verbal cues (Bui, 2018). By adding the storytelling component in the 1990s, Blaine Ray sought to pair the narrative instinct identified by Bruner (1990) to Asher’s (1977) activation of the body (Ray, & Seely, 2004). Consequently, students become exposed to “personalized mini-stories” that become the foundation for increasingly larger stories that help students acquire more vocabulary and a more nuanced understanding of grammar (Ray, & Seely, 2004). Most often, the technique is used for teaching foreign languages in secondary settings (Lichtman, 2015), however, it has been shown to be an effective technique for language acquisition in elementary ELL programs across the globe (Munoz & Valencia, 2010; Nuraeningsih & Rusiana, 2016) as well as programs hoping to promote indigenous language acquisition (Cantoni, 1999). Perhaps more interestingly, TPR Storytelling has also been shown to be effective in facilitating learning in the area that has proven most difficult to align with storytelling practices, math (Groce, 2004). In one recent study, the use of TPR Storytelling methodology was associated with an increase in math shape vocabulary (Nurlaili, Nurani, & Yohana, 2015), suggesting TPR storytelling specifically (and stories and storytelling more generally) could be effective methods for delivering content in the more focused curriculum of secondary classrooms.

Secondary Classrooms. As students proceed through their education and begin to have their subjects separated not only by time but also by space, it would seem that some areas would be more likely to use stories and storytelling techniques as a matter of course. The most obvious would be English/Language Arts courses, whereby stories are the curriculum, belying the need to discuss the subject at length. The way stories are selected and presented, however, can have significant effect on student interpretation in the classroom. Rather than reifying the existing power structure through the selection of stories from the canon, teachers who diversify their curriculum promote educational equity and cross-cultural understanding (Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2017). Such practices have been advocated for in English classrooms for more than two decades, leading to British Parliament member Diane Abbott’s 1995 address to the National Council of Teachers of English (Yeoman, 1999). There she declared, “ ‘[it] falls upon those who teach our children, whatever their colour, to teach all our children, whatever their colour, that heroes and heroines can be any shade or gender’” (Bianchini, 1995, p. 234). In the intervening decades, teachers have been encouraged in fits and starts to provide diverse curriculum, resulting in a greater array of heroes and heroines; however, some groups continue to be marginalized.

For no one is this story of marginalization more true than for students who identify as LGBTQ. In a recent National School Climate Survey, those students were more likely to have a negative school experience (Kosciw et al., 2014), with those who had experienced harassment having lower grade point averages and plans for post-secondary education (Kosciw, et al., 2012). The remedy, it seems, is inclusive curriculum, for

in schools where students do report usage of an inclusive curriculum, LGBT[Q] students experience a safer school environment, less absenteeism, a feeling of more connection to their schools (…) greater acceptance from their peers (…) [and] perception of safety (…) and reduced homophobia. (Page, 2017, p. 347).

The most obvious place to generate LGBTQ inclusive curriculum is in an English/Language Arts course, where novels and stories presenting the LGBTQ experience can be used as the primary text and can be made available for choice reading time.

These sorts of decisions can have cascading effects, promoting the inclusion of the LGBTQ perspective when larger issues like discrimination, sex, and identity show up in more traditional texts. The decision, according to one inclusivity-aware teacher, comes down to the school and the teachers themselves. “‘The standards really tell us what to do for the most part, but we get to decide how. And I choose to address the standards through essential questions of equity and justice’” (Lanza in Page, 2017, p. 357). By choosing the right kind of stories and allowing the space for the kind of discussion that manifests itself as a part of indigenous storytelling, more student voices are heard and there is increased exposure to and understanding of the diversity of heroes (and people) that fill students’ lives.

A second subject area where stories reside as the centerpiece is social studies. Serving as the conduit for understanding human behavior, social studies teachers have the ability to provide their students with the psychological, sociological, and historical context for human activities past, present, and future. That context, however, can easily become lost among a cacophony of facts presented in some sort of chronology (Bage, 2012). This issue is exacerbated when the information that a teacher is attempting to transmit needs to be viewed through a cultural lens different than the students’ native one. For the social studies teacher, it then becomes important to realize “storytelling can help awaken the sociological imagination (…) it (…) can engage students even when such engagement is not normative for them” (Storrs, 2009, p. 43). For the history teacher, a “narrative serves to transform into a story a list of historical events that would otherwise be only a chronicle” (White, 1987, p. 43). Therefore, one of the history teacher’s primary practices should be

the construction and deconstruction of explanatory narratives about the past, derived from evidence and in answer to questions. This can be explained to children as finding answers to questions and questions to answer, by taking apart and putting together again real stories about the past. (Bage, 2013, p. 127-128)

As described earlier, the construction of the narrative may come from either the teacher or the students, with both having been shown to be effective.

In the former case, for the teacher to be an effectual storyteller, he or she must

decontextualiz[e] a text from a national context and recontextualiz[e] it into a personal or local context [and] assert (…) the authority to make oneself a responsible agent who is central to telling about national events, and whose experiences are directly related, through the dialogic process of narrating, to national experience. (Hamer, 1999, p. 376)

By positioning themselves as authorities on the subject through an understood connection to the protagonists of the historical narrative, teachers are granted legitimacy in the minds of their listeners (i.e. students) (Hamer, 1999; Loewen, 1995). They have effectively turned the dry subject of history into a study of the past, a critical distinction because across cultures, “the past [is] pervasive, a natural part of everyday life, central to any effort to live in the present” (Rosenzweig, & Thelen, 1998, p. 9). The same standards apply to positioning students as storytellers in the social studies classroom. Rather than be asked to not only memorize but also understand the vicissitudes of history, students who create blended narratives linking their own stories to those of the past cultivates a connection that enables them to own and share seminal moments in their lives and the way they were raised (Koenig, & Zorn, 2002). It effectively makes them heroes of their own classroom experience (Niedermeyer, 2015; Ohler, 2006).

Storytelling and narrative have been shown to be an effective technique in subjects outside those that are most obvious, however. In fields like science and math, the emphasis on compartmentalization and reductionism can serve to remove the kind of context that stories can produce, which is why there is a growing movement to look to narrative as a better way to convey science to the public (Dahlstrom, 2014; Negrete, & Lartigue, 2004). Whether the narrative is generated by the teacher (Hottecke, & Silva, 2011) or the students (Martin, & Brouwer, 1991), science stories allow students to perceive the nuance and context that often get overlooked in the quest to ascertain causal relationships. When teachers incorporate stories that illustrate the philosophy and history of science, they generate a “romantic understanding of science” (Klassen, & Klassen, 2014, p. 1503) that can

help students understand such ideas as: scientific knowledge, while durable, is tentative and subject to revision, people of both sexes and from many countries have contributed to the development of science, science is a creative activity, science has a sociocultural dimension, and also that there is not a standard scientific method, as scientists use a variety of approaches to explain the natural world. (Hadzigeorgiou, 2017, p. 1)

It seems that narratives about discovery can create the emotional connection to the material necessary for learning.

This result may be a product of the parallels between narrative and science as means for perceiving causation and intent and encouraging predictions and analysis. As described by Klassen (2010),

stories serve to encourage active learning through the generation of hypotheses and explanations. The practical implications of this theoretical analogy can be applied to the classroom in that the utilization of stories provides the opportunity for a type of re-enactment of the learning process that may encourage both engagement with the material and the development of long-term memory structures. (p. 305)

This recognition about the ability of stories to capture a scientific concept in a transferable fashion mirrors the long utilized associations indigenous cultures have identified between mythology and scientific knowledge. It also explains why some districts are turning to indigenous school leaders for ideas about how to incorporate indigenous scientific practices and knowledge into their curriculum (Hewson, & Ogunniyi, 2011; Kawagley, Norris-Tull, & Norris-Tull, 1998). Secondary education, so often a bulwark against change, has seemingly begun to identify the value of one of the oldest pedagogical practices and incorporate it across subject matters.

The Next Chapter

It would be trite to write at this point that storytelling is a universal cultural practice, but it would also be accurate. What is perhaps more interesting is that it is also educationally universal. Educators, whether they are indigenous or Western, whether they teach pre-school students or pre-service teachers, are going to tell stories, and encourage their students to do so as well. Some disciplines may be less likely to use storytelling techniques, but new techniques and technologies are emerging that are making it ever more likely that students will be seen activating their narrative brains not only in a language arts class but also in math and science classes. It is also becoming more likely that younger students are going to be encouraged to share their own stories both in traditional fashions but also digitally. These practices enable students to connect with their own cultures and understand others, to develop analogies and metaphors for understanding concepts that may have otherwise seemed abstract, and they enable teachers to turn their classrooms into communities. In short, stories help make a classroom compelling (Davies, 2014). Given that it is a teacher’s job to compel a student to learn, it would seem that the classroom isn’t just a place for storytelling; it is the place for it.

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About the Author

Dr. W. Jason Niedermeyer: Instructor, Pacific University (USA); Instructional Mentor for the Career Technical Education Center (USA); Interdisciplinary investigations of pedagogical practice and the promotion of student agency; e-mail: wniederm@pacificu.edu

摘要 （ Jing Xiang & Ying Yan: 阅读和表达的相互促进： 关于对I Wanna Iguana的儿童图画书的研究）： 儿童图画书的叙事功能是将精美的，富于表现力的和色彩丰富的图画与简洁而具有想象力的文字结合在一起。当老师和孩子们反复阅读图片和文字时，就会产生一种被称为循环过程的教育过程。这一过程分为四个阶段：介绍，讲述故事，重述故事以及使用重述的故事。教师可以有效地了解孩子的知识，认知特性以及图画书和绘画的性质。而后，故事生动的描述将会激励孩子从他人的视角去思考，并与世界上不同的人进行交流。通过这种方式，我们希望建立一种全新的教学文化，她由民族记忆和中国传统文化的要素所组成。
关键词：儿童图画书，书写，记录
摘要 （ Jing Xiang & Ying Yan: 閱讀和表達的相互促進： 關於對I Wanna Iguana的兒童圖畫書的研究）： 兒童圖畫書的敘事功能是將精美的，富於表現力的和色彩豐富的圖畫與簡潔而具有想像力的文字結合在一起。當老師和孩子們反复閱讀圖片和文字時，就會產生一種被稱為循環過程的教育過程。這一過程分為四個階段：介紹，講述故事，重述故事以及使用重述的故事。教師可以有效地了解孩子的知識，認知特性以及圖畫書和繪畫的性質。而後，故事生動的描述將會激勵孩子從他人的視角去思考，並與世界上不同的人進行交流。通過這種方式，我們希望建立一種全新的教學文化，她由民族記憶和中國傳統文化的要素所組成。
關鍵詞：兒童圖畫書，書寫，記錄

Zusammenfassung (Jing Xiang Ying Yan: Gegenseitige Förderung des Lesens und des Ausdrucks: Forschung zur Kinderbilderbuch-Lehre von I Wanna Iguana): Die erzählerische Funktion von Kinderbilderbüchern verbindet die exquisiten, aussagekräftigen und farbenfrohen Bilder mit einfachen und phantasievollen Worten. Ein pädagogischer Prozess, der als Zirkulationsprozess bezeichnet wird, findet statt, wenn LehrerInnen und Kinder die Bilder und Wörter wiederholt lesen. Dieser Prozess umfasst vier Stufen: Einführen, Erzählen der Geschichte, Nacherzählen der Geschichte und Nutzung der nacherzählten Geschichte. Der Lehrer/die Lehrerin kann das Wissen der Kinder, die kognitiven Eigenschaften sowie das Wesen von Bilderbüchern und Gemälden effektiv verstehen. Dann regt die lebendige Illustration der Geschichte die Kinder dazu an, aus der Sicht anderer zu denken und mit verschiedenen Menschen in der Welt zu kommunizieren. Auf diese Weise wollen wir eine ganz neue Lehrkultur etablieren, die aus dem nationalen Gedächtnis und Elementen der traditionellen chinesischen Kultur besteht.
Schlüsselwörter: Kinderbilderbuch, Schreiben, Notizen

Резюме(Джинг Ксянг, Джинг Ян: О взаимных векторах мотивации к чтению и изложению прочитанного: изучение практики обучения на материале детской иллюстрированной книги «Я хочу себе игуану»): Нарративная функция детских иллюстрированных книг заключается в том, чтобы умело сочетать и использовать уникальные, яркие, выразительные картинки с обычными и фидейно-игровыми речевыми контекстами. Педагогический процесс, который носит циркуляционный характер, начинает реализовываться тогда, когда учителя и ученики обращаются к произведению – его текстовой и иллюстрационной составляющей – не однократно, в несколько «подходов». Данный процесс является четырехступенчатым: введение, рассказ истории, пересказ истории с последующим применением данного нарратива в определенных целях и дискурсах. Учитель должен уметь эффективно использовать фоновые знания учащихся, их когнитивные способности, правильно оценивать потенциал иллюстраций и других графических знаков. В этом случае иллюстрация, прилагаемая к той или иной истории, способна пробудить у детей интерес к коммуникации с разными людьми, причем не только в рамках своей культуры, она учит их «примерять» на себя разные роли и вживаться в них. Таким образом, мы можем говорить о становлении абсолютно новой культуры научения, которая формируется на основе национальной памяти и элементов традиционной китайской культуры.
Ключевые слова: детская иллюстрированная книга, письмо как речевой деятельности, записи

Introduction

Picture books are not only good at shaping and depicting the relationship between characters and social environment, but also contain rich elements such as emotional mood, aesthetic connotation and life care. An exquisite picture book will also reflect personal feelings, care for life, judgment of value and moral problems through the images and artistic conception of the writing creation, which not only shows the emotional world to young readers, but also has literary appeal and certain educational significance. Picture books with concise, short words give children enough space to imagine, so that children can get emotional and life inspiration. All the wonderful experiences of childhood will remain in the children’s heart in their whole life, and from time to time give them comfort and encouragement, which will become the eternal support of the soul.

(1) Children’s picture books. The children’s picture books are mainly composed of five parts: front cover, end paper, title page (fly page), text and back cover. It combines beautiful binding, unique picture of the title page and splendid frontispiece, which under the same theme to make the picture and text are perfectly unified and have a unique artistic expression. The narrative function of children’s picture books is accomplished by both pictures and words. The plot narration of picture books is mainly expressed by words to describe the progress of story time, and the emotional expression of picture books is mainly presented by the pictures which shows the category of story space.

These two parts interpret and mutually complement each other. When the picture is finished, the text is added to explain the picture, and when the text is finished, the picture is added after the text to improve the artistic conception of the text. Pictures and texts in children’s picture books have mutually beneficial functions. The main purpose of pursuing and presenting is to achieve the overall effect after the combination of texts. Because of the relationship between the pages turning of picture books, the suspense arranged by the author is often interesting, which also strengthens the interactive effect between teachers and children in the teaching process.

The children’s picture book I Wanna Iguana brings creativity and ingenuity to children by using the way of turning pages. Image details often contain mysterious details to pave the way for the story, laying down foreshadows for teachers and students to guess how the protagonist, Alex, solved the difficulties with the help of writing notes. The 12K version of this picture book is enough to satisfy the performance space and appropriate blank space required by the picture book. In this book, all pictures inherit the concise, exaggerated, deformed and grotesque performance characteristics of European and American paintings. Through the expressive power of painting and the imaginative space provided to readers, it greatly illustrates the visual effect brought by the artistic expressive power of painting. The refined and brief words in picture books give readers enough imagination space to narrate the same story together with exquisite, rich implication and sprightly paintings. It also gives children the desire and space to continue reverie and narrate their own stories.

For primary school students, only those works which can arouse students’ interest and have compact plots, vivid stories are suitable to use into the teaching of picture books. This books’ difficulty is slightly higher than the average reading level and comprehension ability of students. I Wanna Iguana is a 12K-sized comprehensive picture book with water-soluble lead and watercolor painting as the main form of paperback binding. The painter presents the whole story with water-soluble color lead and watercolor paintings. The picture is full and the brushwork is delicate and soft, the language is concise, exaggerated and grotesque. The warm tone highlighted in the yellow and purple color exactly depicts the situation where Alex, a little boy, communicates with his mother through strong reasoning by writing notes, which embodies a bi-directional communication form. This kind of communication form integrates expression (writing) and listening (reading), and has the characteristics of “reading, thinking, transferring and expressing words.” Teacher and students read the picture book I Wanna Iguana, listening to the story in the book can also help children to describe their own stories.

(2) Literature review of picture books. In China, the embryonic form of the early children’s picture books can be traced back to Diary Stories which published in Jiajing Period of Ming Dynasty (Zheng, 1936, p. 10). The top half of the page is illustrations and the other half is simple and understandable text. It consists of ancient Chinese stories about children such as the story of Sima Guang breaking the water vat to save a child and Wen Yanbo irrigating floating balls, which in order to inspire children’s mind and expand their thinking ability. Thereafter, countries around the world were trying to explore children’s hearts and potential through the picture books, and also interpreted the value and significance of picture books for children’s growth.

In the West, The Czech educator Johann Amos Comenius wrote Orbis Pictus in 1658 by using both pictures and words (Comenius, 1658). Other children’s books which have exerted important influence in this field include Kate Greenaway’s Under the Window in 1877 (Kate, 1877), Randolph J. Caldecott’s The Diverting History of John Gilpin in 1878 (Caldecott, 1953) and Beatris Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1901 (Beatrix, 1901). In 1988, Canadian Perry Nordlman provided theoretical support for picture books in his opus Words about Pictures：The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books (Perry, 1988). A famous Japanese educationist discussed the educational value of picture books for children’s growth in his book Picture book (Naoto, 2017). In the second half of the 20th century, the successive establishment of international awards, like Newbery Medal、Caldecott Medal、The Kate Greenaway Medal and Hans Christian Andersen Award, confirms the recognition and important status in education of children’s picture books in the world.

With the improvement of social economy, culture and consumption level, children enjoy a relatively superior material life. Meanwhile, they also have to face the unique difficulties and hardships from the utilitarian era and examination-oriented education. Accompanied by the rapid development of color printing technology, the society’s understanding of childhood and children has gradually deepened, which has led to a fundamental change in educational concepts. It calls for high-quality art and thoughtful words which could help children understand the environment in which they live and the path they want to take in the future.

Just as the picture book Snail Express which illustrated by Xiong Lei and Xiong Liang conveys childhood feelings, interests, warmth, tolerance and role’s beliefs and perseverance to children and stays in their hearts (Xiong, 2003). Another picture book Little Stone Lion also depicts a childhood memory which came out in the noisy world, the prosperous network and the rushed life (Xiong, 2007). In addition, Lin Haiyin and Zheng Mingjin’s Come to My Hometown shoulder the globalization responsibility of knowing their own national history and relations with other countries (Lin, 2017). Also, the picture book Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear which written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Barbara Firth, revealed warmth and fraternity (Martin, & Barbara, 2008). The British Rose tells us about the communication and mutual recognition between girls (Madonna, 2003). Milly and Molly Series of picture books by New Zealand writer Jill Pittar and Cris Morrell also warmed the hearts of many children (Pittar, 2014). We should not lose the picture book which is the key to bringing you back to childhood, even if reality is muddy in the future. It tries to help children to face various problems in real life, and then build a happy and confident outlook on life. Children’s picture books go beyond simply writing about a poetic childhood. They also try to reflect the relationship between children and the world around them (including adults), and describe the influence of the world on children and the children’s response to the world. This kind of deep writing has expanded from “childhood life” to “childhood humanity.” It gives children humane care and shows the strength and breadth of childhood, which naturally reaches a certain depth.

Method

I Wanna Iguana is a picture book which is worth reading slowly and carefully with children by adults. Only after reading the pictures and words repeatedly can we understand its artistic conception, experience its lingering charm and interpret the power implied under the gentle words. The specific teaching process involves four stages: lead-in, telling the story, retelling the story and utilizing the retold story. The teacher and student learns about the way of communication between students and their parents, and introduces this communication into the teaching of stories. With the help of the characteristics about page turning of picture book, the troubles and difficulties are presented, suspense is set to guide children to guess and associate with the story, and then relay how to get out of the troubles and realize their wishes. By re-reading the story, we can summarize and conclude the content of mother and child’s notes, understand the value of writing notes for parent-child communication and interpersonal communication, and then study to write words and help children try to stand on the other side to communicate with others and the world.

(1) Background. The national seminar of primary school children’s reading was held in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province from December 7 to 9. On this day, a senior teacher from Suzhou participated in this meeting which gathered hundreds of primary and secondary school teachers from various cities and counties. On a cold winter morning, fifty children in the third grade of the Jiangxi Normal University affiliated primary school and many teachers were listening to the story I Wanna Iguana which was written by Karen Kaufman Orloff and illustrated by David Catrow. Because the lecturer is not only a special Chinese language teacher in Jiangsu Province, but also an advocate of children’s reading, she has devoted herself to the research of children’s reading teaching for a long time and acted as a promoter of “the whole book reading by both teachers and students,” which makes this picture book reading-writing course more worthy of acceptance and description. In particular, the process that teachers and children narrate the picture book I Wanna Iguana together try to make children learn to listen to others rationally and establish a brand new life on the basis of knowing their world.

The third grade belongs to the middle-grade stage of primary school. At this stage, students have mastered the way of writing notes, which paves the way for the preliminary perception of the writing form of notes involved in the picture book I Wanna Iguana. Some notes with wonderful dialogues between mother and son are embedded in this unique picture book: the protagonist, Alex, is exaggerated to look like a little old man, holding a big iguana at his waist. The Iguana is a reptile somewhat resembling a dragon. It’s a kind of giant lizard, up to 1.8-3 meters in length and weighing about 60-130 kilograms. Its skin is rough and there are many bumps on the body. This seemingly ugly combination, however, belies the the little boy Alex’s coquetry, self-praise, avoidance, and solemn assurance. Under the mother’s witty and humorous words, it also resolves the conflict between mother and son, bridges the gap between demands and reality, and unconsciously makes readers happy about the ugly combination. After listening to this picture book, readers cannot help admiring this kind of sweet and intimate parent-child communication. The exaggerated characters and strong color contrast in this picture book makes the original story more personalized.

(2) Instructional design. Alex, the little boy in the story, suddenly wants to raise an iguana. He knew that it was impossible to get his mother’s consent to raise an iguana in a normal way. So he persuades his mother with notes one after another. Mother and son writes notes to each other. Alex talks to her mother for firm and legitimate reasons, and his mother responds calmly. Both are full of reason and wisdom. Finally, the mother and son reach an agreement and have a happy ending by making a concession and respecting each other.

This story provides a good communication mode, which is note communication. By telling stories, students realize that learning to listen, understand and respect others’ opinions is the key to having successful communication. The Chinese Curriculum Standard (2011 edition) issued by China’s Ministry of Education puts forward the general goal of the Chinese curriculum, “In all kinds of communication activities, learn to listen, express and communicate, initially learn to communicate civilly with others and society, and develop the spirit of cooperation.” This reading-writing course of I Wanna Iguana is in response to this goal and this topic also has a strong practical significance. Children have strong self-awareness. In their communication with their parents and others, they often use “playing tricks,” “commanding tone” and “harassing parents with unreasonable demands” to ignore other people’s feelings while only paying attention to their own demands.

In the design of this lesson, when narrating the story, we use the forms of listening to the teacher, guessing and verifying pictures and reading notes in turn by teacher and student, conforming to the original structure and rhythm of the picture book, avoiding trivial questions and answers, and enhancing the appeal of the story. Rereading the story and summarizing Alex’s communication skills constitute a certain degree of difficulty for students in this period, but this difficulty is the value of this lesson, that is, with the help of this story, the students can understand what they had never thought of before. The serial communication mode provided by the story makes students enjoy reading and utilizing it more frequently when students try to communicate with their parents, friends and classmates by writing notes, and also learn to listen to others and express themselves rationally. Its significance is far beyond the skill itself of teaching students to write notes.

Case study

At the beginning of the class, the children are presented with a familiar picture of life, a little boy about three years old lying on the ground, his two eyes staring at the adults around him, trying to “play tricks” to achieve his goals. At this time, a woman teacher with straight hair and shawl kindly asks, “Have you ever used this method to get what you want?” All the students who have been asked said that they had used this method before. However, with the growth of age, they no longer use this method to achieve their goals. Then the teacher raises another question, “If you have an expectation in mind, and you want your parents’ consent to this matter, what will you usually do?” A student said that he would get good grades through exams to talk to his parents and get what he wanted; another student said that he gets his parents’ favor mainly by flattering. When the words “flattering” blurt out, some of his classmates laugh secretly, some laugh heartily, some closed their eyes and covered their mouths, as if immersed in a similar situation. There are also students who do housework in exchange for what they want; there are also students who lock themselves up in the room and do not eat to win the sympathy of their parents by threatening. Next, let’s go into the picture book I Wanna Iguana and see how little boy Alex used to persuade his mother to let him have a big iguana.

Opening the first page, we see a smiling little boy holding a huge iguana at his waist, which seems to herald a comic ending to the story. However, at the beginning of the picture book there is a dreamlike purple background. Through the window, we can see that the curtain with red and orange stripes on the grey-white background is half open. A little boy with his hands on his cheeks and lips closed, he looks sadly and stares at the rain on the glass outside the window. In the picture, we can see that the clouds floating in the distance seem to be the sadness of the boy’s heart. The windows are inlaid in the blue framed house with yellow as the main color, and the color of the house gives a slight chill. The house is surrounded by lush green and yellow-green vegetation, all of these things implies the troubles of golden childhood. The little boy is Alex, the protagonist of the story. He wants to raise a big iguana, but he knows clearly that if he talks directly to his mother, she won’t agree. So he looks out the window at the rain and stares blankly for a while. Suddenly, he seems inspired and writes a note to his mother.

Dear Mom,

I know you don’t think I should have Mikey Gulligan’s baby iguana when he moves, but here’s why I should. If I don’t take it, he goes to Stinky and Stinky’s dog, Lurch, will eat it. You don’t want that to happen, do you?

Signed,

Your sensitive son,

Alex

Alex’s note expresses his desire to keep the iguana for fear that it would be eaten. Mother refuses Alex’s request on the grounds that the dog Lurch would not get into the cage and eat the iguana, but there is a glimmer of hope in her words.

Dear Alex,

I’m very happy that you’re so compassionate, but I doubt that Stinky’s mother will let Lurch get into the iguana’s cage.

However, you did a really good job!

Love,

Mom

In order to catch the glimmer of hope in time, Alex writes a note to his mother and draws a large iguana on the note, besides which he writes a big “see” and a question mark and an exclamation mark.

Dear Mom,

Do you know that the iguana is so quiet and so cute; I think it would be cuter than a hamster!

Love,

Your adorable son

A note with a yellow-green iguana occupies almost half of the picture. Above the note, the little boy Alex pulls a long rope, at the end of the rope, there is a baby iguana, which is only a dime in size and is round and thick, and the big iguana painted on the note, as well as the signature of “Love” all show the children’s strong desire and sincere feelings. However, mother refuses Alex’s request for this big iguana is too ugly. The note with the poisonous spider in red and orange occupies another half of the space and the picture with the big iguana in the opposite picture reflects that the dialogue between the two sides will continue, and the problems that arise in front of Alex are endless.

Now we turn to the next page; there is a little boy whose hands on his cheeks and eyes closed half crawling on the ground toward a iguana with its head protruding from the mouth of a trophy beside him. Under the light purple background, Alex’s voice is written on a gray-and-white note.

Dear Mom,

You’ll never see the iguana. I’ll put its cage on the cabinet next to the soccer trophies in my room. Also, it’s a very small one; I bet you won’t even know it’s there.

Love and a zillion and one kisses,

Alex

Alex hides the iguana in order to avoid the iguana being abandoned when his mother sees it, Therefore, he explains his determination and perseverance in raising big iguana by continuing to write “love you” on the notes and give a zillion and one kisses to express his strong emotions. His mother also responded wisely and rationally, she said that iguana can grow to be over six feet long. Alex’s entire room would be stuffed to bursting, not to mention his cabinet.

Turning to the next page, time seems to pass through the scene of fifteen years later. A yellow sofa with red lines and blue vertical stripes is setting in the background of yellow and purple. Alex, who has grown up to be an adult with a beard, sits on the sofa with a thick book on his legs, a big iguana’s head around the sofa nestling on Alex’s right side. A cat with red and orange fur squatted on the back of the sofa, quietly accompanies Alex on his left side; the lamp next to the cat projects a soft luster. This situation makes children speculate about the content of Alex’s note.

Dear Mom,

It would take fifteen years for an iguana to grow that long. That’s what Mikey has told me. By then I was married and living in my own house probably.

Love,

Your smart and mature kid,

Alex

In a pale, yellow-green background, a tall priest was trying to read the Bible in his hand. On priest’s left-hand side, Alex, still young, is wearing an adult suit and a red-purple tie. The iguana on the priest’s right side seems to have grown up and wears a suit with a red-purple tie which is identical to Alex’s. This situation has caused children to be anxious to guess what the mother will write back.

Dear Alex,

If you had a six-foot-long reptile in your room, think about, which girl would want to marry you?

Love,

Your concerned mother

Alex still loves his mother but also sticks to his wishes, and writes notes strenuously for his wishes. He said that he did need a new friend! This iguana would be the right one he has been waiting for! Mother continues to show her love for her son and insists on her own attitude. At this time, the teacher invites a student to play Alex; the teacher plays the mother, and reads the dialogue between mother and son in different roles.

During the conversation Alex tries to prove that he is ready to raise a iguana, and eagerly states that he will learn the lesson that he once made a goldfish jump into spaghetti sauce, on the grounds that iguana don’t like spaghetti at all.

At this point, the picture presented to the children is as follows. In a soft yellow background, Alex’s head occupies almost a third of the picture, giving a weird and extremely exaggerated feeling. Spaghetti spit out from Alex’s mouth connects the noodles in a goldfish’s mouth, but the left in spoon proves that the iguana doesn’t like Italian noodles. Extremely exaggerated pictures also seem to herald an unusual response from mothers. She said that she would let Alexraise an iguana in a trial basis, yet, she wanted to know how Alex would takes good care of it.

Turning to the next page, we can see an image of this, a large, fat iguana stands with its legs together on the edge of a clear, pale blue swimming pool, and its slender arms open and sway up and down as if dancing. Not far away, beside the yellow-themed house and the yellow-green vegetation, a huge colorful sunshade shows Alex’s happy mood and future expectations together. The emotions and love between mother and son turn into picturesque and delicate strokes.

Dear Mom,

I would feed him every day (he just eats lettuce). And I would make sure he has plenty of water. I will clean his cage when he gets dirty.

Love,

Responsible Alex

P.S. What’s a trial basis?

Dear Alex,

A trial basis means that your Dad and I will see how you’re doing with him for a week or two, and then we’ll decide whether or not to let you continue to raise it. Please remember, Stinky and Lurch are waiting!

Love,

Mom

P.S. If you clean his cage as well as you clean your room, you’re in trouble.

If the dream purple symbolizes the longing of the future, what we see is little Alex half lying in a lavender sofa, facing a giant iguana which mouth filled with green lettuce, as if to say …

Dear Mom,

I am really sure to clean my room and the iguana’s cage. And, please listen to me, I will use my allowance to buy the lettuce. Which means how much can a baby iguana eat all the time?

Love,

Alex the financial wizard

The mother squats down to face her son and asks earnestly, “Are you sure you want to do that? Alex?” Alex raises his head and stares at his mother and says firmly, “Yes, Mom! I want to raise a lizard … please! ” So mother said to him, “Look on your cabinet. What’s it?”

A yellow circle of light follows Alex back to the room. He opens the door eagerly and is surprised to see a cage with a big iguana in it. Alex exclaims, “Wow! Thank you! Thank you!” At the same time, his puerile cheeks slowly burst into a brilliant smile.

Conclusion

The note communication provided in the picture book I Wanna Iguana can better reflect the importance of the event and show more parties’ opinions than oral expression. The carefully written sentences are conducive to wording or modifying or rewriting according to the reaction of the other side, avoiding the old Chinese saying of “one promise, one thousand gold.” It means that the words spoken out must not be changed. Written words can freely express such feelings as “dear” and “love you,” which are hard to say in Chinese people’s daily life, such as “I know you will not agree with me to raise a baby iguana” instead of saying “I want to raise an iguana” is enough to prove that trying to think from the other side is the premise of effective communication. Writing notes one by one is based on understanding what the other side wants to say and then speaking what the other side wants to hear. The changing signatures on the notes also reflect the confidence and responsibility of the writers.

In the era of electronic media, people generally tend to use computer typing, WeChat (a communication software in China), message and other shortcuts to communicate. Beautiful computer fonts and neat network symbols deprive the strength and personalized expression of writing. Children’s most authentic voice and the strongest emotions in their hearts are reflected in those skewed, different sizes and childish notes. The pen-point dances heartily on paper, express children’s wishes and demands in the changes of black and white handwriting, and express the voices of writers’ hearts. They all try to tell us that even in the 21st century of highly modern development, writing, an ancient and traditional way of communication, is still the most powerful means of mutual perception and understanding between people and the world. What’s more, Chinese characters and calligraphy are not only important symbols of Chinese civilization, but also important carriers to inherit it.

In fact, not only children, but many adults still don’t know how to assert a claim, how to ask, how to refuse, how to negotiate or how to communicate effectively. Writing not only teaches us to respect and understand with each other, but also lets us feel the interest of life and enrich our ideals in perseverance. Perhaps, in our childhood, we had a fantastic dream like “I Wanna Iguana,” but because our parents taught us to be “sensible,” “obedient,” to be “diligent” and “thrifty,” we can only suppress this “unrealistic” and “useless” desire, but lost our original enthusiasm for not following conformity. At present, there is an urgent need to guide children from “learning refuse” and “stick in the mud” to “how to get what we want” and “what to do when we want” which are full of rational and wise communication to understand others and the future world.

Guiding and supervising children to increase the study of “picture-based speech” to improve their ability to use and control language, thereby improving their lack of knowledge of the world, interpersonal and emotional communication. Effective communication and timely response do not have a fixed pattern. Only by listening, that is, understanding each other and the world, can we consider others in one’s own place and coexistence with the world and make a timely response. Only by guiding children with love, respect and understanding and enriching their childhood with wit and humor can adults and children gain a sense of fun and freedom; the stricter the adults are, the more moderate the children will be; the more the adults stick to some stereotypes and doctrines, the more children will lose a lot of childlike innocence and fun.

Now, with the spread of multiculturalism and globalization, how do we guide children to broaden their horizons, identify with their own culture and understand and hold different cultures at the same time? The internationalization becomes a view of knowing yourself as well as the others. Knowing one’s own, that is to know one’s own national history and culture well will ensure the value of one’s own life. Knowing others means presenting one’s own language and viewpoint as well as the national ritual and music by the language and words which others can understand. It does not try to become like others, but to present our differences in a way that others can understand. Therefore, internationalization seeks for meaning that others can understand. Also, art connects people with the world. Only by guiding children to read pictures and words can they see a world image full of cultural integration and without confrontations and wars. The real meaning of reading is not only to understand the literal meaning but also to grasp its core. It is embodied not only in understanding the rules expressed by words, but also in understanding the ideas behind the rules and the logic of their implementation. Only on the basis of national memory and cultural tradition can we compose a chapter of world culture based on picture books.

References

• Comenius, Johann Amos (1658). Orbis Pictus. European Countries Press.
• Cowper, William (Writer), &Caldecott, R. (Illustrator) (1953). The Diverting History of John Gilpin. London (England): Pook Press.
• Greenaway, Kate. (2007). Under the Window. New York: Frederick Warne Publishers ltd.
• Kaufman Orloff, Karen (Writer), & Catrow. David (Illustrator). (2002). I Wanna Iguana. New York, NY: G.P.Putnam’s Sons.
• Liang Xiong. (2007). Little Stone Lion. Jinan (China): Tomorrow press.
• Liang Xiong., & Lei Xiong. (2003). Snail Express. Beijing. China: People’s University of China Press.
• Lin Haiyin (Writer), & Zheng Mingjin. (Illustrator) (2017). Come to My Hometown. Zhengzhou, (China): Zhengzhou University Press.
• Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone. (2003). The British Rose. New York, NY: Callaway Editions.
• Matsuyama. Naoto (2017). Picture book. Urumqi (China): Xinjiang Juvenile Publishing House.
• Nordlman, Perry (1988). Words about Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books. Athens (GA): University of Georgia Press.
• Pittar, Jill (Writer), & Morrell, Cris. (Illustrator). (2014). Milly and Molly Series. Leicester (England): Sweet Cherry Publishing.
• Potter, Beatrix (1901). The Tale of Peter Rabbit. New York, NY: Frederick Warne Publishers ltd.
• Waddell, Martin (Writer), & Firth, Barbara (Illustrator) (2008). Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? London (England): Walker Books.
• Weiping Fang. (2010). On the Side of the Earth: Papers of the Tenth Asian Children’s Literature Congress. Beijing (China): Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 93.
• Zhendou Zheng. (1936). Analysis of Chinese Children’s Readings. In Literature. Volume 7, pp. 10-13.

About the Authors

Prof. Dr. Jing Xiang: Associate Professor, Jiangxi Normal University (CHN); Head of the general pedagogic subject “A Scientific Approach to the Living Space of Children in the City” (sponsored by the National Social Science Fund in 2017); e-mail: xiangjing2016@126.com

Ying Yan: Postgraduate of Elementary Education school Jiangxi Normal University (CHN); e-mail: yanying160809@126.com

摘要 (Krisztina Kovács: 根据法律，将弱智儿童纳入匈牙利的幼儿教育）： 该研究首先介绍了最重要的匈牙利的和国际的趋势，以及在匈牙利儿童融合教育与特殊教育需求的法律背景。而后，根据我们的实证研究结果，介绍了幼师在智障儿童融合教育方面的策略和任务。这一主题的现状显示，根据统计数据，主流幼儿园中有大量特殊教育需求的儿童，这对于幼师专业能力的期望值产生了影响。根据2011年人口普查的数据，匈牙利有 10％的智障人口。中央统计局2018年公布的数据显示，2016年人口的4.3％属于残疾。从2011年到2016年，智障人数增加了25％，超过了50,000人。
关键词：特殊教育需求，智障儿童，融合，幼儿园

摘要(Krisztina Kovács: 根據法律，將弱智兒童納入匈牙利的幼兒教育）： 該研究首先介紹了最重要的匈牙利的和國際的趨勢，以及在匈牙利兒童融合教育與特殊教育需求的法律背景。而後，根據我們的實證研究結果，介紹了幼師在智障兒童融合教育方面的策略和任務。這一主題的現狀顯示，根據統計數據，主流幼兒園中有大量特殊教育需求的兒童，這對於幼師專業能力的期望值產生了影響。根據2011年人口普查的數據，匈牙利有
10％的智障人口。中央統計局2018年公佈的數據顯示，2016年人口的4.3％屬於殘疾。從2011年到2016年，智障人數增加了25％，超過了50,000人。
關鍵詞：特殊教育需求，智障兒童，融合，幼兒園

Zusammenfassung (Krisztina Kovács: Inklusion geistig behinderter Kinder in die frühkindliche Erziehung in Ungarn im Lichte des Gesetzes): Die Studie beginnt mit der Vorstellung der wichtigsten ungarischen und internationalen Tendenzen und des rechtlichen Hintergrunds der inklusiven Erziehung von Kindern mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf in Ungarn, dann stellt sie die Strategien und Aufgaben der Kindergärtnerinnen und Kindergärtner im Hinblick auf die inklusivere Erziehung geistig behinderter Kinder vor, basierend auf den Ergebnissen unserer eigenen empirischen Studie. Die Aktualität des Themas zeigt sich darin, dass es nach den statistischen Daten in den Regelkindergärten eine große Zahl von Kindern mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf gibt, was sich auf die Erwartungen im Zusammenhang mit der Fachkompetenz der Kindergärtnerinnen und Kindergärtner auswirkt. Gemäss den Daten der Volkszählung von 2011 sind 10% der ungarischen Bevölkerung geistig behindert. Die im Jahr 2018 veröffentlichten Daten des Zentralen Statistikbüros zeigen, dass im Jahr 2016 4,3% der Bevölkerung zur behinderten Bevölkerung gehörten. Von 2011 bis 2016 ist die Zahl der Menschen mit geistiger Behinderung um 25% gestiegen und hatte 50.000 Personen überschritten.
Schlüsselwörter: sonderpädagogischer Förderbedarf, Kinder mit geistigen Behinderungen, Inklusion, Kindergarten

Резюме(Кристина Ковач: Инклюзия детей с отклонениями в умственном развитии и воспитание в период раннего детства в Венгрии: правовая перспектива): Статья начинается с представления важнейших тенденций, обозначившихся в международной арене и в Венгрии в частности, и правовых оснований инклюзивного воспитания детей, нуждающихся в особом педагогическом сопровождении Затем, с опорой на результаты нашего собственного исследования, определяются стратегии и задачи воспитателей применительно к работе с детьми, имеющими нарушения в умственном развитии. Актуальность темы заключается в том, что, как свидетельствуют статистические данные, в обычных детских садах пребывает большое количество детей, нуждающихся в особом педагогическом внимании и воспитании. Этот факт влияет на требования, предъявляемые администрацией детских садов к профессиональным компетенциям воспитателей, работающих в данных учреждениях. Согласно данным, полученным по итогам демографической переписи 2011 года, 10 процентов населения Венгрии страдают от нарушений в умственном развитии. Данные, опубликованные Центральным статистическим бюро, показывают, что в 2016 году к данной категории относилось 4, 3 процента венгров. С 2011 по 2016 год число граждан с нарушениями в умственном развитии выросло в Венгрии на 25 процентов и преодолело тем самым 50000 рубеж.
Ключевые слова: дети, нуждающиеся в особом педагогическом сопровождении, дети, имеющие нарушения в умственном развитии, инклюзия, детские сады.

Introduction

The European Union treats the integrated education of children with special educational needs and the reduction of social inequality in education as a primary aim. According to the report of the European Commission (2012), social acceptance can only be reached by inclusive education, thus integrational endeavors have already become part of the educational policy agenda. The goal is universal acceptance and the realization of inclusion in both society and education. The educational system of the countries of the European Union and the education of children with special needs are based on practices which vary from country to country. The member states have separate legal, professional and content regulations (Óhidy, 2020).

Experts in Hungary have engaged in debates surrounding integrated education since the beginning of the 1980s. Several experts questioned its viability. There were only experimental trials for joint education of disabled and children without disabilities at the beginning. By the end of the 1970s, the school of blind and visually impaired children started helping with travelling teachers for those disabled children who were in the mainstream schools. The formal research on integrated education began at the Department of Impaired Hearing of Bárczi Gusztáv College of Special Education and Teacher Training in 1981. Select teachers took on disabled children with serious hearing impairment in their school classes in Budapest and some rural areas. The experience of these teachers has been collected and these accounts became the basis for the proposal of conditions for succesful inclusive education. The governmental departments which manage the education of disabled children began similar research within a few years (Csányi, 2007). The proliferation of integrated education was spawned by the instructions of the Act of Public Education of 1993. This trend has been supported by the Act XXVI of 1998 about the rights and equal opportunities of people with disabilities. This Act prescribes that all members of society must be ensured such conditions which assist their social integration. Every child must have equal opportunities to participate in institutional education regardless of his or her disabilities. According to Article 13, paragraph 2 “in the case if it is beneficial for the development of abilities of the disabled person, based on the opinion of a committee of rehabilitation experts, the disabled person has to participate in the education of nursery or primary schools together with other children in the same nursery groups or school classes”. The Hungarian Constitution of 25th April 2011 clearly states that every Hungarian citizen has the right to education, and that every child has the right to the protection and care needed for their adequate physical, intellectual and ethical development. Aforementioned evidence demonstrates that the long-term plans of the Hungarian educational policy are in accordance with the European Disability Strategy.

Due to the topic at hand, it is relevant and necessary to define the meaning of the expression ’child/pupil with special educational needs’. According to the Hungarian Public Education Act 2011, Chapter 190, 4 (25), a

child/pupil with special educational needs is [a] child/pupil requiring special treatment who on the basis of the opinion of the professional committee has locomotor, sensory, intellectual or speech handicaps, multiple disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, or any psychic developmental disorder (severe learning-, attention- or behavioural disorder).

Children with special educational needs are different to their peers in given aspects, which is why they need special attention. In Hungary, the children with intellectual disabilities are the largest group of the children with special educational needs (SEN). Children with SEN have the right to get the necessary pedagogical care within the framework of special treatment based on the level of their disability. The special care must be ensured in the mainstream nurseries based on the opinion of the expert committee.

Considerable changes have been made over the past two decades in public education in Hungary concerning the joint education (inclusion) of children with and without disabilities. The public education law of 1993 has contributed to integrated education, the approach and requirements of which have helped the reorganization of institutions of public education. Contemporary Hungarian nursery school instruction of children with disabilities takes place both in segregated and in integrated forms. Statistics show that more and more children with SEN have been integrated into the mainstream nurseries. According to the educational data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 321,010 children participated in kindergarten education in Hungary in the school year 2015/2016. The number of the children with special educational needs was 7,500 (2,5%), and the majority of them, 80%, received integrated education. In the school year 2019/2020, from the 330,500 children matriculated into kindergarten 10,310 (3,1%) were SEN and 82% of those children with special educational needs received integrated education. This has influenced the demands for the training, education and work of kindergarten teachers. However, making progress towards the open schools has been a slow process, which needs the establishment of socially receptive institutions, development of the conditions needed, cooperation of different institutions and a partner- oriented approach. Kindergarten teachers must have knowledge of integrated/inclusive education and must be prepared for the educational tasks based on individual differences. The education, training and socialization of children with disabilities are the daily tasks of kindergarten teachers and teachers. Elting, Kopp and Martschinke (2019) indicate in their article that social skills and social integration can be seen as a significant yardstick for successful (participatory) inclusion, which in the sense of a competent togetherness goes beyond spatial togetherness.

Children with an Intellectual Disability

Working with children with intellectual disabilities is a complex task which is often highlighted by the significant variety of the standards of intellectual functions in connection with necessary competences and accompanying intellectual, physical and medical conditions (Hodapp and Dykens, 2003). The most detailed and accepted definition is related to the names of Endre Czeizel, Ágnes Lányiné Engelmayer and Csaba Rátay who define intellectual disabilities from an etiological perspective. According to that definition, intellectual disabilities are formed by hereditary and environmental factors which influence the development of the central nervous system. As a consequence, the intellectual capacity of the person suffering from intellectual disabilities lags behind that of the average population – beginning so early that, to a significant extent, it makes an independent lifestyle considerably difficult (Czeizel, Lányiné and Rátai 1978). In Hungarian special education, the following two subgroups are differentiated based on severity: (1) with learning difficulties (2) with intellectual difficulties. These are categorized mainly from the pedagogical viewpoint that emphasizes the special educational needs.

Children with learning disabilitiesare children who have persistent, comprehensive learning difficulties and learning disabilities due to their poor functional capabilities which are the results of biological and / or genetic factors in the nervous system and adverse environmental impacts (Mesterházi and Szekeres, 2019). The population of children with learning difficulties is very heterogeneous as it includes a wide scale of learning difficulties. Therefore, children with learning difficulties can be interpreted as an umbrella term. The children with learning difficulties are, on the one hand, those who (1) are classified as children with intellectual disability (IQ 50-55 to approximately 70) by the professional committee which investigates learning abilities and rehabilitation, and, on the other hand, those who (2) have learning difficulties in primary school. The learning problems (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dysorthography, dyscalculia) are not put together with the intellectually handicapped. The integration of children with an intellectual disability into the category of learning disabilities makes a wider interpretation of the term possible. Children with moderate intellectual disabilities, with severe intellectual disabilities and with profound intellectual disabilities belong to children with intellectual disabilities. The category of children with intellectual disabilities is very diverse. The difficulties are in relation to intelligence, movement and self-sufficiency. The disabilities fundamentally influence their development, social relationships and learning processes. According to Lányiné (2012) the term intellectual disability can be applied to those people who can be described by the significant disabilities in terms of intellectual and cognitive functions as well as in adaptive behaviour in comparison to their coeval age group. People with intellectual disability represent one of the possible versions of human existence. They are capable of development, learning, and social integration, but they need social help to ensure equal opportunities. The exploration of underlying reasons for their condition helps the planning of special education, development, pedagogical support, psychological supportive intervention and a therapeutic proceeding that satisfy their special demands. The recognition of their condition does not only mean that one should take their disabilities into account, but also incorporate their strengths into the context of the interaction of the individuals and their environment.

According to international literature, there can be various underlying factors related to developmental/intellectual disability. The research draws attention to a multifactorial (multiple risk factors) etiological model because of the complex interaction of other biological, environmental and psychosocial risk factors. Research by Durkin and Stein (1996), Schalock and Luckasson (2004) reveal that the most frequent causes of developmental/intellectual disabilities can be traced to genetic abnormalities, the chromosome disorder (Down syndrome), insufficient nutrition, infectious diseases of the mother during pregnancy (rubella, HIV, syphilis), the usage of narcotics by the mother during the pregnancy (drugs, alcohol), premature birth, exposure to lead after birth, meningitis and encephalitis after birth, the injury of the skull after birth, severe dereliction and deprivation.

The etiology of mild intellectual disabilities is indeterminate, the cause remains unknown in 45-63% of known cases. There are a lower number of factors connected with pregnancy and childbirth for moderate and severe cases of intellectual/developmental disabilities. Causes after birth are rare. In terms of moderate and severe intellectual disabilities, 20-30% of the cases can be traced back to factors during pregnancy (especially chromosomal disorders), 11% of them are factors that occur at the time around birth (hypoxia). The remaining 3-11% can be traced back to postnatal brain injuries. The background for 30-40% of cases remains unclear (Biasini et al 1999).

The classification of intellectually disadvantaged people has three major characteristics: a) Intellectual functioning under the average level: this criterion emphasizes the intellectual nature of the disability. b) Deficits in the functioning of the necessary competences for the fulfilment of daily routines in connection with adaptive functioning and personal and social self-sufficiency: this criterion refers to significant deficits in the development of communication skills, the competences necessary for social self-sufficiency (for example: eating, clothing, self-cleaning), following the rules, working with others, socialisation to play with others (Csákváry, & Mészáros, 2012). A developmentally disabled person will have a stronger dependence on others. These individuals are often characterised by dependence on social support, difficulties with integration, the complete or partial deficit of the ability to be self-sufficient. c) Early origin: this criterion separates individuals from others suffering from degenerative diseases which start in adulthood (Alzheimer’s disease) and other adult-age skull or brain injuries.

The diagnosis of intellectually disabled children falls within the competence of the Counselling Committee for the Examination of Learning Capacity in Hungary. The diagnosis is conducted within the framework of a complex special educational-psychological and medical examination. The examination can be initiated by the parents / legal guardian, a specialist with the consent of the parents, a health visitor, and various institutions (nursery, kindergarten, primary and secondary school), furthermore, the professional committees and educational advisors with the consent of the parents can demand it.

Inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities in early childhood education

The education of children with intellectual disabilities can be carried out in special kindergartens or in an integrated manner with non-disabled children. Integration in education and pedagogy means educating and training children with and without disabilities together in the same learning environment, therefore, optimizing the developmental possibilities which are offered to all participants (Réthy, 2013). According the Public Education Act 2011, the fact whether the kindergarten education of a child with SEN takes place in a special kindergarten, or in a kindergarten of the majority is decided by the parent on the basis of the opinion of the specialist. In terms of the deliberation of the type of institution, the starting point is that the child should receive kindergarten education in a kindergarten near its home if possible, thus staying close to the parents. In the case of those children who are found to be able to develop sufficiently in the framework of the standard kindergarten, the professional committee nominates an institution to undertake integrated education.

The kindergarten education of children with mild intellectual disabilities takes place in a kindergarten group together with the other children. According to the directives of the kindergarten education of children with intellectual disabilities, the establishment of a separate kindergarten group for children with mild intellectual disabilities in the kindergarten can only be professionally justifiable and will only be recommended for children who are at least five years old, bound to kindergarten education and diagnosed as children with mild intellectual disabilities. This is done with the help of a complex – special educational, pedagogical, psychological and medical – examination if the children supposedly only reach the necessary developmental level for entering school by receiving intensive special education. Integrated education with non-disabled kindergarten pupils of the same age plays an important role in the development of children with disabilities. The experiences and patterns observed in their age group facilitate the spontaneous learning, cooperation competences, and communication skills of the children. The kindergarten education of children with moderate intellectual disabilities can be organised in the form of functional or social integration. The diagnosis of the children can usually be recognised under the age of three. Well-organised and efficient early development can facilitate kindergarten maturity, i.e. the integration in kindergarten and inclusive education in kindergarten. Their kindergarten education is based on early development. The goal of their inclusive education with their peers without disabilities is that the children should be in an environment from early childhood which facilitates the abscence of obstacles and the acceptance of handicapped individuals in society. Problems with gross motor skills are sometimes present when children with disabilities enter kindergarten. Additionally, some of these children have difficulties with control over bodily functions, oral comprehension and communication with others, as well as insufficient attention spans and a lack of motivation. The principles of gradualism and a diverse range of practices should be taken into consideration when addressing the competence development of the children: (1) the development of forming and manipulating basic physical movements, (2) the development of basic contact, the ability to cooperate, verbal and nonverbal communication, establishing conversation, oral comprehension, vocabulary,˙(3) the development of control over bodily functions and self-sufficiency, (4) development of the ability to interact with toys, improvement of cognitive functions. The routine use of imitation, simple verbal instructions with physical gestures, music, rhythm, and repetition are key to the formation of the aforementioned competences.

If the kindergarten of the majority undertakes the education of children with cognitive and developmental disabilities, then it must be marked in the fundamental documents, thus in the founding documents and in the local special educational programme. The specialized educational aid must be continuously maintained during their time in the integrated kindergarten. The disabled children have the right to receive the pedagogical, special educational and pedagogical treatment that are necessary for their condition in the framework of special treatment from the moment when their entitlement was determined. The institution should provide the necessary treatment in accordance with the expert evidence of the professional committee. The special educational needs originating from the cognitive and developmental disability necessitate the utilisation of complementary developmental, correctional, rehabilitative and habilitative, and therapeutic purpose methods by the teacher that are put into action in individual or group activities. One can rely on the help of the trained special education teacher in order to reduce difficulties associated with disabled children in kindergarten. The special education and development of children with learning difficulties (more specifically children with mild intellectual disabilities) are provided by the special education teacher who was trained and educated in the pedagogy of children with learning disabilities. The special education teachers who completed their studies in the intellectually handicapped children programme cater to the pedagogical development of intellectually handicapped children (more specifically children with moderate intellectual disabilities).

The professional competences of the kindergarten teacher determine whether or not he/she has the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge, and whether if he/she is capable of working in accordance with the required values of the profession. The well-organised integration of children with intellectual disability is beneficial for children with and without disabilities. Inclusive education makes the formation of behaviour forms that are valuable from the perspective of the community possible. Children can establish basic moral values (for example, acceptance, sensitivity towards the difficulties of others, responsibility, empathy) in kindergarten which can become defining characteristics of the values profile of their personality.

The task of kindergarten teachers in the education of children with intellectual disabilities

In the kindergartens with inclusion, it is not a question of whether they accept the kindergarten education of children with special educational needs, but rather how they can put inclusive education into action. The questions posed are the following: how to acquire the cooperation of the parents, how the kindergarten teachers can facilitate the integration of the children with disabilities, how to familiarize the other children with the fact that their disabled peers are also valuable, as well as how to organize kindergarten life in order to facilitate harmonious and diverse personality development for all children.

The European Committee’s (2012) research results highlight that the success of children with special educational needs is determined by the attitude of the teacher, educational competences, and a supportive environment. In terms of the education of children with intellectual disabilities, it is not enough to apply traditional pedagogical methods and educational principles. During their kindergarten education, one has to try everything to alleviate the deficiency of their intellectual abilities with the application of methods specific to their disabilities. One has to consider the development of strategies with which they can compensate for their disabilities during their individual or in-group development. The motivation, emotional education, the support of the integration into the community and the education towards self-sufficiency are particularly important educational tasks.

The activities of the kindergarten teacher in connection with the inclusive kindergarten education of intellectual disabilities children involves a complex system of tasks that can be categorized on the basis of the following principles; (1) the activities before the reception of the intellectual disabilities children, (2) the tasks in relation to the preparation of the children’s group, (3) the factors aiding the reception and the kindergarten education of intellectual disabilities children. The following table lists the major scopes of activities of the kindergarten teacher.

The organisational framework of kindergarten development and the applied special method and tool systems are determined by the personal needs originating from the children’s condition. There are no two identical intellectually disabled children. The extent to which they can be educated and developed based on their diagnosis and individual characteristics differs greatly. With recognition of the personal features of the intellectually disabled children in their group, the kindergarten teacher can experience in what kind of activities, tasks and games the children can participate. The basic principle is that they should only receive the amount of help during their kindergarten education that is necessary to further their independent actions. The conscious organisation of the life of the kindergarten has a crucial role in the life of intellectually disabled children because routine and predictability create the sensation of security for the children. The rituals of everyday life help the formation of proper habits and further social learning.

The recommended tasks of kindergarten teachers in the game activity of intellectually disabled children

The play activity of children with disabilities has a central role in the education of every child. Therefore, it is important that the intellectually disabled child should be included in the play activities as much as possible. Imitation plays a huge role in the process, the kindergarten teachers and children without disabilities offer positive social behaviour models for the intellectually disabled children.

The general characteristic of the game activity of the intellectually disabled children is that their play is on a lower level, and it is different to the play of their peers in terms of difficulty. Natural curiosity, creativity and fantasy are missing from their game activity. They do not usually initiate the playing activity, and they need the direction of an adult. They enjoy movement-based games, they stereotypically move, throw or put the toys into their mouth. Gaming development can stagnate on the level of practising games for a long time, but simple role-playing games can also occur.

The direction of the play of intellectually disabled children requires conscious and professional activity from the kindergarten teacher, so that the game plays the role of knowledge mediation and skills development in the life of the child. During the game activity, the maintenance of motivation, the conforming approach to each other in the group and the development of social relations are important. It is important for kindergarten teachers to demonstrate a proper behaviour model, to try to awaken the mood for play, teaching playing games with the peers, supporting the interaction and familiarizing the children with the toys. The kindergarten teacher should help the intellectually disabled children to transform the movement of toys from arbitrary to logical play (for example, the cubes can be put into the car, then these can be transported, the toys can be categorized by their shape, material and form). The tasks of the kindergarten teacher are to support playing next to each other, to help the children discover the pleasure of playing interaction, to develop the children’s consciousness of rules, furthermore, to provide the possibility for the children to practise the lifestyle and behaviour rules in friendly circumstances. The kindergarten teacher must help the children to exploit the possibilities in play of developing their speech, movement, the fine motoric skills, the cognitive abilities (thinking, perception, attention, memory, imagination, sensation) and social abilities. The final aim is to prepare the child to be self-sufficient as much as his or her abilities allow him/her and maybe to live an independent life, allowing the child to live in a socially active way with the help of the development of communication and socialisation. During the kindergarten activities, the kindergarten teacher must seek to maintain the child’s motivation and to develop the approach to each other and the social relationships (Kovács, 2016).

Summary

Recently, the pedagogical alterations have necessitated that professionals who deal with the education of children should possess up-to-date knowledge about the education and developmental possibilities of children requiring special attention and the professional application of personal treatment. The importance of the research is that it reviews the perspectives on the inclusive education of children with special educational needs in the light of laws and shows methodological examples of what kindergarten teachers can do for the effective inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities.

The number of children in Hungary with special needs for whom the educator has the most important role in education has increased over the last few decades. Many Hungarian and international researchers have revealed that the success of integration depends largely on the attitude of the kindergarten teacher. The development of the competences of children with cognitive and/or developmental disabilities creates a new set of challenges for education in kindergartens. For the sake of effective inclusive education, the institutions must be made capable of providing inclusive kindergarten education. It has become increasingly important to fulfil the professional tasks, to promote the development of human resources, the processes of qualification, acquiring expertise, expanding teamwork and building relationships.

Numerous studies have shown that, provided that the integration is successful with appropriate expertise and attention, it is socially beneficial, as it serves the integration of people with disabilities. In practice, however, a number of issues and shortcomings arise, and the experiments of the past year have revealed a number of problems. A practical problem, for example, is that educators do not have to have special knowledge of disability and the education of children with special educational needs (Karikó, 2020; Laoues-Czimbalmos & Müller, 2018; Mező and Mező, 2017; Szabó, 2016; Horváth, 2016).

The degree of commitment of kindergarten teachers, their personality and the nature of their pedagogical culture greatly influence the effectiveness of integrated education. Attitude formation should start already in kindergarten teacher training. Today, the basics of special education also play an important role in the pedagogy of the intact. The success of integrated education requires a type of pre-school teacher training that also provides a wide range of special education skills.

References

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About the Author

Dr. Krisztina Kovács: Educational scientist, Associate Prof. at the Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, University of Szeged, Szeged (Hungary); e-mail: kovacs.k@jgypk.szte.hu

摘要(Chen, I-Chi, Ng Lee Peng, & Chong Chin Ann: “我累了” 探讨组织公民行为与工作倦怠之闗系-职业承诺为中介变项在马来西亚私立大学之研究)): 今日，大学教师由于各方的需求而导致极大的压力。本研究旨在探讨工作倦怠˴组织公民行为以及职业承诺之关系在马来西亚一所私立大学之情况。研究利用PLS-SEM进行统计分析，分别针对620教师在两个校区进行调查。研究结果发现，情绪倦怠为最主要的压力来源；次要发现工作倦怠会造成负向的组织公民行为以及低下的职业承诺。最后同时也发现，职业承诺的中介作用。总言之，透过本研究了解及正视工作倦怠的议题有助于大学教师提升其职业承诺同时也有助于发展正向的组织公民行为。
关键词：工作倦怠，组织公民行为，职业承诺，高等教育

摘要 (Chen, I-Chi, Ng Lee Peng, & Chong Chin Ann: “我累了” 探討組織公民行為與工作倦怠之闗係-職業承諾為中介變項在馬來西亞私立大學之研究)): 今日，大學教師由於各方的需求而導致極大的壓力。本研究旨在探討工作倦怠˴組織公民行為以及職業承諾之關係在馬來西亞一所私立大學之情況。研究利用PLS-SEM進行統計分析，分別針對620教師在二個校區進行調查。研究結果發現，情緒倦怠為最主要的壓力來源；次要發現工作倦怠會造成負向的組織公民行為以及低下的職業承諾。最後同時也發現，職業承諾的中介作用。總言之，透過本研究了解及正視工作倦怠的議題有助於大學教師提升其職業承諾同時也有助於發展正向的組織公民行為。

關鍵詞：工作倦怠，組織公民行為，職業承諾，高等教育

Zusammenfassung (Chen, I-Chi, Ng Lee Peng, & Chong Chin Ann: “Ich bin müde” – Job-Burnout und staatsbürgerliches Verhalten in einer Organisation: Berufliches Engagement als Mediator in einer malaysischen Privatuniversität): Akademiker stehen heute unter hohem Druck, sich für verschiedene Anforderungen zu rüsten. Ziel dieser Studie ist es, den Zusammenhang zwischen Job-Burnout, beruflichem Engagement und organisatorischem Bürgerverhalten (OCB) bei Akademikern an einer privaten Universität in Malaysia zu untersuchen. Die vorliegende Studie wurde auf der Grundlage einer PLS-SEM-Analyse durchgeführt. Insgesamt nahmen 620 Akademiker von zwei Campi einer privaten Universität an der Studie teil. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass emotionale Erschöpfung der belastendste Indikator für berufliches Burnout ist. Zweitens wurde festgestellt, dass das Job-Burnout einen signifikanten negativen Einfluss auf das OCB sowie das berufliche Engagement hat. Schließlich wurde festgestellt, dass das berufliche Engagement ein Vermittler zwischen Job-Burnout und OCB ist. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass diese Studie darauf abzielt, das berufliche Engagement und das OCB des akademischen Personals zu verbessern, indem sie sich mit dem Job-Burnout befasst.
Schlüsselwörter: Job-Burnout, organisatorisches Bürgerschaftsverhalten, berufliches Engagement, Hochschuleinrichtung

Резюме (Чен, Ай- Чи, Гн Ли Пенг, Чонг Чин Ан: «Я устал» – синдром профессионального выгорания и гражданское поведение в организации: профессиональная инициативность как медиатор (на примере ситуации в одном из частных университетов Малайзии).
Сегодня выпускники вузов стоят перед серьезными вызовами и должны соответствовать многим требованиям. Цель данной статьи – выявить корреляции между профессиональным выгоранием, профессиональной активностью и организаторской гражданской позицией, обратившись к анализу деятельности выпускников одного из частных университетов в Малайзии. Исследование проводилось на основе методики «PLS-SEM». В общей сложности в исследовательском проекте приняли участие 620 выпускников. Результаты указывают, во-первых, на то, что главным индикатором синдрома профессионального выгорания является эмоциональное истощение. Во-вторых, было установлено, что синдром профессионального выгорания оказывает существенное негативное влияние на профессиональную активность работника и его организаторское поведение. В заключение делается вывод о том, что профессиональная активность является своего рода посредником между двумя другими составляющими исследуемого проблемного поля. Подводя итоги, необходимо сказать о том, что данное исследование было призвано повлиять на ситуацию в данной сфере, вследствие чего станет возможным, за счет активного изучения феномена профессионального выгорания, улучшить показатели профессиональной активности и организаторского поведения представителей рассматриваемой целевой группы.
Ключевые слова: синдром профессионального выгорания, организаторское поведение работника, профессиональная активность, высшее учебное заведение.

Introduction

Nowadays, due to massive revolutions in knowledge and technology, along with public expectations of better teaching and learning quality, academics are experiencing the urgent need to equip themselves to satisfy those demands. All these demanding expectations can ultimately lead academics to feel demotivated toward their jobs (Maslach et al., 1996). Malaysia has a multi-ethnic population of about 28.3 million, 20 public universities, 53 private universities and six international university branch campuses; 403 active private colleges, 30 polytechnics and 73 public community colleges (Data from 2011. See Study Malaysia, 2015). These Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) offer a wide range of tertiary qualifications at affordable prices. Malaysian higher education has developed extremely fast over the past two decades. However, with the speedy change and growth, the average annual turnover rate in higher education has risen from 12.3 % in 2012 to 13.2% in 2013, and the turnover rate in private universities is 18% (Willis Towers Watson, 2013). This might be a wakeup call for the academic development among higher education institutions. According to Chen et al. (2014), female, young and junior academics tend to have higher burnout characteristics in Malaysian private universities. In addition, lower total quality of working life scores was found among academics who exhibited burnout characteristics.

Traditionally, an academic staff member was considered a knowledgeable person whose main duty was to deliver information or knowledge to students and the public. Academics are considered frontline employees in dealing with students regarding academic, social and interpersonal relationship problems. According to Kandri (2020), the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic has been dramatic and transformative as educators scramble to a new service center, particularly in emerging markets, where students and schools face additional challenges related to financing and available infrastructure. Therefore, in the midst of a changing environment with new technology, teaching professionals in higher education has experienced great pressure to stay abreast of new knowledge and skills, or to undertake new tasks (Chen et al., 2014). According to Fyfee (2018), there is no consensus view about the nature of academic development or different points of view to discuss the current issue of an academic career and life.

In the social-psychological context, job burnout consists of three dimensions: 1) Emotional Exhaustion (EE), characterized by lack or shortage of energy, enthusiasm and a sense of resource depletion; 2) Depersonalization (DP), involving a lack of positive affective detachment from work, in which clients, colleagues and the organization of labour itself are treated as objects; 3) Low Personal Achievement (PA) at work, which visualizes a worker with a tendency to negative self-evaluation or a feeling of lack of personal success at work (Maslach et al., 2001). The phenomenon of academic burnout can be considered a ‘social activity’ with influence on the constitution of individual identity and also on individual development. According to Kolomitro et al. (2019), this is due to organization changes, budgets, and the academic experiencing frequent career disruptions, such as resignation and a changed career path. In this scenario, academics in higher education are forced to concern themselves not only with issues related to education, but also with issues related to economics and politics (Campos, & de Lucena, 2017).

Job burnout has been found to be devastating for the progress of an organization, particularly involving service to other humans, such as education, healthcare and the service industry (Chen et al., 2014; Chang et al., 2017; Kolomitro, et al., 2019; Willis Towers Watson, 2013). In general, job burnout produces negative impacts, from individual employees to entire organizations. It has been found to be associated with many psychological syndromes, e.g., depression, anxiety, musculoskeletal, respiratory disorders, insomnia, and alcohol consumption (Ahola, 2007; Sonnenschein et al., 2007). Additionally, job burnout negatively affects many positive work outcomes, including organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), job satisfaction, and work engagement (Cole, et al., 2012; Kasa, & Hassan, 2017). According to Gooblar (2018), in both part-time and full-time teaching positions, the more committed academics are to their professional career and institutions, the more likely they were to experience high levels of workplace stress, and to experience burnout, depression, and pressure.

In order to cope with increasing job stress, workload, and expectations from the public, HEIs have pursued an understanding of the nature of burnout and of the faculty turnover phenomenon in Malaysia (Ramasamy & Abdullah, 2017). Traditionally, scholars have discussed the measure of intention to leave or personnel turnover as indicators of the desire to remain with the organization (Kim, & Chang, 2014). In contrast to leaving an institution, we should mention organizational commitment, which strengthens the desire to remain with the organization. In addition, along with the expansion of the organizational commitment concept, occupational commitment has been recently receiving much attention (Kim & Chang, 2014; Sungu et al., 2019). The research paradigm has shifted from one’s organization to one’s occupation under recent economic conditions (Gobeski & Beehr, 2009; Jones & McIntosh, 2010).

Morrow (1983, 1993) has played a leading role in clarifying the various domains to which members of the workforce can be committed. Although organizational commitment has been extensively studied in the past, considerable attention has also been given to the commitment to occupation (Lee et al., 2000). Understanding occupational commitment is important because it contributes to the basic understanding of people to develop, make sense of and integrate work-related commitment, both within and beyond organizational boundaries (Meyer et al., 1998; Lee et al., 2000). In general, the terms occupation commitment, profession commitment, and career commitment have been used interchangeably in the commitment literature. Occupational commitment is considered as a psychological link between an individual and one’s occupation based on affective reactions to one’s occupation. Carson et al. (1995) and Carson and Bedeian (1994) applied career commitment and career entrenchment to define a professional’s tendency to continue in the same occupation. Therefore, the authors applied this approach to explore the level of occupational commitment among academic staff at a private university.

Organizations and employees typically form exchange relationships, such that employees exchange time to dedicate to organizational and job-related tasks for formal rewards such as salary and benefits (Brown & Roloff, 2015). However, not all workplace relations aim for formal exchange. OCB levels among employees are determined by contextual, dispositional and attitudinal variables by supporting organizational members in the social and psychological environment (Mohammad et al., 2016). OCB refers to a role that is concerned with behaviours that go above and beyond the official duties (Organ et al., 2006). When employees are willing to exert effort to surpass formal obligations, this will maximize the performance of both employee and organization. On the contrary, employees who have lower levels of OCB are not willing to go beyond the daily duties, thus increasing the negative organizational outcomes, such as low satisfaction, low motivation, and unhappy employees (Kasa & Hassan, 2017). Organ (1988) and Podsakoff and colleagues (2000) proposed five types of OCB: civic virtue, conscientiousness, altruism, courtesy, and sportsmanship. OCB involves various workplace behaviours which are beneficial for the organization but do not exactly benefit the employee through a formal reward system (Khazaei et al., 2011). Civic virtue represents an employee’s feeling of being part of the organization; conscientiousness is related to assigned tasks being performed with more than desired punctuality and perfection; altruism involves helping others at work; courtesy is manifested when its agent helps others by forecasting the problem; and sportsmanship is tolerating hurdles at work without complaint (Organ, 1988; Podsakoff et al., 2000).

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between job burnout, occupational commitment, and OCB at a private university in Malaysia. The underpinning theory of this study is the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. The COR theory posits that individuals constantly search to obtain and/or maintain resources, such as self-esteem, support, security, time, and money (Hobfoll, 1989). According to Hobfoll (1989), individuals tend to experience stress when they are facing threats of losing these resources. This theory provides the foundation for an understanding of the mediating effect of occupational commitment between job burnout and OCB.

Hypothesis development

Job burnout is detrimental for any organization, as it results in individual negative impact, such as depression, anxiety, and somatic complaint (Ahola, 2007). Such a negative impact can also be found in organizational outcomes and performance, such as OCB (Atta & Khan, 2015), work engagement (Cheung & Lun, 2015), and collective efficacy (Avanzi et al., 2015). According to Maslach et al., (2001), there are three categories of burnout, namely EE (feeling of a lack of emotional resources), DP (feeling of lack of detachment from work in a non-human manner), and RPA (feeling of lack of success and achievement at work).

Job burnout has been observed as a strong negative predictor of OCB. It causes employees to experience a sense of lacking emotional resources, robotic manner and low achievement (Atta & Khan, 2015; Kutsal & Bilge, 2012); whereas OCB is the energetic behaviour that boosts organizational performance. Chiu and Tsai (2006) used 296 dyads of paired employees and leaders from twelve hotels and restaurants in Taiwan to examine the effect of job burnout and OCB. The study found a negative effect of emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment in OCB. Zaluska et al. (2018) conducted similar research in healthcare, education, and higher education in Poland. Both pieces of work revealed that job burnout has serious consequences for both individuals and the organizations they work in. This line of reasoning leads to the following hypothesis:

H1 Job burnout has a significant influence on OCB.

Morrow (1993) has conceptualized the different faces of work commitment, including job involvement, organizational commitment, occupational commitment, and work ethic endorsement. According to Aryee and Tan (1992) and Kim and Chang (2014), employees committed to their occupations have a strong work ethic and concentrate on their job. Ahn and Kim (2004) concluded that occupational commitment results in positive impacts on OCB. The relationship between occupational commitment and OCB can be analysed on the same track. High occupational commitment makes employees feel enthusiasm and motivation towards cooperation and helping behaviour. This line of reasoning leads to the following hypothesis:

H2 Occupational commitment has a significant influence on OCB.

In general, occupational commitment refers to individuals accepting the values determined by their chosen occupation and increasing their enthusiasm in their profession, all of which evokes positive work outcomes (Ballout, 2009; Blau, 2009). According to Lee et al. (2000), occupational commitment correlated with job involvement, job satisfaction, career satisfaction, work ethic endorsement, emotional exhaustion, reduced accomplishment and depersonalization. It was also found that in the nursing profession, job burnout showed significant influence on professional commitment (Chang et al., 2017). Klassen and Chiu (2011) used a cross-sectional survey design of 434 practising and 379 pre-service teachers. Their results revealed that self-efficacy, job burnout (stress), and the teaching context have influences on occupational commitment and intention to leave. This line of reasoning leads to the following hypothesis:

H3 Job burnout has a significant influence on occupational commitment.

OCB can be categorized into five clusters of behaviours (Organ, 1988). Employees exhibiting civic virtue behaviours are responsible members of the organization who actively engage in constructive involvement in the organizational practice (Organ et al., 2006). Employees exhibiting civic virtue behaviours are responsible members of the organization who actively engage in constructive involvement in the organizational practice (ibid.). Employees consume a considerable amount of resource allocation to improve their occupation in this globally competitive environment which prompts them to be more psychologically committed towards their occupation rather than towards the organization (Lee et al., 2000). The level of commitment embedded in an individual’s occupation simultaneously creates a level of competency and professionalism in the individual which prompts him or her to exhibit proactive behaviours such as OCB. Cheung and Lun (2015) examined the association between a work stressor (such as emotional labour) and OCB and the mediation of work engagement in this relationship; the study showed that the level of commitment has a mediation effect between emotional stress and OCB among Chinese teaching professionals. This line of reasoning leads to the following hypothesis:

H4 Occupational commitment has a mediating effect between job burnout and OCB.

Research Methodology

Measures

The study measured job burnout, occupational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviour among academics in a private university. The measurement for job burnout was adopted from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach et al., 1996), which consisted of three-core dimensions of twenty-two items covering emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment, and depersonalization. Occupation commitment was measured using a twelve-item scale developed by Carsonet al. (1995) and Carson and Bedeian (1994). Three dimensions comprising career entrenchment were defined: a career investment reflecting accumulated investments in one’s career success; emotional costs assessing the anticipated emotional costs associated with pursuing a new career; and a limitedness of career alternatives dimension gauging the perceived lack of available options for pursuing a new career. The items for OCB were measured using questions adapted from Organ (1988). Twenty questions were used to determine the level of OCB among academics in a private university. The questions included the five components of OCB: civic virtue, conscientiousness, altruism, courtesy, and sportsmanship.

All measurements included in this study used a five-point Likert scale of agreement (from ‘Strongly disagree’ to ‘Strongly agree’). The last part of the survey contained seven items related to the respondents’ demographic information, including age, education level, gender, race, teaching experience, nationality, and designation.

Participants and Procedure

Questionnaires were distributed to academics at a private university on its Perak and Selangor campuses in Malaysia from April to December 2017. The academics were spread over nine faculties, three research centres, and three institutes. The survey was strictly anonymous to ensure the privacy of the respondents. They were asked to put their completed questionnaires in a sealed envelope to ensure confidentiality. The envelopes were collected by the research assistant in each research room and faculty office. From the total population of 1115 academic staff for the survey, 635 respondents returned the questionnaire. After receiving the completed questionnaires, a pre-processing step was applied to remove incomplete or invalid data. The exclusion criteria included (1) an entire section incomplete; (2) fewer than half the items answered, or (3) all items answered the same. After removing incomplete or invalid questionnaires, a total of 620 completed questionnaires remained. Therefore, the final response rate for the survey was about 56%.

Data Analysis

Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed for hypothesis testing using the Smart PLS 3.2.7 software (Ringle et al., 2015). Meanwhile, IBM SPSS ver. 23 statistical software was utilized for data entry and data screening, as well as descriptive analysis. No substantial outliers or missing data were detected during the data screening process.

A two-step approach was used to analyse the data via PLS-SEM (Hair et al., 2014). The first step involved the evaluation of the measurement model. The major assessments for the reflective measurement model included internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Once the measurement model had fulfilled the requirements for reliability and validity, the subsequent step involved the assessment of the structural model (Hair et al., 2014). A bootstrapping procedure with 5,000 re-samples was employed to determine the structural path significance. Additionally, other essential assessments of the structural model include effect size (f2), predictive relevance (Q2) and predictive accuracy as evaluated through the coefficient of determination (R2).

Results

Demographic Analysis

Slightly more than half of the respondents were female (52.4%). 45.6% of respondents were between 25-34 years old, 34.5% were between 35-44 years old, 12.1% were between 45-54 years old, 6.9% were older than 55, and lastly, 0.8% were younger than 25 years old. In terms of education level, 61.3% of the respondents were master’s degree holders, 31% were PhD holders, 6.7% had a bachelor’s degree, while the remaining 1% had professional qualifications. Among the respondents, 93.5% were Malaysians and 6.5% were expatriates. A majority of the respondents were Chinese (63.4%), followed by Malay (15.5%), Indian (15.5%), and other ethnic groups (5.7%). Approximately 56% of the participating academics were lecturers, 22.4% were assistant professors, 11.3% were assistant lecturers, 5.5% were senior lecturers, and only 1.1% were professors.

Assessment of measurement model

Job burnout and OCB were specified as reflective-reflective higher-order models and a repeated indicator approach was applied, whereby all the indicators of the first-order construct were assigned to the second-order construct as well. Table 1 demonstrates that majority of the indicator outer loadings of the constructs in this study surpassed 0.70. Indicator loadings that fell between 0.40 and 0.70 were retained if AVE met the minimum cut off value (> 0.50) and composite reliability (CR) exceed 0.70 (Hair et al., 2014). In the process of assessing convergent validity, eight items of occupational commitment (OCr3, OCr5, OCr6, OCr7, OCr8, OCr9, OCr11, and OCr12) and one item of personal accomplishment (PA1r) were discarded in order to meet the required criterion. The total indicators that have been deleted accounted for 16.7% of the total indicators in the model (< 20%), thus it is considered as acceptable (Hair et al., 2010). High loadings (>0.70) were found between the first-order and the two second-order constructs, except for sportsmanship. AVEs of the two second-order constructs (job burnout and OCB) were above 0.50. Table 1 shows that the composite reliability values for all the constructs in this study were beyond 0.70. As such, the result confirmed the convergent validity and internal consistency of the measurement model.

Table 1 Convergent validity and reliability results.

Note: AVE (Average extracted variance), CR (composite reliability), OCB (Organisational citizenship behaviour)

Next, discriminant validity of the first-order constructs was examined, based on Fornell-Lacker criterion (Fornell, & Larcker, 1981). Table 2 shows the square root of the AVE (on the diagonal) is greater than the intercorrelations among the variables which provide adequate supports for the discrimination validity.

Table 2 Correlations and discriminant validity (Fornell-Larker criterion) of the first-order constructs

Note: OC = occupational commitment, reduced PA = reduced personal accomplishment

Then, discrimination validity of the second-order construct was assessed through the Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) Ratio (Henseler et al., 2015). Table 3 indicates that HTMT values range from 0.486 to 0.547, which is lower than the threshold of HTMT0.85 (Kline, 2011) and HTMT0.90 (Gold et al., 2001). The results of HTMT inference showed that none of the confidence intervals encompassed a value of 1.00 (Hair et al., 2014). Hence, discriminant validity is well established, as each construct is distinct from each other.

Table 3 Discriminant validity – The Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT)

Note: The values in the brackets represent the confidence interval, bias-corrected

Assessment of Structural Model

Results in Table 4 show that no multicollinearity problem existed in the structural model in view of the fact that all the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) values were less than 5 (Hair et al., 2014). Job burnout was negatively related to OCB (β = -0.359, t = 6.956, p < 0.001) and occupational commitment (β = -0.442, t = 9.780, p < 0.001). On the other hand, occupational commitment has a significant positive impact on OCB (β = 0.273, t = 4.532, p < 0.001). As such, H1, H2 and H3 were supported. Both job burnout and occupational commitment explained 28.6% (R2 = 0.286) of the variance in OCB, which showed a substantial predictive accuracy as the R2 value was above 0.26 (Cohen, 1998). A total of 17.8% (R2 = 0.178) of the variance in occupational commitment was explained by job burnout, indicating a moderate level of predictive accuracy (Cohen, 1998).

Subsequently, the relative impact of the predictor construct on the endogenous construct was evaluated through the effect size (f2). Cohen (1998) recommended that f2 of 0.35, 0.15, and 0.02 should be regarded as large, medium, and small effect size (Cohen, 1998). Table 4 indicates job burnout has a moderate effect in producing the R2 of OCB (f2 = 0.149) and occupational commitment (f2 = 0.217). A small effect size was found between occupational commitment and OCB (f2 = 0.086). Next, the blindfolding procedure was used to determine the Stone-Geisser’s Q2 value for the predictive relevance of the model. The results from Table 4 signify that the model demonstrated adequate predictive relevance since the Q2 values for OCB and occupational commitment were 0.088 and 0.101, respectively, beyond the threshold of zero (Hair et al., 2014).

Table 4 Path Coefficient, effect size and predictive relevance.

Note: OC = occupational commitment, OCB = organizational citizenship behaviour, S.E. = standard error, variance inflation factor (VIF), ***p<0.001

Mediating Analysis

Results from bootstrapping analysis showed in Table 5 that the relationship between job burnout and OCB was significantly mediated by occupational commitment (β = -0.115, t = 4.209, p < 0.001). Hence, H4 is supported. The type of mediation was determined by calculating the Variance Accounted For (VAF), which is the ratio of the indirect effect to total effect. The total effect is -0.474 (direct effect -0.359 + indirect effect -0.115). Thus, the VAF is 0.327 (-0.115/-0.474) or 32.7%. The value falls in the range of 20% to 80%, indicating partial mediation (Hair et al., 2014).

Table 5 Mediation Analysis Statistical Results

Note: ***p < 0.001, OC (occupational commitment), OCB (organizational citizenship behaviour), LL (lower limit), UL (upper limit)

From the analysis results, it can be concluded that occupational commitment may mediate the relationship between job burnout and OCB partially as seen from the path coefficient in Figure 1. Meanwhile, a global goodness of fit (GoF) measure for the PLS model was determined by calculating the square root of the multiplication of average communality and average R2 (Wetzels et al., 2009). Based on the GoF criteria, a value that is above 0.36 is viewed as substantial or large (Wetzels et al., 2009). The GoF value for the present research model was 0.378, indicating a good fit of the model to the data.

Figure 1 Path diagram – bootstrapping results with path coefficient

Note: ***p < 0.001, OC = occupational commitment, OCB = organizational citizenship behaviour

Discussion

The overarching purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between job burnout, occupational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among academics in higher education. The PLS-SEM analysis results indicated a significant relationship between job burnout, occupational commitment and OCB among the 620 respondents participated in this study.

As anticipated, job burnout exerted significant negative influences on OCB (H1), as well as occupational commitment (H2). The present study attempted to explore job burnout and its constructs (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment) as predictors of OCB. According to Talachi and Gorji (2013), burnout is a psychological condition where people experience emotional exhaustion, a lack of personal accomplishment, and a tendency to depersonalize others. Similarly, our results show that emotional exhaustion is the most important indicator of job burnout, which signifies that academics feel a lack of emotion in performing their daily teaching and research work. The second is the depersonalization that causes detachment from their jobs on the part of academic staff, followed by reduced personal accomplishment which makes academics feel a lack of individual success in their academic performance. These results support the hypothesis that academics experiencing feelings of job burnout will have a low level of perception of themselves and will be unable to exhibit good OCB that are beneficial to the organization. Meanwhile, aside from sportsmanship, civic virtue, conscientious, altruism, and courtesy show strong factor loading toward OCB, as shown in Table 1. This suggests that academics and researchers who work for themselves can benefit from forming coalitions that provide both practical and psychological support (Dance, 2017).

Job burnout can also reduce an individual’s engagement and development in their work and commitment for voluntary work (Cole et al., 2012). A previous study on pre-service and practising teachers displayed high levels of stress and less overall occupational commitment (Klassen & Chiu, 2011). Our results reveal a similar relationship between job burnout and occupational commitment among academic staff at a private university. Academics are expected to deal with various parties, such as students, parents, colleagues, management departments, and the government. All these expectations and demands have become burdens to their academic career and personal life. Job burnout might lower the level of occupational commitment among academics due to the mismatch between their posts and the professional environment (Zaluska et al., 2018). In general, job burnout is a systemic weakening process as a result of exposure to a prolonged stress level. Constant emotional tension can damage the health of academics and cause low commitment in their career, thus affecting their in-role and extra role performance (Campos & de Lucena, 2017).

The third finding of this study is the impact of occupational commitment on OCB among academics. Occupational commitment provides a meaningful focus in the lives of higher education employees, additionally providing a clear landscape of how employees develop and perform in work-related contexts and beyond work-related commitment. Cohen and Liu (2011) found that occupational commitment has a significant effect on OCB and in-role performance among teachers at Jewish schools. Our results show that a high level of occupational commitment leads to greater extra-role performance, such as civic virtue, conscientious, altruism, courtesy, and sportsmanship.

Finally, this study is underpinned by the conservation of resources (COR) theory, which implies that a negative work situation (such as job burnout) could threaten resources such as work-related behaviour, health care, and other domains of life (Kasa, & Hassan, 2015). From this perspective, job burnout could lead to loss of energy (i.e. occupational commitment) and lack of motivation for better organizational outcomes (i.e. OCB). According to Mosadeghrad and colleagues (2011) and Soo and Ali (2016), employees suffering from stress and burnout will experience negative feelings about work, and thus show less commitment to their work, failing to contribute their best work performance by engaging OCB. Our results show that occupational commitment has a negative mediating effect on the relationship between job burnout and OCB. This implies that, although occupational commitment can reinforce positive influences on OCB, a high level of occupational commitment might induce job burnout that will lead to more negative influences on academics’ OCB.

Limitation and future research

This was an exploratory study focused on the relationship between job burnout, occupational commitment, and OCB among colleagues at a private university in Malaysia. The current study may be extended in several aspects. First, a longitudinal study design that covers more universities and academics would be beneficial to increase the reliability of data and prevent any confusion. Second, as all data from the questionnaires in this study were collected from the same respondents at the same time, a reversed item design could be adopted as a measurement tool to minimize common method variance. Third, the occupational commitment measure adapted from Carson et al. (1995) and Carson and Bedeian (1994) examined three dimensions of general job burnout. It might therefore be valuable to devise an additional measurement to further examine burnout of academics in the higher education sector. Further research may also examine the multi-dimensions of job burnout influence on other organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction and work engagement. Lastly, the research of COR and job burnout has examined the impact on mood and depressive symptoms (Neveu, 2007). Therefore, this study tried to explore the influence of job burnout on occupational commitment and OCB. For the future, researchers can combine the positive and negative impacts into the study to provide clear pictures of job-related burnout and its outcomes in the future.

Conclusion

This study has focused on the influence of job burnout on occupational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and the role of occupational commitments in the relationship between job burnout and OCB. Several interesting findings can be concluded from this study. First, a high level of job burnout was found in this study. In particular, emotional exhaustion has been most comprehensively encapsulated by the phenomenon of burnout among academics. Most academics today face lots of challenges from different stakeholders, including heavy teaching and publication requirements, and intense technology competition. Meanwhile, the nature of the higher education system makes academic life personal compared to other industries, which leads to the perception of depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. To reduce the emotional exhaustion, universities can consider providing some support system to reduce the emotional burden on academic staff. Next, to achieve a balance between research excellence and teaching quality, universities should promote cooperation among academic staff, such as encouraging co-publishing and team projects. Meanwhile, universities should not only value contributions based on research and publication; efforts towards teaching and helping students and the community should be recognized and rewarded. In general, the university should create an open and healthy working environment for academics.

Second, positive occupational commitment was found to lead to positive OCB. Academics in higher education with a strong commitment to their career tend to show extra-role behaviour, as they are willing to put in extra effort to support students, their universities and society. However, the positive effect of occupational commitment on OCB might be negated by job burnout as a result of a high level of commitment. In other words, high stress and burnout due to strong occupational commitment might actually demotivate positive extra-role behaviours such as OCB. In terms of managerial implications, a university should provide tangible resources (i.e. teaching and research facilities, teaching assistants, flip classrooms, on-line learning/ a massive open online environment) and intangible resources (i.e. support groups, open communication channels, less restrictions on the teaching and research environment) to reduce unnecessary stress and burnout. In a healthy and positive working environment, academics are willing to commit to their academic careers and contribute more, even when outside their job scope.

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About the Authors

Dr. Chen, I-Chi: Assistant Professor of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Faculty of Business and Finance (Malaysia); Deputy Director of Division of Community and International Networking; e-mail: chenic@utar.edu.my

Dr. Ng Lee Peng: Assistant Professor of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Faculty of Business and Finance (Malaysia); e-mail: nglp@utar.edu.my

Chong Chin Ann: Master of Philosophy candidate of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman; e-mail: chinann.mphil@gmail.com

摘要 (Ecenaz Yigit, Ömer Faruk Keser & Levent Uzun: 为什么我们在土耳其无法学习外语？ 其背后的一些心理原因）：学习外语是世界各国人民最重要的愿望之一。土耳其多年来一直重视外语的学习。但是，对于土耳其人民来说还有一个尚未解决的问题。本项研究的目的是由于对外语的恐惧和所习得的无助性而使得认知置于中心位置，从而来确定在土耳其缺乏外语学习的原因以及一些心理因素。参与者是100名大学生志愿者（56名女性，44名男性），他们是从布尔萨乌鲁达大学的不同系和部门中随机挑选出来的。数据从五个主要部分的调查表中进行收集，以确定参与者的背景，对外语学习的认知，对外语的恐惧程度以及所习得的无助程度。定量和定性数据都有所收集。根据研究的问题来进行数据分析。研究结果表明，参与者基于以往的积极经验对外语学习有积极的认知，但是由于过去缺乏语言知识的练习，他们对外语的恐惧程度很高； 由于他们拥有积极的认知，他们习得的无助度却很低。
此外，研究结果进一步表明，在准备和定义学校里的外语教学内容和大学的外语课程时，应考虑四种语言技能。
关键词：学习外语，心理，认知，恐惧，习得的无助，语言知识

摘要 (Ecenaz Yigit, Ömer Faruk Keser & Levent Uzun: 為什麼我們在土耳其無法學習外語？ 其背後的一些心理原因）：學習外語是世界各國人民最重要的願望之一。土耳其多年來一直重視外語的學習。但是，對於土耳其人民來說還有一個尚未解決的問題。本項研究的目的是由於對外語的恐懼和所習得的無助性而使得認知置於中心位置，從而來確定在土耳其缺乏外語學習的原因以及一些心理因素。參與者是100名大學生志願者（56名女性，44名男性），他們是從布爾薩烏魯達大學的不同系和部門中隨機挑選出來的。數據從五個主要部分的調查表中進行收集，以確定參與者的背景，對外語學習的認知，對外語的恐懼程度以及所習得的無助程度。定量和定性數據都有所收集。根據研究的問題來進行數據分析。研究結果表明，參與者基於以往的積極經驗對外語學習有積極的認知，但是由於過去缺乏語言知識的練習，他們對外語的恐懼程度很高； 由於他們擁有積極的認知，他們習得的無助度卻很低。
此外，研究結果進一步表明，在準備和定義學校裡的外語教學內容和大學的外語課程時，應考慮四種語言技能。
關鍵詞：學習外語，心理，認知，恐懼，習得的無助，語言知識

Zusammenfassung (Ecenaz Yigit, Ömer Faruk Keser & Levent Uzun: Warum können wir in der Türkei keine Fremdsprachen lernen? Einige psychologische Gründe dahinter): Das Erlernen von Fremdsprachen ist eines der wichtigsten Bestrebungen für Menschen in allen Ländern der Welt. Die Türkei hat dem Fremdsprachenlernen seit Jahren Bedeutung beigemessen. Dennoch ist es für die türkische Bevölkerung ein ungelöstes Problem. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, die Gründe für das Ausbleiben des Fremdsprachenerwerbs in der Türkei und die psychologischen Gründe dafür zu ermitteln, indem die Wahrnehmung, die Angst vor der Fremdsprache und die erlernte Hilflosigkeit in den Mittelpunkt gestellt werden. Die Teilnehmer waren 100 ehrenamtliche Studierende (56 weiblich, 44 männlich), die nach dem Zufallsprinzip aus verschiedenen Fakultäten und Abteilungen der Universität Bursa Uludag ausgewählt wurden. Die Daten wurden anhand eines Fragebogens erhoben, der aus fünf Hauptabschnitten bestand, um den Hintergrund der Teilnehmer, die Wahrnehmung des Fremdsprachenlernens, den Grad der Fremdsprachenangst und den Grad der erlernten Hilflosigkeit zu ermitteln. Es wurden sowohl quantitative als auch qualitative Daten erhoben. Die Daten wurden in Bezug auf die Forschungsfragen analysiert, die der Studie zugrunde lagen. Die Ergebnisse deuteten darauf hin, dass die Teilnehmer aufgrund früherer positiver Erfahrungen eine positive Wahrnehmung des Fremdsprachenlernens hatten, dass aber ihr Grad an Fremdsprachenangst aufgrund mangelnder Übung in Sprachkenntnissen in der Vergangenheit hoch war; und dass ihr Grad an erlernter Hilflosigkeit aufgrund der positiven Wahrnehmung, die sie besaßen, gering war. Darüber hinaus legten die Ergebnisse nahe, dass die vier Sprachkenntnisse bei der Vorbereitung und Festlegung der Inhalte des Fremdsprachenunterrichts an Schulen und der Fremdsprachenkurse an Universitäten berücksichtigt werden sollten.
Schlüsselwörter: Fremdsprachenlernen, Psychologie, Wahrnehmung, Ängste, erlernte Hilflosigkeit, Sprachkenntnisse

Резюме (Есенаш Йигит, Емер Фарук Кезер, Левент Узун: Почему в Турции трудно дается освоение иностранных языков? К вопросу о психологических причинах данной проблемы): Освоение иностранных языков – одно из важнейших устремлений людей во многих странах мира. В Турции на протяжении многих лет изучению иностранных языков придавалось большое значение. И все-таки, несмотря на это, для турецкого народа иностранные языки – до сих пор нерешенная проблема. Цель нашего исследования заключается в том, чтобы выявить причины данной проблемы в Турции, в том числе психологического плана, к которым относятся общее восприятие этой тематики, страх, «запрограммированная» беспомощность по отношению к «языковой» ситуации. Участниками эксперимента стали сто студентов-добровольцев (56 девушек и 44 юноши), которые были отобраны принципом случайной выборки на разных факультетах и отделениях Университета Улудаг. Эмпирические данные собирались по результатам анкетирования. Анкета включала в себя пять разделов, составленных для выявления отношения респондентов к изучению иностранных языков, определения степени страха перед освоением иностранного языка, «измерения» уровня готовности справляться с трудностями, оставшись один на один с иностранным языком. В исследовании были задействованы квантитативные и квалитативные методы. Затем осуществлялась обработка данных, полученных на основе анкетирования. Результаты исследования показали, что участники в целом демонстрировали позитивный настрой на освоение иностранного языка благодаря имевшемуся у них прошлому положительному опыту в этой области. В то же время был зарегистрирован высокий уровень страха респондентов перед освоением нового языка из-за его недостаточной тренировки в прошлом, а степень приобретенной неуверенности оказалась незначительной. Помимо этого, исследование показало, что языковые знания должны учитываться при разработке и утверждении программ по обучению иностранным языкам в школах и вузах, предлагающих в качестве образовательной услуги курсы иностранного языка.
Ключевые слова: изучение иностранного языка, психология, страхи, запрограммированная беспомощность, языковые знания

Introduction

Language is life, itself. There are various languages spoken all over the world which thus means that there are different aspects, purposes and meanings in life. All of them lead people to learn a foreign language (FL). Learning an FL can help people gain a different point of view about the world, other people and their cultures, as one Chinese proverb says – to learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world. (https://www.lingholic.com/top-ten-best-proverbs-language-learning/?utm_source=feedly)

Even though foreign language learning (FLL) is one of the most significant endeavours in people’s lives, it does include a problem that has been unresolved for years specifically in Turkey. It is a common idea that we have difficulty in learning a foreign language in our country. Academicians, educators, and governmental bodies have carried out a large number of studies to find a solution to why we cannot learn foreign languages so well in Turkey. However, this issue still remains one of the biggest questions. For instance, according to Education First (EF) English Proficiency Index, Turkey is ranked as the sixty-second of eighty countries (https://www.ef.co.uk/epi/regions/europe/turkey/), and there it is revealed that FLL really is a problem in our country and that we must take into account the reasons why this is so.

One of the reasons that make FLL a long and challenging process is human psychology, which is quite complicated, varies from person to person and affects learning seriously. If and when human psychology’s effects on FLL are analysed in Turkey, the following three major concepts should be researched: perception, anxiety and learned helplessness.

Perception, Anxiety, and Learned Helplessness

Perception can be defined as “the procedure or outcome of becoming conscious of items, connections, and events by way of the senses’’ (Nugent, 2013). It can also be defined as “awareness or consciousness”, “view” or “a belief or opinion, often held by many people and based on how things seem” (Collins English Dictionary, n.d., Cambridge English Dictionary, n.d.). Furthermore, throughout the learning process, teachers’ personal characteristics, classroom environment, materials and methods can shape perception. If these factors have negative effects on a person, they raise the person’s level of anxiety. According to the Oxford Dictionary, anxiety is described as a feeling of “worry, nervousness’’, or “unease about something with an uncertain outcome.’’ There are many types of anxiety and FL anxiety is one of them. FL anxiety can be defined as a complicated fact which involves a person’s perceptions, feelings, beliefs, behaviours in FLL and as a person’s feeling of being stressed, frightened, and restless (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; Büyükkarcı, 2016). It is clear that FL anxiety might create negative feelings towards learning a FL. On the other hand, people can face up to these conditions, cope with other people that discourage them, and overcome disappointments or failures. As a result of negative experiences, they may find themselves in a situation of helplessness and believe that they can never be successful, no matter how hard they try, possibly even giving up trying to find a solution to their problems. This situation is known as “learned helplessness’’ in the field of psychology. In other words, learned helplessness is related to being exposed to negative stimuli, pessimism and depression. Moreover, the fear of being unsuccessful leads people to be passive (Miller, & Seligman, 1975; Aydoğan, 2016). Furthermore, learned helplessness can occur in every aspect of life and can also occur in FLL in relation to the past negative experiences.

The Problem of the Study

A large number of studies have been carried out, curriculums have been modified, coursebooks have been revised, and new methods have been implemented in the field of FL learning and/or teaching in Turkey to find a way out of this chronic problem. Nevertheless, an effective solution has not been found, yet. Our purpose in this study is to contribute to the field by examining the relationship among perception, anxiety and learned helplessness in terms of FLL. Human psychology, the emotions in other words, cannot be ignored in any aspect of life nor in FLL. To quote C. G. Jung, “Emotion is the chief source of all becoming-conscious. There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.’’ (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Jung).

Literature Review

Perception of Foreign Language Learning

Perception is a complex mental process in which sensations are interpreted by the person. Everything that we hear, see, taste, touch and smell is related to our previous experiences and expectations about the future. Similarly, Mueller (1958, p.167) stated that perceptions are based on past experiences, our interpretations are related to the previous experiences, as well. Therefore, it is clear that perceptions change from person to person; that is, they are subjective, and therefore complex.

Perception is a significant concept in every aspect of life as well as in FLL. There are decisive factors that affect the perception of FLL. Classroom environment is one of them. It is a combination of the physical, emotional, social and intellectual climate in which learning occurs (Jahedizadeh et al., 2015). This indicates that students’ perceptions are shaped by classroom environment. Hazari (2014) pointed out that students learn better when they perceive the learning environment positively. Göksu (2015) emphasized that students’ positive learning environment perceptions can improve learners’ English in an FLL situation. On the other hand, Jannati and Marzban (2015) conducted a similar study in Iran; and, they revealed that students did not appreciate their actual learning environment, and thus, could not perform well in the language proficiency test. In view of the related literature, it can be considered that classroom environment has great importance in determining FLL and the performance of the students. Prior experience and teachers also play decisive roles in the perception of FL. Pirhonen (2015) showed that the first-year physics students’ perceptions of the language were influenced by their past experiences and positive messages that they heard from people, such as the staff of their institution. Another attention-catching point revealed in the research was that some students quit optional language studies at school, as their teachers were not able to motivate them enough. In another study, Şahin, Seçer and Erişen (2016) examined high school students’ perception of English with their impressions and images as well as the effect of these perceptions on their motivation to learn English. The results of this study showed that the students who perceive English positively, participate more and are highly motivated in comparison to students who have negative perceptions and construct negative metaphors to describe their perceptions. To sum up, students may show a positive tendency towards a language if they have a positive perception on it, but if their perception is negative, they may show a negative tendency towards the language as this also negatively affects their intrinsic motivation.

Foreign Language Anxiety

One of the reasons that make language learning challenging and demanding is FL anxiety. It is a kind of barrier to students’ learning. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986, pp. 126-127) stated that anxious students tend to forget what they know and overstudy or avoid studying. Kayaoğlu and Sağlamel (2013) examined students’ perceptions of language anxiety related to speaking at a state university in Turkey. Based on the interviews, they revealed that factors of language anxiety were linguistic problems, cognitive problems like the fear of being unsuccessful in front of people, fear of making mistakes, teachers, competitiveness among peers, and lack of information. Moreover, it was revealed that there were some manifestations of language anxiety such as stomach-ache, trembling, feeling tongue-tied, and changing behaviours. Similarly, Demir (2015) carried out a study on speaking anxiety among Turkish students and revealed that the reasons for FL anxiety among the students were mostly social, such as fear of public speaking, comparison with peers and their reactions, linguistic problems, having problems in understanding and with the speed of communication. Likewise, Suleimenova (2013) examined speaking anxiety among Kazakh students in FL classrooms and concluded that anxiety can cause some consequences such as not being aware of one’s abilities, having problems with speaking in public, minimal participation in speaking, and being a shy person. As a result, a high level of anxiety can lead students into having language difficulties, both physical and social. Again, Tzoannopoulou (2016) researched FL anxiety and fear of negative evaluation among Greek university students, and she concluded that factors of student language anxiety are being apprehensive of communication with teachers, peers, and native speakers. On the other hand, tests, English classes, teachers’ evaluations and corrections were also found to be other factors that affect language anxiety. Additionally, Landström (2017) investigated FL anxiety among Swedish lower and upper secondary school students and revealed that factors of anxiety were the teacher’s changing role in different grades, negative evaluation and general anxiety. Therefore, it is clear that teachers and their evaluation also play a role in FL anxiety.

Another point is that four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) are significant elements in FL learning and teaching. In consequence, Yastıbaş (2016) carried out a study on anxieties related to the four language skills in English language teaching and the relationships among them. He concluded that there is no relationship among the four skill-based anxieties. Notwithstanding those results, it was revealed that there is a correlation between speaking anxiety and classroom anxiety.

Consequently, FL anxiety can be considered as a universal problem that affects students’ language learning adversely. In view of the related literature, it is obvious that anxiety has negative effects on students both psychologically and physiologically.

Learned Helplessness in Foreign Language Learning

When students have negative perceptions of language learning and a high level of anxiety, they find themselves in a helplessness situation, which is defined as learned helplessness in psychology. In addition, when people perceive improbability, they attribute helplessness to a cause (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978, p.49). Therefore, students attribute their failure to a cause as a result of other failures in previous experiences.

Hsu (2011) examined EFL college students’ learned helplessness when learning English in Taiwan, concluding that learners who are neurotic are more sensitive to failure whereas students with traits of openness, extraversion and agreeableness can reactivate their extrinsic motivation when supported externally. Apparently, personality traits have an effect on academic performance. On the other hand, Yaman, Esen and Derkuş (2011) carried out a study to find the relationship between learned helplessness level and academic success in ELT classes at high schools, revealing that there is a negative correlation between learned helplessness and academic success. Likewise, Aydoğan (2016) investigated the influence of learned helplessness and the locus of control on academic success on English grades, and found that students with low levels of learned helplessness and internal locus of control had better grades. They also liked English more than the students with high levels of learned helplessness and external locus of control. In the same study, it was also revealed that there is a negative relationship between learned helplessness and students’ academic achievements. On the other hand, Büyükkarcı (2016) investigated the effects of FLL anxiety and language learning attitude in academic achievement of pre-service freshmen students and the relation between attitude and anxiety. It was revealed that there was neither significant correlation between students’ anxiety and attitude, nor did they have any effect on students’ academic achievement. In the study, it was also found that even if students have positive attitudes towards learning English, they do not want to learn it because of the learned helplessness and negative experiences with the English teachers and classmates in the past.

Regarding the related literature, obviously language learning is seriously affected by past experiences and learned helplessness. Thus, it is possible to conclude that when the level of learned helplessness increases, students’ academic success decreases.

The literature analysing FLL in the context of perception, FL anxiety and learned helplessness has fallen behind. The purpose of the present study is to contribute to the literature by investigating why we have difficulty in learning FLs, specifically in Turkey, and researching especially the psychological reasons for this by analysing perception, anxiety and learned helplessness. The study seeks to find answers to the following research questions:

1. What is the effect of perception factors on foreign language learning?
2. What is the effect of the perceptions related to the language skills on foreign language anxiety?
3. What is the level of the learned helplessness of the participants who have negative perception towards foreign language learning and a high level of foreign language anxiety?
4. What are the feelings and opinions of the participants related to foreign language learning?

Methodology

The present study adopted triangulation methodology in terms of data collection and analyses. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected by means of the questionnaire, which included quantitative and qualitative items, and was prepared by the researchers of the present study. The participants, the materials that were used in the study, and the procedures are explained in the following.

Participants

The sample group in the current study consisted of the university students as presented in Table 1.

Table 1: The number of the participants according to faculties and departments.

The participants were 100 Turkish students who studied at different faculties and departments at Uludag University in the Province of Bursa in Turkey. 56 of the participants were female whereas 44 of them were male. The participants’ age ranged between 18 and 30 and their mean age was 21.25. Table 1 presents the faculties and departments at which the participants studied. Convinience sampling was used, meaning all participants were randomly selected from among the volunteers who were reached by going to the faculties that they studied at. The participants were attending different years and levels at university from undergraduate to graduate. 18 of the participants studied in the first year; 32 participants were in the second year; 27 students studied in the third year, and 19 of them were in the fourth year. Furthermore, 2 of 100 participants were graduate students; 1 participant was a PhD candidate whereas 1 participant was in a preparatory class. Their native language was Turkish and all of them received their first education in Turkey. Based on their responses, 9 participants started to learn a FL at kindergarten; 68 of them started to learn it at a primary school; 19 participants started at secondary school; 1 participant started to learn it at high school, and 3 of the participants started to learn an FL at university. In addition, they graduated from different types of high schools. Table 2 presents the high schools that they graduated from in detail. The high school information was collected as additional demographic data about the participants since some programs at high schools in Turkey have additional supportive language curriculums that could provide more insight related to the profile of the participants. For instance, the Anatolian High Schools, Science High Schools, Anatolian Teacher Training High Schools, and private Colleges are recognised to have advantageous FLL programs. The number of the participants who graduated from these high schools was 66. This would mean that the majority of the participants graduated under advantageous conditions in terms of FL instruction.

Table 2: Types of high schools that the participants graduated from.

While 35 participants stated that they couldn’t speak any FL, 65 of them stated that they spoke one FL or more than one, such as English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Albanian, Korean and Spanish. The percentages are stated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The percentages of the foreign languages that the participants speak, and of the participants who couldn’t speak any foreign language.

Figure 1 presents useful information in terms of the studied languages, as it might be necessary to discuss and evaluate the difficulty and/or popularity of some languages, and thus, clarify that the probable problems in learning an FL did not stem from factors such as rare alphabet, grammar, or any other extra difficulty-inducing element. English was observed to be the most common language (59%), followed by German (23%). Both of these languages shared the same alphabet with the L1 of the participants as well as many words that were used in daily life.

Materials

While preparing the data collection questionnaire (see Appendix 1), the following scales were examined, adopted and adapted:

1. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986)
2. Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (Soito, Garza, & Horwitz, 1999)
3. Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (Kim, 2002)
4. Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (Huang, 2005)
5. Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (Cheng, 2004)
6. Learned Helplessness Scale in Mathematics (Biber, & Başer,2014)

The scales stated above and the interviews with a psychologist and a sociologist, who are experts in their field, helped the researchers to prepare the data collection questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the data collection tool was assured by applying it to thirty-five additional subjects, and consulting experts; two linguists, a psychologist, and a sociologist. The consistency and reliability of the questionnaire has been determined to be appropriate. The questionnaire consisted of five main parts (Introduction part, Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D).

In the introduction part, brief information about the study and instructions were provided to the participants, and there were 9 items about their background such as age, sex, nationality, faculty and department, grade, when they started to learn a foreign language, the type of high schools they graduated from, and FLs that they speak.

Part A (the perceptions section) of the questionnaire was comprised of four sections (A1-A2-A3-A4) that aimed to elicit participants’ perceptions towards FLs; whether these were positive or negative. Therefore, items in this part were related to the participants’ first experiences with FLs. Section A1 was a checklist that consisted of 4 items, which determined the quality of the participants’ first FLL environment and materials. Section A2 involved 7 items to identify the materials’ contribution to the participants’ learning while they were learning a foreign language for the first time. In Section 3 there was a checklist that comprised of 11 items to find out the techniques that affected the participants’ learning positively while learning a foreign language for the first time. Section A4 consisted of a checklist in which there were 6 items related to the traits of the participants’ first FL teachers. In summary, Part A was prepared to collect data about the negative and positive perceptions of the participants in terms of a) the quality of the learning environment and materials, b) the learning materials that contributed most to success, c) the techniques that contributed positively to the learning, and d) the traits of the teachers.

Part B (the anxiety section) was designed to determine the participants’ level of FL anxiety. There were 10 Likert Scale items ranging from 1- Strongly Agree to 5-Strongly Disagree. Part C (the learned helplessness section) was prepared to elicit information about the learners’ level of learned helplessness in FLL. This part involved 10 statements and each statement offered two options a and b to choose from. And additionally, Part D was prepared to collect qualitative data. There were 2 open-ended questions/items in this part encouraging students to express what they felt in their first FL lesson and whether a foreign language was necessary for their career development or not. The aim in this part was to find out their feelings and thoughts about FLL. As a result, the Introduction part, Part A, Part B, and Part C were prepared to collect quantitative data while Part D was designed to collect qualitative data from the participants.

Procedure

Three steps were followed in the present study. First, the questionnaire was prepared by examining, adopting and adapting sample scales that have been mentioned above as well as conducting interviews with two linguists, a psychologist, and a sociologist. Second, the questionnaire was applied to the subjects who helped in improving and creating the refined version of the data collection tool. Third, the ultimate questionnaire was applied to the one hundred volunteer students. Finally, the collected data were analysed by the researchers.

Step 1- Preparing the Data Collection Tool

After reliable and relevant sources in the literature had been examined, it was decided to use a questionnaire as a data collection tool rather than employing extended interview sessions since the researchers aimed at reaching a relatively large number of participants in a limited time. Before preparing the questionnaire, scales related to FL anxiety and learned helplessness were examined. However, some problems were faced while finding an appropriate scale designed for perception of FLL and FLT. Therefore, the researchers decided to consult experts from the related fields, and thus, the researchers interviewed a psychologist and a sociologist as well as consulting two expert linguists. Utmost effort was made and attention given to preparing a questionnaire that would collect both quantitative and qualitative data, so that the participants could reflect their perceptions, emotions and thoughts about FLL, and the data could be crosschecked. It took four weeks to design the data collection instrument. In order to test the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, the researchers piloted it with thirty-five volunteer students in the English Language Teaching Department at Bursa Uludag University. Consequently, it was determined that the questionnaire was reliable and appropriate to apply to other participants.

Step 2 – Data Collection

The study was carried out during two weeks in the middle of the 2017-2018 spring term. The researchers visited different faculties at Bursa Uludag University and approached the participants randomly. The information about the questionnaire was provided to the volunteer participants by the researchers. A printed-out questionnaire was preferred in the study for two reasons: 1) to detect whether the participants had received their first education in Turkey, 2) to provide information when the participants needed it.

Before handing a printed-out questionnaire to the participants, they were asked whether they had received their first education in Turkey or not. It was an important detail because the reasons why foreign languages are learned with some difficulty in Turkey were investigated in the study. The printed-out questionnaire given to the participants was in their L1, so that they could understand the questions and answer them by taking account of their experiences and thoughts with no additional hindrance. It took 7-9 minutes for each participant to complete the questionnaire. At the end of two weeks, 100 participants had been reached by the researchers, and the data collected.

Step 3 – Data Analyses

The questionnaires that each participant completed were classified according to the faculties and departments. Afterwards, each questionnaire was given a number by the researchers. The Microsoft Excel Program 2010 was used during the analyses, as it was fast and convenient to use. This process took four days. First, tables were created for each part in the questionnaire, and second the data were entered into the computer. After all the data had been processed, the mean scores and percentages of the related data were calculated.

Each response that the participants gave to the two open-ended questions in the questionnaire was subjected to content analyses. Furthermore, the negative and positive responses were categorized and clustered. Finally, the graphics and tables were created for all sections in the questionnaire.

Results and Discussion

Both the quantitative and qualitative results obtained from this study as well as the answers to the research questions are presented and explained in the following section.

Quantitative Results

The participants’ first experiences were identified to find out their perceptions of FLL by means of the predetermined factors that affected learning. The findings related to their perceptions are presented in Tables 3, 4, 5 and 6. The students selected more than one option in Tables 3, 5, and 6 as stated below.

Table 3: Items and percentages of the participants’ first FLL environments.

According to the results, as presented in Table 3, the lowest percentage of participants’ first FLL experience was 22%, where it was stated that the materials met participants’ FLL needs. The highest was 34% informing that the learning environment was colourful and vibrant. The total percentage of the participants who selected options a) and c) was 56%, while the percentage of the participants who selected options b) and d) was 57%. This suggested that 56% of the participants perceived their first FL environment positively in contrast to the 57% who perceived it negatively. No significant difference in terms of percentages was observed between the students who had a positive perception of their first FL environment and those who had a negative perception, although there was a slight tendency towards the negative side. These results showed that, when compared as groups (participants with positive perceptions versus participants with negative perceptions), the participants were affected almost equally by positive and negative experiences, and therefore, the quality of the learning environment and materials did not affect their perceptions of FLL very differently.

Table 4: Items and percentages of the order of first three materials that contributed most to the participants’ learning while they were learning a foreign language for the first time.

As stated in Table 4, it was revealed that coursebooks contributed most to the participants’ learning (34%), pictures were placed second (29%) and third (27%). It was inferred that both written and visual materials had a positive effect on their learning while they were learning a foreign language for the first time. Therefore, it might be suggested that coursebooks with plenty of well-determined visuals would contribute most to the learning process of the novice language students.

Table 5: Items and percentages of the techniques that had a positive effect on participants’ perceptions while they were learning a foreign language for the first time.

According to the data presented in Table 5, the highest percentage of the technique affecting participants’ learning positively was “topics were taught with enjoyable activities” (58%). This result indicated that enjoyable activities might have helped the participants to learn. Moments which students enjoyed in the class might have facilitated FLL. When enjoyable activities are adopted as techniques during the learning processes, the students generally tend to remember what they have done in the class and share what they have learned with each other, leading to some degree of natural repetition. Unconscious learning takes place in this way and this increases successful learning in a holistic way (see also Yusuf et al., 2017; Schwartz et al., 2016).

It was also revealed that the percentage of teaching grammar rules explicitly was 52%. Taking account of the percentage, it might be suggested that teaching the structures and rules of a foreign language might have contributed to successful learning; the participants were able to build sentences and realized that they were able to deal with the FL.

Surprisingly, 50% of the participants stated that it was a useful technique that mostly Turkish (L1) was used in the lessons, meaning that the students were able to interact with their teachers and friends who spoke the same language, understand them and feel comfortable while they were learning the FL for the first time. Therefore, it might be suggested that during the first periods, using the L1 in the lessons is important in order to reduce the stress and anxiety level of the students and to make them feel positive towards the lesson. According to the results, other techniques with high percentages were that new words in the FL were taught with pictures and realia (44%), and tape/voice recordings were used in listening activities (44%). It was understood that audio-visual materials contributed highly to the participants’ FLL.

As presented in Table 5, the percentages of activities done to improve communication skills and of reading texts in accordance with pupils’ interests were 27%, short texts/essays written for writing skill was 22%, and the percentage of group work in the lessons was 21%. These results make it possible to speculate that techniques related to language skills were not applied enough while the participants were learning a foreign language for the first time; or, although the techniques were right, there might have been inadequacies in the way they were applied. Therefore, learning may not have been activated due to a lack of practice on the material learnt. These observations propose that in fact, language is skill-based, but FLL in Turkey is knowledge-based. Thus, language learners cannot do enough exercises related to what they have learned.

Table 6: Items and percentages of the characteristics of participants’ first foreign language teachers.

As presented in Table 6, being a motivator presented 53% as the highest percentage of characteristics in participants’ first FL teachers. On the other hand, the percentage of teachers that led the students to develop negative thoughts towards the FL was observed to be the lowest percentage (17%). It is clear that first FL teachers of the participants encouraged their students to learn the FL and provided readiness for learning. 45% of the participants stated that they developed positive thoughts towards the FLL thanks to their first FL teachers. Another observation was that the teachers were steady and they were able to maintain discipline in the classroom. It is seen that some of the teachers were authoritarian (38%). To sum up, the characteristics of the first FL teachers of the participants were generally positive and that contributed positively to the perceptions of FLL.

Notably, only 37% of all 100 participants’ responses pointed out that their teachers were using their FL comfortably, i.e. ‘very well’. Naturally it should be expected that this percentage should be close to 100%. Therefore, it was deduced that the first FL teachers of the participants had some inadequacies in their language skills, although they were good at applying the pedagogical methodologies and/or techniques, or other issues related to the teaching profession. Maybe the teachers focused on knowledge such as teaching grammar rules, but not enough on the language skills. Nonetheless, it was observed that generally the students perceived their teachers as experts in the FL. It might be a good recommendation that faculties of education revise the contents of the lessons in order to raise the standard of the language skills with the specific aim to train skilful FL teachers.

The data presented above provide insight related to research question one “What is the effect of the factors on perception in relation to foreign language learning?”

In summary, it was observed that the investigated factors generally shaped the participants’ perception of FLL positively. The researchers did not observe any attention-catching difference between the students who had an inadequate learning environment (57%) and those who had advantageous learning environment (56%). The audio-visual and written materials used in language classes, specifically the coursebooks and pictures, helped in their FLL and positively affected their perception. Although there were some problems with applying the techniques, the participants were satisfied overall. Most importantly, a great number of the students had a positive perception of their first FL, but their perceptions were negative in terms of teachers’ inability to implement the language skills. These current findings are consistent with the results of Pirhonen (2015) who found that past experience and positive messages from teachers influenced students’ perceptions of the language.

On the other hand, Hazari (2014) and Göksu (2015) indicated that if students have positive perceptions of their learning environment, they can learn a FL better. In addition, Jannati and Marzban (2015) found that when students did not approve of their learning environment, their performance on the language proficiency test was low. In comparison to the related literature, our study found no significant difference as a group between the students who had a positive perception of their first FL environment and those who had a negative perception in terms of FLL. In other words, it was revealed that the learning environment did not affect the perceptions of FLL. This might stem from our education system that is more teacher-centred. The participants generally give more importance to the effect of their teachers’ methods and personality over their perceptions of FLL.

As a result, because the participants’ past experiences were mainly positive, they had generally positive perceptions towards FLL. The findings of the present research agree closely with Mueller (1958, p.167) who stated that past experience affects our perceptions and interpretation of events and processes

Table 7 presents the participants’ level of FL anxiety, the factor that research question two concentrated on.

Table 7: Items and percentages of the participants’ level of foreign language anxiety.

B1-B3-B5-B6-B8-B9 out of the ten items presented in Table 7 were prepared to determine the participants’ level of anxiety related to the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing).

According to the data in B1, it was revealed that 66% (strongly agree-agree) of 100 participants feel anxious when they cannot express themselves in a FL. The results presented in B6 showed that making a presentation in the foreign language in front of a group increased the participants’ level of anxiety (48% disagree-strongly disagree). These data presented in B1 and B6 suggest that the level of speaking anxiety of the participants is high. It was clear that the participants feel anxious while making a presentation in the FL in front of a group. Similarly, Suleimenova (2013) stated that FL anxiety could cause problems in speaking in public among students. Moreover, Demir (2015) indicated that fear of public speaking is one of the reasons for FL anxiety and our study showed that feeling anxious while speaking in front of people is more related to the consequences of anxiety rather than the reason for the anxiety.

As stated in B3, being confronted with an FL reading text was not anxiety-provoking for the majority of the participants (58% disagree-strongly disagree). It seems that reading passages does not increase the students’ level of anxiety, maybe because most of them felt comfortable based on their experience reading aloud in the past. In other words, it seems that practice related to previous experience does not lead them to feel anxious. However, the results of B5 indicate that encountering unknown words while reading a passage made 39% (strongly agree-agree) of the participants feel uncomfortable. It seems that they feel anxious about reading comprehension.

Again, according to the results observed in B8, 40% of the participants (strongly agree-agree) feel anxious when they do not understand what they are listening to. This indicates that they have a problem with their listening skills. Therefore, it might be appropriate to recommend that first, the receptive language skills such as listening and reading should be improved in order to speak and write. Likewise, when the data in B9 were analysed, it was observed that 41% (disagree-strongly disagree) of the participants feel uncomfortable while writing a composition, short story, etc. in the foreign language. The results indicate that there are shortcomings with the writing skills, maybe because they could not develop their receptive language skills, listening and reading, appropriately.

It was observed that generally, the participants have problems with the four skills, which suggests that these skills were not given proper attention during their previous experience. When these findings are taken into consideration, we may comment that the participants’ level of FL anxiety increases when they face situations related to the language skills, which leads us to think that lack of practice of the language skills is one of the reasons for FL anxiety. If the language skills are competently improved, people will feel more comfortable.

On the other hand, according to the results in B2, 50% (disagree-strongly disagree) of the participants stated that they were afraid of making mistakes in the FL. We propose that this is due to the lack of exercises in their previous experience, whereas Kayaoğlu and Sağlamel (2013) found that being afraid of making mistakes was an anxiety factor.

In B4 it was revealed that 45% (strongly agree and agree) of the participants were willing to voluntarily join the activities in the classes. However, 41% (disagree and strongly disagree) of them were reluctant. Thus, the students who volunteered to answer the questions in the FL classes would feel more positive in terms of the perception and anxiety related to FL. The others, on the other hand, might find themselves inadequate in the FL, as they could not improve their language skills most probably because of insufficient practice, which in the end will result in anxiety. Similarly, Şahin, Seçer and Erişen (2016) found that the students who have positive perceptions of English join in the lessons more and are more motivated compared to other students who perceive English negatively and construct negative metaphors around it. The similarity between the two studies is that, since the participants have a positive perception, they are more willing to join in the FL lessons. When the data in B7 and B10 were analysed, it was revealed that 52% (strongly agree-agree) of the participants felt happy with the idea of going abroad. It was also notable that the idea of making friends from different countries did not scare the majority of them 81% (disagree-strongly disagree). These findings reveal that the participants like the idea of travelling abroad and making friendships with people who speak FLs, suggesting that they do not have any kind of negative feeling towards foreigners and/or FLs.

The results presented in Table 7 created an idea that the factor that increases later FL anxiety is the lack of skill-based practice in the language lessons in the students’ past experience. Therefore, the students might need more practising opportunities to improve their FL skills as well as to reduce their anxiety levels. It can be concluded that there should be a balance between knowledge and skills during their whole education. After the students learn something, they should always work practically with it by means of different exercises.

The data presented in Table 7 answered the research question two “What is the effect of the perceptions related to the language skills on foreign language anxiety?”

In summary, it was observed that the participants’ general perceptions of FLL are positive, but it was revealed that the source of their high level of anxiety might be inadequate practice in the language skills during their past FLL experience. To sum up, language is a tool for communication, and when communication, written or oral, is not practised enough in the FLL sessions, it unwillingly but unavoidably creates anxiety.

The observations of the present research align well with the findings of Tzoannopoulou (2016) in terms of the anxiety factors. Communication apprehension is found to be a factor of anxiety in both studies. However, the factor of anxiety related to teachers is different. Teachers’ evaluations and corrections were anxiety factors in Tzoannopoulou’s (2016) study, but in the present study, the fact that the language skills were not practised enough reflects the FL teachers’ effect on the anxiety of the students. In addition, Landström (2017) revealed that teachers have a dynamic role in lower and upper secondary school in terms of general anxiety and the anxiety factors. Likewise, in the present study, it was deduced that the FL teachers might have not given enough importance to practising the FL, and thus, might be considered as an anxiety factor in FLL.

Table 8 presents data related to the participants’ level of learned helplessness in FLL, the factor that research question three concentrated on.

Table 8: Items and percentages of the participants’ level of learned helplessness.

Table 8 provides data related to the participants’ level of learned helplessness. As presented in the table, there are two options in each statement. Option “a” in items like C3, C4, C6, C8 and C10 was prepared to determine the level of learned helplessness; on the other hand, option “b” in items C1, C2, C5, C7 and C9 was asked to identify whether the participants’ level of learned helplessness is high or not.

According to the data presented in C1, 25% of 100 participants chose the ‘’b’’ option ‘’I did not join because I have no faith in learning a foreign language’’. It shows that they believe that they can succeed in the FL. On the other hand, when the percentages in C2 were analysed, no significant difference was observed between the students who chose “a”: “I usually get high marks in foreign language exams.” ( 53%) and others who chose “b” “I got a high mark because questions were asked that I knew well by chance. ” (47%), but there was a slight tendency towards the “a” option though. This result indicated that they believe they are and can be successful in the FL exams. These results agree with Yaman, Esen and Derkuş (2011) and Aydoğan (2016) who revealed a negative relationship between academic success and learned helplessness, namely, students who have a low level of learned helplessness get better grades. As the participants’ perception of FLL is positive and their general level of learned helplessness is low, 53% of them stated that they usually get high marks in FL exams.

As can be observed in C3, 28% of the participants chose “a” which states that “ I did not prefer to meet because I do not know about foreign languages.” The percentage of the students who chose “a” indicating that “ I think that we will fail” in C4 was 19%. The data in C5 showed that 25% of them chose option “b” “ I do not accept it because I think that I’m not good at the foreign language”. However, 63% of the participants chose “a” which shows that “ I think that they did not give me a place because they thought that I am not good at the foreign language” in the statement given in C6. Similarly, option “b” “I just read it because the theme of the book aroused my interest” was chosen by 75% of 100 participants in C7. The percentage of option “a”: “I say that I cannot help him because I have difficulty using the foreign language” in the statement presented in C8 was very low, 11%. As seen in C9, option “b”: “ I do not play because I cannot use the foreign language effectively” was chosen by 36% of the students. The result indicates that there was no significant difference between the participants who chose “a” and those who chose “b”. 43% of them chose “a”: “ I did not understand because I quit listening because I think that I am not good at the foreign language”; and, 57% of them chose “b”: “ I did not understand because the topic did not arouse my interest”.

These findings revealed that the majority of the students’ levels of learned helplessness were low. The reason why they had a low level of learned helplessness despite a high level of FL anxiety might be that their perceptions of FLL were positive. We may conclude that positive perception shaped their behaviour. Although the students thought that they were not good enough at the FL, it was clear that they did not trust their language skills much; this thought did not lead them to acquire learned helplessness. They still believed that they could do it, in other words, learn and speak the FL. These observations do not agree with the findings of Büyükkarcı (2016). In his study, it was revealed that despite their positive attitudes, students did not want to learn English due to learned helplessness and negative previous experiences with English teachers and classmates. However, in the present research it was observed that the students had positive perceptions of FLL; this led to the interpretation that their level of learned helplessness was low because of this.

These findings answered research question three “What is the level of the learned helplessness of the participants who have a negative perception of foreign language learning and a high level of foreign language anxiety?”

In summary, the majority of the participants’ perceptions of FLL were positive, the anxiety levels were high, and their level of learned helplessness was low. However, as presented in Table 6, 17% of the participants stated that their teachers led them to develop negative thoughts about FL. Therefore, it is also possible that negative perception might have affected learning adversely and it might have increased the level of anxiety. As a result, it was noticed that the level of learned helplessness of these participants was, unlike in other participants, high.

Qualitative Results

Two open-ended questions were asked in the last part of the questionnaire and the responses were subjected to content analyses as presented in the following.

Responses given to the first interview question: What did you feel in the first foreign language lesson in your education life? 65% of 100 participants gave positive responses to this question. The common expressions through which the participants reflected their feelings are given below:

• I loved my English teacher when I saw her for the first time.
• I got excited.
• My teacher was lovely; she motivated me to learn.
• I became very happy.
• The first lesson was enjoyable. I was willing to learn a new language.
• My teacher helped me to understand English in the lesson.
• The first lesson aroused my interest.
• My teacher was willing to teach; I got motivated.
• Learning a different language made me happy.
• I felt as if I had discovered something that I did not know.
• I thought that I could do it.
• My teacher taught English with games and activities. I loved him.
• It was an interesting lesson because there were many pictures in the class.
• I was curious about learning a foreign language.
• The first lesson aroused my interest because it helped me learn different cultures.

30 % of 100 students gave negative answers to the same question. A majority of them expressed their feelings with these expressions given below:

• I was scared.
• I felt anxious.
• I did not like my English teacher.
• I was worried because I did not understand anything.
• I thought that I could not learn a new language.
• I felt terrible.
• I felt left out.
• The first lesson was frightening.
• My teacher was not patient enough.
• I was afraid because I had a teacher speaking English.
• It was a boring lesson.
• I developed negative thoughts about this lesson because of my teacher.
• I did not feel good enough for this lesson.
• I felt stressed.

5% of 100 participants stated that they could not remember what they had felt in the first FL lesson.

Responses given to the second interview question: According to you, is it necessary to know a foreign language for your professional development? 95% of 100 participants pointed out that knowing an FL is a necessity for their careers. They explained their reasons with these expressions:

• I can find a job, easily.
• I have better job opportunities if I know a foreign language.
• It is an advantage.
• It is essential for me because of my department.
• It is important to communicate with other people in the world.
• It is necessary to find reliable sources.
• It is significant for post – graduation.
• It is a necessity to follow other studies in the world.
• It is crucial because of globalisation.

On the other hand, 5% of 100 students stated that knowing an FL is not necessary for their professional development. They used these expressions while expressing their reasons:

• A skilled person can find a job easily; he does not need to learn a foreign language.
• I do not need to learn a foreign language because I am studying at the Turkish Language Teaching Department.
• It is unnecessary for my department.
• I do not go abroad, so I do not need it.
• The most important thing is to be successful in my job. I do not need to learn it.

These results answered research question four “What are the feelings and opinions of the participants related to foreign language learning?”

A large number of the participants had positive feelings and thoughts related to FLL. 65% of them stated that they were excited, enjoyed the lessons and they loved their first FL teachers. It is clear that generally they developed positive thoughts and had positive perceptions of FLL. Furthermore, 95% of 100 participants emphasized that they need to learn an FL for their career. The face-to-face interviews cultivated qualitative data that provided more depth related to the perceptions, anxiety, and learned helplessness of the participants that supported and in some cases clarified the unclear points of the quantitative data. In some cases the dialogues between the researchers and the participants took up to 15-20 minutes, and provided insightful information that helped to clarify everything related to the research topics. The qualitative results and observations have been summarised in the following:

Summary of the Qualitative Results

During the dialogues with the participants when applying the interview questions the following deductions and conclusions were derived:

1. The majority of the participants had a positive perception of FLL due to their positive experiences in the past. It is important to state that they expressed their feelings about their first FL lesson by recalling their teachers particularly, maybe due to the teacher-centred education system that they had been through.
2. The level of the FL anxiety of the majority of the participants was high, maybe because the FL teachers neglected or did not apply the necessary or most effective practices for language skills, a conclusion derived from the dialogues during the interviews. Lack of practice in the past causes anxiety in the present when the participants encounter situations in which they have to use the FL.
3. Most of the participants’ levels of learned helplessness were low as they had a positive perception of FLL. They believed that they could learn and speak a foreign language, although there was a minority that did not want to be involved in any kind of FL environment or activity.
4. It was remarkable to establish that 95% of the participants found learning a foreign language necessary as the majority of the academic sources where scientific information can be found are written in an FL, especially English. The participants believed that they can later find better jobs in their lives, and they can communicate with others in the world if they speak a foreign language.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the present study investigated why some people cannot learn a foreign language in Turkey and the psychological reasons behind it. In this sense, the effect of perception, FL anxiety, and learned helplessness on individuals’ FLL were examined. One hundred students from different faculties and departments at Bursa Uludag University expressed their feelings and opinions about FLL by means of a questionnaire as well as in face-to-face interview sessions. The results indicated that the majority of the participants had positive perceptions of FLL. However, their level of anxiety was high, whereas their level of learned helplessness was low. The reason why the participants had a high level of anxiety might go back to their FL teachers not sufficiently practising language skills in their lessons. That’s why the students could not learn successfully and improve their FL competency. The dialogues that emerged during the last part of the interviews provided clear information and hints related to both the research topics and the reasons why we cannot learn FLs in Turkey.

It was observed that when conditions in which people have to use the FL skills emerge, the participants feel incompetent and their level of anxiety increases. According to the findings, the fact that their level of learned helplessness is low is related to their previous positive experiences, which shaped their perceptions, and, indeed, they are willing to learn a FL. Nevertheless, the level of anxiety and the factors that create FL anxiety seem to be the biggest obstacle for the FL learners.

The present study brought a new perspective to the literature in terms of analysing FLL through perception, FL anxiety, and learned helplessness. The present research was guided by the informal observations of the researchers that the reasons behind the difficulties in Turkish FLL environments stemmed from the psychological factors rather than the insufficiency of the physical conditions. In addition, we offer a recommendation that the contents of FL lessons at schools and courses of FL teaching programs be revised by considering the language skills separately and by giving them equal importance.

Limitations and Suggestion for Further Research

The present study was carried out with one hundred participants from a single university in a limited time. Therefore, it would be better if the same study were applied to a larger number of people throughout Turkey for more reliable results and effective solutions. Further research may analyse the perceptions of FLL, level of FL anxiety and level of learned helplessness of children, teenagers and adults. In other words, the study can be repeated with different participant profiles. Additionally, the results might be compared to each other by taking account of different variables such as age, sex, duration of FL study, place or school of FL study, etc. In the light of the obtained results, we may confidently recommend that while researching the difficulties, collecting qualitative data and extending the duration and depth of the interviews would be greatly useful.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank each of 100 volunteer students from different faculties and departments at Bursa Uludag University for consenting to go through our questionnaire. We would like to thank the two expert linguists, the psychologist Canan Birgül Ağca Tokem, and the sociologist Cansın Gümüş who always supported us and helped us while preparing the questionnaire.

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Appendix 1

ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING IN TURKEY

This questionnaire has been prepared to determine the reasons why we cannot learn foreign language in Turkey.

Your answers will contribute to a scientific research.

Your name will not be asked. The information you share will be confidential.

Please answer the questions by considering your own thoughts and learning experiences.

Instruction: Please read the following phrases carefully and select the appropriate option / options (✓) for you.

There is no correct or wrong answer.

Age: ______

Sex: F ( ) M ( )

Nationality: ___________

Faculty/ Department: ____________

Grade: ______

When did you start to learn a foreign language?

Kindergarden:______ Primary School:______ Secondary School:______ High School:______ University:______

What is the type of high school that you graduated from?

Science High School:______ Anatolian High School:______ General High School:______ Vocational/Technical High School:______ Religious High School:______ College:______ Other:________

Foreign language(s) that you speak ______________

Part A

A1. How was your first language learning environment? Please select the option/ options(✓) that is/are appropriate for you.

A2. Please, list the first three materials that contributed most to your learning while you were learning foreign language for the first time, from among the following in order of 1-2-3.

A3. Please, select the option/options (✓) from the following techniques that you think it/they had a positive effect on your learning while you were learning foreign language for the first time.

A4. What were your first foreign language teacher’s characteristics? Please select the option / options (✓) that is/ are appropriate for you.

Part B

Please read the following statements carefully and answer the questions by taking into consideration the given scale. Please, select the option (✓) that is appropriate for you.

Part C

Each questions in this part describes one event and two options are given, indicated by the letters a and b, which can be selected by a person facing this event. When you encounter such an event, which of these options do you choose? Please read the statements carefully and select the option that is more appropriate for you.

Part D

Please answer the following questions by specifying your own thoughts.

D1. What did you feel in the first foreign language lesson in your education life?

D2. According to you, is it necessary to speak a foreign language for your professional development?

Yes, it is. Why?

No, it is not. Why not?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE

About the Authors

Ecenaz Yiğit: Instructor of English as a Foreign Language, Independent Researcher (Turkey); e-mail: e.yigit3598@gmail.com

Ömer Faruk Keser: Instructor of English as a Foreign Language, Independent Researcher (Turkey); e-mail: omer7444@gmail.com

Dr. Levent Uzun: Associate Professor in the English Language Teaching Department at the Faculty of Education at Bursa Uludag University (Turkey); email: ulevent@uludag.edu.tr

摘要（Joe Munyoki Mwinzi：一种新的观点，意义及对教育哲学的关联性）： 教育哲学既是一项活动，也是一个过程，旨在根据所教内容，所教方式，所教对象以及教与学的过程来支持和评估教育的大事记及其活动。教育理论是一个综合概念，涉及学习目的的全部应用，解读以及教与学经验的整合。教育实践包括在学习环境中将思想转变为现实的过程。任何教育哲学的目的都具备教育的中心意义，因为它可以提供所授内容的含义研究。该研究尝试着去评估当前的教育理论，教育政策及教育实践是如何与各级教育的教育哲学相关联。
关键词：哲学； 教育; 政治; 理论; 实践

摘要（Joe Munyoki Mwinzi：一種新的觀點，意義及對教育哲學的關聯性）： 教育哲學既是一項活動，也是一個過程，旨在根據所教內容，所教方式，所教對像以及教與學的過程來支持和評估教育的大事記及其活動。教育理論是一個綜合概念，涉及學習目的的全部應用，解讀以及教與學經驗的整合。教育實踐包括在學習環境中將思想轉變為現實的過程。任何教育哲學的目的都具備教育的中心意義，因為它可以提供所授內容的含義研究。該研究嘗試著去評估當前的教育理論，教育政策及教育實踐是如何與各級教育的教育哲學相關聯。
關鍵詞：哲學； 教育; 政治; 理論; 實踐

Zusammenfassung (Joe Munyoki Mwinzi: Eine neue Perspektive, Bedeutung und Relevanz für die Bildungsphilosophie): Die Philosophie der Bildung ist sowohl eine Aktivität als auch ein Prozess, der darauf abzielt, pädagogische Ereignisse und Aktivitäten zu untermauern und zu evaluieren, und zwar in Bezug auf das, was gelehrt wird, wie es gelehrt wird, wer gelehrt wird und den Prozess des Lehrens und Lernens. Die Bildungstheorie ist ein zusammengesetztes Konzept, das sich auf den Zweck des Lernens in seiner Gesamtheit der Anwendung, Interpretation und Integration von Lehr- und Lernerfahrungen bezieht. Die Praxis der Bildung umfasst den Prozess der Umsetzung von Ideen in die Realität innerhalb des Lernkontextes. Der Zweck jeder Bildungsphilosophie ist in der Bildung von zentraler Bedeutung, weil sie die Untersuchung der Bedeutung dessen, was gelehrt wird, vorsieht. Diese Studie versucht zu beurteilen, wie die gegenwärtige Bildungstheorie, -politik und -praxis mit der Bildungsphilosophie auf allen Bildungsebenen korrelieren kann.
Schlüsselwörter: Philosophie; Bildung; Politik; Theorie; Praxis

Резюме (Джо Муниоки Мвинци (Новая перспектива, значение и роль для философии образования): Философия образования – это и деятельность, и процесс, который направлен на то, чтобы обосновывать педагогические события, факты и явления, давать им оценку, прежде всего в отношении того, что должно быть предметом обучения, как должно реализовываться обучение, кто в процессе обучения является целевой группой. Теория образования представляет собой многоуровневую концепцию, которая ставит во главу угла цель обучения со всей совокупностью использования, интерпретации и интеграции опыта субъектов и объектов образовательного дискурса. Практическая составляющая образования направлена на перенос идей в реальность, формируемую в рамках учебного контекста. Целеполагание, определяемое для философии образования, имеет в образовательном дискурсе центральное значение, поскольку здесь предусматривается исследование степени релевантности того, что является предметом обучения и изучения. В нашем исследовании предпринимается попытка дать оценку тому, как современная теория образования, образовательная политика и практическая сфера способны коррелировать на разных образовательных уровнях с философией образования
Ключевые слова: философия, образование, политика, теория, практическая деятельность

1. Introduction

The global community is currently characterized by change whose repercussions have a critical impact on societal enterprises and engagements. This change is more pronounced in education as it appears in the sustainable development goals or global goals particularly, e.g. goal number four, entitled ‘quality education’. The question of ‘quality’ in education is still debatable, and, as such, current failures emanate from a mismatch between philosophy of education and educational theory, policy and practice such that the purpose of education as reflected in theory, policy and practice is not informed by philosophy. It is palpable that from its inception, education has been designed to transmit core knowledge and cultural values, provide custodial care, and prepare learners for self-actualization.

Instead, a worrying percentage of learners has failed to achieve the best out of education and lapsed into self-alienation. It is probable that that alienation is occasioned by disharmony in educational theory, policy, practice and societal aspirations which is subsumed under and technically referred to as the philosophy of education. A philosophy of education is a property of the society because it is derived from societal aspirations (Mwinzi, 2012, p. 28). Further, philosophy of education has an imperative aspect of enabling learners to cultivate critical and creative thinking for problem solving and decision making. A philosophy of education which is derived from societal aspirations is an imperative aspect of education because it helps learners to cultivate critical and creative thinking for problem solving and decision making. Therefore, educational theory, policy and practice have not been so effective. This article avers that this disparity in educational theory, policy and practice emanates from inadequate integrative forces in the philosophy of education.

The consequence is that educational theory, policy and practice that is devoid of a guiding philosophy fails to meet the aspirations of society and is exposed to a continuous pattern of maintenance to catch-up in order to align with society. As a pattern maintenance facility, educational theory, policy and practice encounter failure in matching changing societal expectations, especially in Africa. Therefore, the existing struggle in many African nations is defined by learning institutions embracing catch-up tactics due to being left behind schedule in terms of responding to evolving needs of the societies.

An evidential question is; are the teaching-learning institutions aligned to the national philosophy of education? A piecemeal commitment and rerouting from any philosophy of education poses a threat to the efforts at scrutinizing what is taught, how it is taught, who is taught, and the process of teaching and learning. The activity of integrating teaching and learning experiences, interpreting, and applying by converting ideas into reality within the learning context is therefore marginal.

It is evident that the environment within which education is embedded has been changing at an increasing rate. However, the current theories, policies and practices applied to solve problems in education are the same ones used to generate the problems and are stoutly defended as having worked in the past. It is blatant that the magnitude of change has become apparent as a societal concern and stimulated a series of reforms, which have had ostensibly superficial impact. This mismatch keeps us from learning a valuable lesson about the role of philosophy of education in the teaching and learning process and activity: an inherent allegiance to seek improvement through integrating philosophy of education is inevitable.

Stabley (2010, p. 44) argues that the zeal for objectivity and reliability has often emphasized precision at the expense of relevancy, value, and most importantly, understanding and application. Currently, the call for serious integration of the philosophy of education in educational theory, policy and practice is becoming increasingly strident. On the contrary, philosophy, education, theory, and practice are popularized terms in teaching-learning institutions without a fundamental understanding and apt implications, to the point where everything is assumed to be ‘philosophy’ and by extension ‘philosophy of education’ but nothing really is treated as one. Thus, many people say they have a ‘philosophy or philosophy of education’ but almost no-one really has. The implication is that popular interpretations of the philosophy of education are inappropriate, and therefore decision and policy makers need to fully understand why the current systems of education will not work because they are devoid of a crucial component, i.e. the philosophy of education.

2. Objectives

1. to ascertain whether the philosophy of education is known in learning institutions
2. to establish the role of philosophy of education in educational theory and practice
3. to propose a paradigm of integrating philosophy of education into educational theory, policy and practice

3. The Concepts of Philosophy and Education

3.1 Philosophy

According to Bim-Bad and Egorova (2016, p. 3386), philosophy is perceived to designate both a system of ideas and a method of inquiry. Philosophy is derived from two Greek words i.e. ‘philein’ (love/lover of) and ‘sophias’ (wisdom/knowledge). Hence, φιλοσοφία (philosophía) is a compound of φίλος (phílos: friend, or lover) and σοφία (sophía: wisdom). An etymological definition of philosophy is the ‘love of wisdom or knowledge’. Stabley (2010, p. 45) defines philosophy as an ongoing questioning process, the juxtapositioning of ideas not only identifying contradictions and ambiguities requiring further clarification, but also exposing underlying assumptions and raising questions about the validity and value of those assumptions.

Audi (2006, p. xxvii) underlines that philosophy evaluates extraordinary things with ordinary terms – ‘believe’ and ‘know’, ‘cause’ and ‘effect’, ‘explain’ and ‘substantiate’, ‘space’ and ‘time’, ‘language’ and ‘meaning’, ‘truth’ ‘art’, ‘religion’, ‘science’, ‘mind’, ‘perception’, ‘reason’ etc. It follows necessarily that philosophy must comprise of reflection on the nature of reality as it is radiated from experience (Bhatt, 2011, p. 39). Therefore, as an activity of reflection on the nature of reality, philosophy can be defined as an intellectual enterprise that attempts to understand, interpret, and unify reality. Hence, as a process and activity, the value of philosophy is to seek, identify and evaluate the lenses through which experiences are constructed (Stabley, 2010, p. 44).

3.2 Concept of Education

The concept of ‘education’ has myriad connotations including instruction, training, role-learning, formation, drilling, indoctrination, conditioning, moulding etc. (Zavaley, 2014, p. 4; Ellis, & Fouts, 1996). Diverse connotations of education may imply that anyone who pursues education has prior knowledge, prior experience and prejudices, while the task of educating is to mobilize, expand, differentiate, specify, and correct such delusions. Further, diverse perspectives of education depend on three reasons. First, education is a general term that refers to a whole range of meanings. Second, education is a complex word which has compound meanings. Third, education is a relational concept whereby it is often used in relation or in conjunction to other terms or realities, and experience such as academic discipline, performance, or going to school. This is why Zavaley (ibid.) underscores that education as described above is generalized and raises questions about the nature of rational thinking and creative skills, the essence of, autonomy of learners, methods of upbringing, ontological and deontological orientations.

Apart from these three reasons, education has diverse interpretations and definitions because of the complex nature of human personality i.e. education is the development of an individual, who is complex in nature based on social, physical, moral, intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic aspects that influence definition, interpretation, and meaning of education. Secondly, diversity of interpretations and definitions of education emanate from the complexity of human environment i.e. education enables a person to adjust to the environment whilst environmental aspects such as physical, cultural, economic factors affect an individual e.g. an economist sees education as a process of societal creativity. Thirdly, diverse interpretations and definitions of education are derived from the different philosophies of life i.e. different thinkers design different philosophies according to places of origin and their own general perception of the world. Quite naturally, any definition of “education” depends largely on which school of philosophy an author is more inclined to (ibid.) Finally, divergent interpretations and definitions are caused by varied educational theories and practices i.e. diverse educational theories account for different definitions of education such that empiricism and rationalism theories have distinct interpretations and definitions.

Based on its origin, education is derived from Latin terms educere and educare. Therefore, educere means ‘to lead out’, or ‘to launch, beget or give birth to’. On the other hand, the verb ‘educare’ refers to the physical process of rearing or bringing up. It is possible to deduce that education, in this case, is synonymous with ‘instrucio’ which implies a specific process of formal and systematic learning. Education is the process of realising the potential of a person – a process of being, and becoming. It is a rational movement from ignorance to knowledge, from foolishness to wisdom, from darkness to light. R.S. Peters (1966) said that, education is the process of initiation. Bueton (1988) argued that education is an experimental science whose purpose is to secure an exact knowledge of facts. It is a process of initiating people into knowledge, skills, values and attitudes acceptable by society. A cogent definition of Lawrence Cretin is that education is “the deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to transmit, evoke, or acquire knowledge, attitudes, values and skills.” Julius Nyerere (1963) averred that education is the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next. Wolfgang Brezinka (1928-2020) understands education as social action by which people try to improve the structure of other people’s mental dispositions in one way or another or to preserve the components of these dispositions that are considered valuable (Brezinka, 1974, p. 95 [translated from German]).

The above definitions and interpretations of education can convince someone to infer that education is sometimes used to signify the activity, the process, an enterprise of initiating, or being initiated and sometimes to signify the discipline taught in institutions of learning whose attention may be on the activity, process, or enterprise (Zavaley, 2014, p. 4). As an activity or process, education may be formal or informal, private or public, individual or social, but it always consists in cultivating dispositions (abilities, skills, knowledges, beliefs, attitudes, values, and character traits) by certain methods. As a discipline, education studies or reflects on the activity or enterprise by asking questions about its aims, methods, effects, forms, history, costs, value, and relations to society. However, the relevance of education to society is overriding in every institution of teaching and learning.

For Plato, education was necessary to create and sustain the Republic (Siegel, 2010, p. 5). The process of teaching and learning was to identify the learners’ abilities and differentiate their suitability in serving the republic. Here, Plato focused his discussion on an analysis of societal needs and the varieties of human talent, culminating in the functionalism facet of education (Noddings, 1998, p. 9). The most gifted should be trained by the state to rule, teach and be responsible for the lives of others. Thus, a system of selective public education premised on the assumption that an educated minority of the population are, by virtue of their education (and inborn educability), envisaged to undertake high profile responsibility in society (ibid.). This minority population ought to be familiar with the aspirations of society and be positioned to adjust accordingly when necessary. An apt education must be holistic, including facts, skills, creative, imaginative and physical discipline as forms of human enterprise. Therefore, the aims of education focus on the epistemic ends, moral principles, and social objectives relevant to contemporary society (Siegel, 2010, p. 5). This is the initial base of philosophical perspectives in education. Hence, education that is informed by reason to achieve its purposive ends is indispensable in society. Thus, the curriculum has the object of explaining human activity, enlarging social connections, or solving social problems (Noddings, 1998, p. 31).

Similarly, Aristotle considered human nature, habit and reason to be crucial forces behind the concept of education (Barrow, & Woods, 2006, p. 85). It is the role of the teacher to lead the learner in a systematic manner. An inherent perspective of Aristotle is that there should be an indispensable harmony between the theoretical and practical aspects, abstract and empirical or pragmatic realm components in the teaching and learning process. The implication is that the fate of society depends on the nature of its education. This basic idea is taken up by other classics of pedagogy and developed in different ways. To be mentioned here above all are Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827), and later also William Kilpatrick (1871-1965) and John Dewey (1859-1952). Dewey, for example, emphasized that education is the means of ‘social continuity’ and therefore a necessity for societal stability. The implication is that education should be reformed to match societal aspirations and prospects. In addition, societal aspirations and prospects focus on the need for a holistic educational impulse founded on developing a balance between the intellect (mind), the feeling and artistic life (heart), and practical skills (hands). This is where education has its basis in creative and critical thinking. Only those persons who are critical and creative should become teachers, consequently shaping the curriculum and the classroom activities into a rational integration (Allen, & Wright, 2015, p. 147). Kilpatrick and Dewey have significantly influenced the progressive education movement since the beginning of the 20th century, e.g. also in Germany (Retter, 2018; Retter, 2019). It became clear that the shortcomings of society and education are closely and inherently intertwined.

It is the view of Jerome Bruner (1915-2016) that aims and methods in education are decisive. As a decisive enterprise, education is an act or experience comprising of formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual (Ogwora, Kuria, Nyamwaka, & Nyakan, 2013, p. 95). Methods and aims in education are the landmarks in conceptualizing learning and the curriculum. A clear perception of the method and purpose of education is a crucial notion for underpinning the essential feature of prolific thinking (Mwinzi, 2016, p. 381). This is why education whose focus is in the material being of what is learned is superlative to the external motivation of grades. It is from this backdrop that pragmatic education generates a process of constructing new ideas based on current or past knowledge (see also: Ellis, & Bond, 2016). However, pragmatic upshot can only be achieved if there is coherence of pedagogical activities and societal aspirations (Mwinzi, 2017, p. 49092). Coherence of pedagogical activities and societal aspirations profile education into a process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated ideas, attitudes, expertise and values from one generation to another through institutions (Ogwora, et al., 2013, p. 95).

Accordingly, Paulo Freire (1921-1997) attributes liberating character to the activity of education. However, such education ought to be relative to the existential aspirations within society. Otherwise, the transmission of mere facts, the ‘banking concept’, as the goal of education, is perilous on critical and creative thinking in education. It is the task of philosophy to inform educational theory, policy, and practice. In this case, philosophy is perceived as the summary of essentials that make up society and thus constitute the meaning of education theory, policy, and practice. It points at what society ought to aspire to be achieved through education (Ogwora, et.al, 2013, p. 95). Therefore, it is necessary that societal aspirations ought to be properly blended into education to enhance its relevance. Society has designed terrific objectives that are either ignored or minimally pursued in learning institutions. The implication is that learning institutions fail to become a replica of what society wants them to be. In this case, what kills the processes in learning institutions is unnecessary interference attempting to regulate or control them and thus, a serious re-examination is inevitable. Education ought to be informed and driven by the inquiry technique which is necessary to facilitate understanding to match societal aspiration instead of mere knowing.

3.3 Education Theory

The term ‘theory’ refers to a coherent collection of underpinned judgments or predictions concerning a phenomenon (Mwinzi, 2017, p. 49095; Ozmon, & Craver, 2008 p. 264; Cahn, 2009, p. 179). An education theory is the outcome of pedagogical appraisal, construct and activity upon significant aspects of learning. In this education theory, pedagogical activities and processes within specified subject matter are analyzed. A theory analyzes a wide reflection of reality, thoughts, and ideas (Mwinzi, 2015, p. 677). The term ‘educational theory’ refers to premises that explain the application, interpretation and purpose of learning and education in order to arrive at a better understanding of education practice based on a deliberate focus of an intellectual notion of a pedagogical situation (Mwinzi, 2015, p. 680). The task of education theory is to spot a comprehensive perception of pedagogy, identify inherent pedagogic objectives, and ascertain the relevance of pedagogy to the societal aspirations. Therefore, it is necessary to scrutinize probable assumptions, examine the concepts, and evaluate the methods to obtain a decisive and comprehensive premise of education (ibid., p. 679).

In principle, education theory generates a thesis, postulates a synthesis, and constructs an antithesis which projects an integral, and a comprehensive foundation which is necessary to substantiate the functional in the nature of education in terms of elemental principles, irrefutable values, and decisive conclusions. In this treatise, the elemental principles are the ideas approved by society, irrefutable values are societal ideals, and decisive conclusions refer to the end desired by society. Therefore, educational theory draws attention to all aspects of a human person; ranging from social features, cultural traits, economic character and political frame. It focuses on learning in its totality (Mwinzi, 2015, p. 681).

3.4 Education Practice

In practice, teaching and learning are crucial forces for improving society. The process of effecting educational activities in the learning institution plays a critical role in the development of society; however, such activities are derived from societal aspirations. In this discourse, the concept of the practice of education is defined as an outline of the totality of activities and processes that take place in a learning institution. It is the direct implementation of theoretical events of pedagogy in teaching-learning institutions particularly in the classroom or the lecture theatre (Bim-Bad, & Egorova, 2016, p. 3385).

Majoni and Chinyanganya (2014, p. 64) maintain that education has a universal character, that is, it must be acquired by all people without exception and is inseparable from the recognition of human dignity. The aspect of humanity dignity implies that education should not be perceived as limiting and potentially inhibitive of the communal, social, and cultural responsibilities (ibid.). The authors allude that the empirical bases in society are the major determinants of pedagogical practice. On the contrary, society has diverted attention from its inspirations under the influence of a science-aversive culture endorsed by education policymakers and teacher education faculties, while governments insert their foot in education using the trial and error method of reviewing the curriculum etc. (ibid.). However, once education practice is not derived from the experiential basis, societal aspirations, then it can fail to meet its purpose, and such disparities are already daunting education practice in society.

Societal aspirations are central and fundamental attributes of human existence, and thus, the essence of education practice itself without societal aspirations is debatable (Bim-Bad, & Egorova, 2016, p. 3386). The harmony between aspirations and education practice creates a stance of coherence and positivity in the whole society, reducing negative trends and improving the quality of educational theory and practice in an entire society (Mwinzi, 2017, p. 49094; Zavaley, 2014, p. 5). However, contemporary systems of education are problematic because of the discrepancy in terms of reason devolving from error and illusion, and liberation from fault and wrong thinking (Shouler, 2008, p. 269). This gap can easily be correlated to the disparity between educational practice, policy, and societal aspirations.

An educational practice that is designed on a philosophy of education has the capacity to identify the effectiveness and risks of different pedagogical interventions. An effective educational practice is reliable, replicable, objective, and valid; such that it: (a) meets the measurements established on standards of reliability and validity; (c) assesses competing theories, where multiple theories exist; (b) endorses the general conclusions drawn from applied inferences. Hence, educational practice comprises of effective functionality.

4. Comprehension of Philosophy of Education in Learning Institutions

An understanding of philosophy of education is fundamental in a pedagogical process and activity. Noddings (1998, p. 7) defines philosophy of education as the philosophical study of education and its problems….whereby its central subject matter is education, and its methods are those of philosophy. Philosophy of education is an academic discipline concerned with every aspect of the educational enterprise (Audi, 2006, p. 670). Similarly, an insight ensuing from Semel (2010, p. 188) is that philosophy of education is an enterprise which shapes education practice to prepare the learner for future responsibilities in the society. Hence, it is a process and activity in the learning process. It is implicit that a process and an activity of inquiry into the ideas that dominate educational theory, policy and practice originate from society to serve that society.

Bim-Bad and Egorova (2016, p. 3389) underscore that the volume of societal knowledge is constantly increasing and the content continues updating, and this leads to a constant update of nomenclature and content of professional activity. Thus, pedagogical institutions should derive their essence from society and for the same society. Once such parallelism has any discrepancy, the implications of the anomaly are reflected in educational theory, policy, and practice. Institutions are obliged to understand their mandate as part of the teaching-learning process and activity for society. This is because society has an undertaking of devising the philosophy that guides education theory, policy, and practice. According to Bim-Bad and Egorova, (2016, p. 3389) the systematic socio-cultural changes in the development of humanity in contemporary society are characterized as a society of knowledge.

Some of the fundamental questions necessary to promote an understanding about the task of philosophy of education are; what it is worthwhile or necessary to teach, and what the best ways of doing it are (Mwinzi, 2017, p. 49098). Further questions that may aid an understanding of philosophy of education are; the nature of learning, the purpose of education (imparting ideas, infusing proficiency, initiating rational autonomy, or suffusing values), the nature of education-related concepts, such as the concept of education itself, and the conduct of educational processes and activities remain pertinent. Mwinzi emphasizes that the activity and the process of educational theory, policy and practice are necessary facets for the greater society, while the teaching-learning institutions are obliged to align to the ideals of the society. This can be achieved by endorsing the trends of reason and rationality in order to establish the essence of creating and perpetuating societal aspirations (ibid.).

Comprehension of the philosophy of education as a property of society enables teaching-learning institutions to respond to the deficit of suitable processes necessary for solving problems facing diverse societal systems (Semel, 2010, p. 209). Siegel (2010, p. 4) concurs that a variety of issues involving thinking, reasoning, teaching and learning that is endorsed by society resides at enhancing coherence and positivity. It is by clarification derived from the philosophy of education that educational experiences are properly described, while the concepts, ideas, and assumptions underlying constructions are divulged. Mwinzi (2015, p. 679) notes that the philosophy of education remains as a critical and oppositional discourse for understanding, challenging, and responding to issues in education systems using theoretical acuity. A critical evaluation poses questions on the relevance and value behind education theory, policy or practice, and opens prospects of generating new perspectives that can formulate better outcomes and augment an inclusive understanding.

One of the leading programs in the philosophy of education in the world is that philosophy is viewed as a critical and reflective activity which is central to sound educational theory, policy, practice, and research. Drawing on diverse philosophical traditions, learners explore educational aims, concepts, and practices across a range of settings, including the nature of knowledge, the possibilities and limitations of education, diverse forms of education (liberal, aesthetic), the ethics of teaching, critical thinking, etc. However, in many instances, exceptional and elegant philosophies of education are properly crafted in paper. It follows necessarily that an efficient education theory, policy and practice originate from specific cultural and national/societal contexts (Kraft, 2011, p. 383). A study carried out by Mwinzi (2012) revealed that various countries use the philosophy of education to display what education is envisaged to do. It also portrays how teaching and learning ought to be conducted and finally what the end results should be.

The study went further to divulge that many countries display their philosophy of education on paper, but there is little to show in the actual activities of teaching-learning in the entire process. The implication is that though education should be pegged to the philosophy of education, such philosophy of education is estranged in learning institutions. Here, the philosophy of education submits a two-frame-model, situated between ‘philosophy’ on the one hand and ‘education’ on the other (Kraft, 2011, p. 384).

Figure: (adapted from Kraft, 2011:384)

A pertinent question is; why are philosophies of education alienated from the pedagogical institutions? And yet, it is overt that philosophy involves logical consistency and abstractive reasoning (Pring, 2012, p. 28). This is the realm and primacy of thinking, where there is minimal space for imagination. Thinking leads to invention, innovation, breakthroughs, etc. It is through thinking that society is able to articulate its aspirations and insert them in educational theory, policy, and practice. These aspirations are the sources of the philosophy of education, and as such, the same national aspirations describe the purpose of education.

Previously, this treatise highlighted that philosophy of education is an inclusion of philosophical principles and methods into the theory and practice of education. Some of the themes of inquiry in the philosophy of education are the nature of learning, the purpose of education, the nature of educational concepts, relevance education to societal needs, and the authenticity of educational research. Therefore, philosophy of education in its new understanding is not only a theoretical comprehension of foundations and manifestations of educational process, but also practice and direct implementation of theoretical educational groundwork (Bim-Bad, & Egorova, 2016, p. 3392). On the contrary, though philosophy of education is so crucial in pedagogy, it is still alien in the teaching-learning institutions.

5. The Purpose of Philosophy of Education in the Learning Process

An intrinsic deficit in education systems rotates around the issue of coherence between philosophy of education and education practice in the curricula. This treatise endorses Boyles’ recognition (2009, p. 134) that worthwhile learning experiences are realized when philosophy of education is integrated into the teaching-learning situation. It is deduced from the insight of Boyles (2009) that an education practice which does not revolve within the margins of a philosophy of education contradicts its capacity to realize its decisive objective. A conflict facing education practice in many countries is modeled within the context of snubbing the basis, tenets and practices that are inherent as societal aspirations in the country. In this erstwhile argument, Mwinzi (2012) suggests that an academic philosophy of education must evaluate the nature and the purpose of education against the process of learning based on special reference to the needs of the society. This argument is protracted in Gutek (2011, p. 56) who describes philosophy of education as an enterprise which defines the purpose of pedagogy for human beings.

It is imperative that philosophy of education has the task of raising questions about the relevance and value of the structures necessary for consistent education theory, policy and practice. Philosophy of education analyzes theories and arguments such that sometimes it enhances previous arguments or raises powerful objections that lead to the revision or abandonment of theories and lines of arguments (Noddings, 1998, p. 7). In educational theory, policy and practice, science itself is not able to change the reality of existence, more the philosophical trajectory of influencing the future generation (Bim-Bad, & Egorova, 2016, p. 3387). In educational processes and activities, philosophy of education has a task of fusing education theory, policy and practice, in order to realize a more comprehensive account of pedagogy, one which is informed by the societal aspirations that are often ignored or excluded.

In the process of teaching and learning, philosophy of education appraises the purpose, process, nature and ideals of education. This appraisal is applied within the context of education as a societal institution or more broadly as the process of human existential growth. The essence of philosophy of education is to establish how changes in society tend to constantly transform educational theory, policy and practice using a systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned argument. The implication is that philosophy of education is a practical strategy of detecting probable harm to education practice in the process of learning. Since philosophy of education is derived from societal aspirations, it serves as the substratum and reliable benchmark of estimating the benefits of implementing pedagogical activities. In education, common philosophical underpinnings and practices within contemporary education theory, policy and practice draws attention to the access, efficiency, equity, identity, quality and relevance (Heyneman, 2016, p. 378). The process of learning requires the discipline of philosophy of education to infuse a unique and precise undertaking of measuring proficiency and liable theory, policy and practice in education (Bim-Bad, & Egorova, 2016, p. 3386). Thus, effective educational theory, policy and practice should be based on philosophical principles such that the whole of educational thought and practice is pegged and informed by the philosophy of education.

Mwinzi (2012, p. 42) argues that an extensive history of the philosophy of education contains a fundamental discourse about educational theory, policy and practice which underlines what is practical (Semel, 2010, p. 12). Accordingly, philosophy of education has an integral description of the purpose of education in society in terms of its aspirations, identity and complexity. The role of philosophy of education is to provide an inquiry about education as a social activity and as such, to assess the issues affecting educational practice.

As such, philosophy provides a platform of theoretical thinking to make education more germane and accurately practical. Philosophy of education is considered to be a process and activity of teaching, provision of educational thought, rational reflection, theoretical pedagogics, diversity of coherent disciplines, which has a pluralistic essence (Bim-Bad, & Egorova, 2016, p. 3385). In the process of teaching and learning, philosophy of education (Siegel, 2010) contains a broad range of analysis such as appraisal of the epistemic and moral aims of education, liberal and conventional education, thinking and reasoning, indoctrination and authenticity, development of rationality, educating the imagination, limits of moral education, multicultural values and character in education, curriculum and knowledge, education and democracy, art and science education, religion and toleration, constructivism and scientific methods in education. These diverse facets in educational practice originate from society, hence abandoning philosophy of education in educational theory, policy and the practice of education not only deprives the learners of a huge understanding of societal aspirations, identity and complexity, but deters the learners from the prospect of aligning to the aspirations of society (Siegel, 2010, p. 3).

6. Methodology

The aforegone sections reveal that the philosophy of education is a fundamental discourse about educational theory and educational practice because it underlines what is practical (Semel, 2010, p. 12). According to Semel (2010), philosophy of education is an integral component that describes the purpose of education in the society in terms of its aspirations, identity and complexity. In order to expose the task of the philosophy of education, critical and analytical methods of philosophy and interviews were employed. Central to the methodology was the philosophical toolkit which comprised of careful analysis of arguments, rooting out of ambiguity, and drawing of clarifying distinctions (Bim-Bad, & Egorova, 2016, p. 3386).

This treatise adopted an interpretive approach strategy because of the view that all human practices are developed and transmitted in a social context and that meaning is constructed. Since education and its issues are relational, diversity of meanings arise in relation to the same trend (Mwinzi, 2012, p. 233). In this critique, an ideographic method was used to report and interpret the narratives obtained from interviews. An ideogram according to Audi (2006, p. 976) is the replication of the actual views and perceptions obtained from the respondents using content analysis and interviews as the primary methods. Further, interaction with respondents provided a mechanism to uncover the meanings aligned to societal aspirations and their relevance in educational theory, policy and practice as a social reality embedded in the lived experiences of that social reality (Allen, & Wright, 2014, p. 138). An understanding of educational theory, policy, and practice derives from definitions upheld by human beings about their experience of reality. This understanding of the education enterprise is a continuous process and activity.

Educational events occur in a social context. It is palpable that the meanings regarding educational theory, policy and practice are assigned and adapted through an interpretive process that is incessantly changing to meet societal aspirations. Thus, the education enterprise is subject to redefinition, relocation and realignments to serve its purposive ends. Therefore, the views of respondents in terms of their own understandings, based on their own experience of educational theory, policy and practice as social reality played a central role in this subject matter of situating the philosophy of education in teaching and learning institutions (Zeichner, 2010, p. 91). In this article, the ideograms were further structured into narratives to augment the readers’ understanding.

7. Findings

Society designs its philosophy of education within the context of social cohesion, fiscal utility, and individual or personal progress. All societal aspirations including the ones drawn from the cultural framework have been replaced by economic utility and consumerism. Thus, the focus of institutions on the education enterprise has resolved to prepare learners to cherish individualism as the sole intention of learning. Learners are being motivated by the concept of shortcut, but not coerced by guilt, shame, dispense labels, duty, obligation, rational evaluations, fear of punishment, moralistic judgments, or hope of extrinsic rewards. Therefore, this treatise found that all the means of evaluation generated the same conclusion that philosophy of education is alien to institutions of learning and as such culminates in their decline.

In consequence, any connections are channeled towards feelings and relativity with no space for moral judgments on issues of social connectivity, national cohesion, and genuine personal growth. The implication is that although people are aware of the interdependent nature of their relationships and the value of fulfilling others’ needs, there is more effort to meet personal needs at the expense of someone else (Pring, 2012, p. 26).

7.1 Knowledge of Philosophy of Education

In its fundamental role, philosophy of education provides an outlook for educational enterprise (Brightone, Nasongo, & Wamocha, 2009, p. 525). The researcher construes from Brightone et al. (2009) that a meaningful and prolific education is modelled within the margins of aspirations ratified as a philosophy of education. In contemporary society, these aspirations are derived from illustrations of potentials, prospects and involvements of what is valuable to the people. It is from these potentials, prospects, and involvements that are wrought and adopted as statements of the philosophy of education to guide education activities in the learning institutions.

In the case of the aforegone discussion, it is deducible that any existence of philosophy of education is foreign in contemporary society. A significant outcome of this treatise is that philosophy of education is not known, but such ignorance does not eliminate its implication in educational practice (Mwinzi, 2012, p. 41). Having in mind that the significance of philosophy of education cannot be underrated in educational practice, it is eccentric that statements of the philosophy of education are formulated and abandoned as a policy manuscript.

7.2 The Task of Philosophy of Education in Education

In support of the significance of philosophy of education, Kraft (2011, p. 384) avers that “the importance of philosophy of education is to define the purpose and the focus of an education system”. It is possible to infer from Kraft (2011) that philosophy of education is a summary of the aspirations used to describe the purpose and the ends of education espoused by an individual, an institution or a country. But this study divulges a critical defect in which philosophy of education is abrogated in educational enterprise. Further, the study reveals that educational theory, policy, and practice are implemented in isolation from the national aspirations. As a result of isolated educational practice, it implies that the reality of philosophy of education has no substantial measure in reshaping the structure of teaching and learning events at the institutions of education.

Thus, neglect of responsibility from the fields of educational theory, policy and practice is the cause of ignorance of the world (Pring, 2012, p. 26). Rational abstraction which is the primacy of philosophy is about truth, justice, fairness, morality etc. According to Noddings (2007, p. 107), philosophy of education explains the essence of synthesizing learning experiences and also vindicates an apt pedagogy, the content and the strategies to be utilized to facilitate the process of learning based on the purpose and the meaning of educational practice.

Hence, educational theory, policy, and practice which have obscured the task of philosophy cannot realize societal aspirations as the basis of a philosophy of education. This regenerates a historical view of educational systems as socializing and normative, as opposed to the stated goal as a vehicle for individual or personal progress. A dichotomy wedged between philosophy of education and education policy, theory and practice is accountable for the crisis being experienced in the learning institutions (Mwinzi, 2012, p. 38). The same idea of dichotomy in education occurs in Oketch and Rolleston (2007:338) who argue that there is a dichotomy obstructing the link which connects educational practice and the aspirations of society. It emanates from Oketch and Rolleston (2007) that education practice snubs the purpose of philosophy of education.

A further insight deduced from Noddings (2007) is that a purposive and meaningful education cannot transpire if it has a deficit of an exact philosophy of education. Ozmon and Craver (2008, p. 1) concur that philosophy of education cannot be abrogated in education practice because pedagogy is confronted by a critical era of transition, and once it is devoid of philosophy of education, it acquires the prospect of lapsing into the debatable past or inclining into the undefined future with little consideration of the consequences in society. It is within this insight held by Ozmon and Craver (2008) that the synthesis proposed by philosophy of education suggests potential solutions through its methods to canvass the relationship between indefinite changes and the reality of persistency of education.

7.3 A Paradigm of Integrating Philosophy of Education in Education

The essence of philosophy of education is to eliminate frequent issues of incoherent, contradiction, inconsistent, nominal and superficial appraisal of educational enterprise. The cause of the disparity in education policy, theory, and practice is attributed to the control from the center defined by allegiance to a diversity of borrowed aspirations to devise an inherited framework. The rationale is to make a radical shift from static aspirations to dynamic ones defined by alienation from the old paradigms and models. However, dynamic aspirations cannot replace excellence emitted by an understanding of educational history (Heyneman, 2016, p. 377). This is why there is a need for a universal philosophical base of education theory, policy and practice (ibid., p. 379).

In this case, developments around education theory, policy and practice are surrounded by tangible overlaps, educational dilemmas, and indecisive ends. The current paradigm of education which is founded on dilemmas and indecisive ends is illustrated in the figure below adapted from the internet. Mwinzi (2017, p. 49093), argues that controversies occur in the systems of education due to integral deficits in bracketing educational practice and societal aspirations. An education theory, policy and practice that is informed by the philosophy of education comprises of a network of consistency where education concepts are clearly defined. Philosophy creates a link enlightened by societal aspirations. This formulates a continuum of theoretical-practical-outcome. Therefore, the functionality and effectiveness of education theory, policy, and practice depends on its allegiance to the societal aspirations. This connectivity of educational enterprises needs to be restored.

Analytical functionality in philosophy of education provides a phase for quality and relevance in educational practice which is defined by philosophy of education. This is because a meaningful educational practice cannot be accomplished without putting philosophy of education in its suitable place in the process of learning.

8. Conclusion

As a conclusion, this discourse divulges that the purpose, the means and the end of education enterprise resides in societal aspirations. These aspirations are the fundamental sources of philosophy of education. However, society has flouted the task of philosophy of education in education theory, policy and practice. A synthesis of education enterprise and philosophy of education serves as an essential factor to combat the obstacles that prevent education enterprise from bringing forth quality and relevance in contemporary society (Makori, 2005, p. 6). According to Makori (2005), the problem facing educational activity and process is induced by an educational practice which has abandoned its very philosophy of education. A further perception derived from Makori (2005) is that philosophy of education can make a difference in the teaching and learning institutions when ideas, insights and patterns of thoughts are shaped to serve societal aspirations. In this paper, the gaps affecting a consequential integration of philosophy of education in the teaching-learning situation were exhibited. These gaps are related to ignorance of philosophy of education, negation of philosophy in teaching and learning institutions, and ambiguous paradigms guiding education enterprise.

It is within the dimensions of this article that the significance of philosophy of education will be revived as a meaningful component in the systems of education in contemporary society. This is because an integration of philosophy of education is a crucial enterprise and a fundamental factor which is significant in shaping education policy, theory, and practice to serve society according to its aspirations. An integration of philosophy of education can and will enable society to formulate and define its aspirations based on its history. Thus, society becomes the master of its destiny in shaping an educational theory and practice that is suitable to its societal necessities and prospects (Mwinzi, 2016, p. 385). What is required is a grand theory of education that unites diversity of thought and variant perspectives on its delivery.

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About the Author

Dr. Joseph Munyoki Mwinzi: Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Foundations at University of Nairobi (Kenya); e-mail: joemwinzi@live.com

摘要 (Gülşah Tikiz Ertürk: 中学英语课本中基于价值的教育的验证： 此项研究旨在通过检验英语课本和中学课程，以扩大关于价值和英语教师们的基于价值的教学的理解。这是一项带有文档分析设计的定性研究。它对英语教科书形式的数据进行了检验，解读和编码，以确定含义并加深对四门教科书中价值描述的理解。研究结果表明，中学英语教科书中所描述的价值分布不均，目标价值用于加强学习者对不同价值的意识，而非让他们在较高的学习水平上去理解，内化和讨论这些价值，从而使得这一过程变得肤浅起来。将价值教学整合到课堂语言学习当中成为了近年来一个有趣的领域。土耳其教育部（MoNE）在2018年修订了教学计划，并在2019年根据国家课程的要求编写了教科书。一项关于价值教学及其在这些课程书中分布的详细分析或许会对课程开发人员，教科书作者以及教师们有所帮助。
关键词：价值，基于价值的教学，价值分布，中学英语教材，语言课程，国家教育部

摘要 (Gülşah Tikiz Ertürk: 中學英語課本中基於價值的教育的驗證： 此項研究旨在通過檢驗英語課本和中學課程，以擴大關於價值和英語教師們的基於價值的教學的理解。這是一項帶有文檔分析設計的定性研究。它對英語教科書形式的數據進行了檢驗，解讀和編碼，以確定含義並加深對四門教科書中價值描述的理解。研究結果表明，中學英語教科書中所描述的價值分佈不均，目標價值用於加強學習者對不同價值的意識，而非讓他們在較高的學習水平上去理解，內化和討論這些價值，從而使得這一過程變得膚淺起來。將價值教學整合到課堂語言學習當中成為了近年來一個有趣的領域。土耳其教育部（MoNE）在2018年修訂了教學計劃，並在2019年根據國家課程的要求編寫了教科書。一項關於價值教學及其在這些課程書中分佈的詳細分析或許會對課程開發人員，教科書作者以及教師們有所幫助。
關鍵詞：價值，基於價值的教學，價值分佈，中學英語教材，語言課程，國家教育部

Zusammenfassung (Gülşah Tikiz Ertürk: Scrutinizing Values-Based Education in Secondary Grade EFL Coursebooks): Die Studie zielt darauf ab, das Verständnis von Werten und wertebasiertem Unterricht in der englischsprachigen Lehrerschaft zu erweitern, indem sie die EFL-Kursbücher und den Lehrplan der Sekundarstufe unter die Lupe nimmt. Es handelt sich um eine qualitative Studie mit einem Dokumentenanalyse-Design. Die Daten in Form von EFL-Kursbüchern wurden untersucht, interpretiert und kodiert, um Bedeutung zu eruieren und Verständnis für die Darstellung von Werten in vier Kursbüchern zu gewinnen. Die Ergebnisse der Studie deuteten darauf hin, dass die in EFL-Kursbüchern der Sekundarstufe dargestellten Werte keine gleichmäßige Verteilung aufweisen und die Zielwerte dem Zweck dienen, das Bewusstsein der Lernenden für unterschiedliche Werte zu schärfen, anstatt es ihnen zu ermöglichen, diese Werte auf höheren Lernebenen zu verstehen, zu verinnerlichen und zu diskutieren, was den Prozess nur oberflächlich macht. Die Integration der Vermittlung von Werten in den Lehrplan von Sprachlernklassen war in den letzten Jahren ein Bereich des Interesses, und das türkische Bildungsministerium (MoNE) hat seinen Lehrplan 2018 überarbeitet, und 2019 wurden Lehrbücher gemäß den Anforderungen der nationalen Lehrpläne geschrieben. Eine detaillierte Analyse der Vermittlung von Werten und ihrer Verteilung in diesen Kursbüchern könnte sowohl EntwicklerInnen von Lehrplänen und KursbuchautorInnen als auch LehrerInnen helfen.
Schlüsselwörter: Wert, wertebasierter Unterricht, Werteverteilung, EFL-Kursbücher der Sekundarstufe, Sprachcurriculum, Ministerium für Nationale Bildung

Резюме (Гюльзах Тикиз Эртюрк: Изучение ценностного аспекта образования в учебниках английского языка как иностранного в средней школе): Исследование направлено на то, чтобы расширить представление коллег, преподающих английский язык, о ценностях и ценностно-ориентированном обучении за счет детального анализа профильных учебников и учебного плана, предусмотренного для работы в средней школе. Исследование проводилось с применением качественных методов и метода анализа документов. Данные, полученные в ходе анализа учебников, были изучены, проинтерпретированы и категоризированы. Это было сделано для того, чтобы определить значимость исследуемой проблематики и обратить внимание на то, как репрезентируются ценности в четырех школьных учебниках. Результаты исследования указывают на то, что ценности, представленные в учебниках для учащихся средней школы, актуализируются неравномерно и все сводится к тому, чтобы заострить внимание школьников на многообразии ценностей, вместо того, чтобы обеспечить возможность понимать, усваивать и обсуждать ценности на более высоких учебных уровнях. Все это делает процесс поверхностным. Инвольвирование данного аспекта в учебный план языковых классов стало в последние годы часто обсуждаемой темой. Учитывая это, турецкое Министерство образования переработало в 2018 году учебный план, а в 2019 году учебники были составлены в соответствии с требованиями государственных учебных планов и стандартов. Детальный анализ характера трансляции ценностей и степени их представленности в учебниках мог бы помочь разработчикам учебных планов, авторам-составителям учебников, преподавателям.
Ключевые слова: ценность, ценностный аспект на занятии, представленность ценностей, учебники английского языка как иностранного в средней школе, учебные планы языковых предметов, Министерство национального образования

Introduction

Values may be defined as ideals guiding our decisions and behaviors to distinguish between what is right or wrong (Koutsokis, 2009). Hill (1991, p.4) describes “values” as “beliefs held by individuals to which they attach special priority or worth, and by which they tend to order their lives. A value is, therefore, more than a belief; but it is also more than a feeling”. Schwartz (1992), on the other hand, states that values are “desirable goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in people’s lives” (p.21). Values, in fact, have existed as a major component in social sciences since their outset; however, application of values as a social form in the social sciences lacks an acknowledged conception of fundamental values, of the hierarchy and relations among these values and reliable experimental tools to measure them (Hitlin, & Piliavin, 2004; Rohan, 2000; Schwartz, 2012). In fact, values education has been an area where a lot of tension and conflict has also occurred (Stephenson, Burman, Ling & Cooper, 1998). For the transfer of these values, schools undoubtedly play a major role. ‘Schools deliberately promote their core values – generally expressed as tolerance, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, sharing, cooperation and commitment’ (Bigger, & Brown, 1999, p.5).

For values-based education, there exist different terms such as moral education, citizenship education, civic education, character education, personal and social education, and religious education in the literature (Mergler, & Spooner-Lane, 2012). Values education is also considered to be a core component of the curriculum, to which a timetable space is allotted. Generally offered to students as ‘well-being programs’ in a commercial form, values education becomes more effective when students’ well-being and academic achievement are at stake. The notion of the well-being of students for Aristotle also embodies a framework where an individual can actualize his or her potential and capacity to flourish (Clement, 2010). Indeed, for the rational fulfillment of an individual, cognitive, and affective prospects are also of crucial importance (Carr, 2008).

Regarding the current era, the values that used to be context specific and unique in the past are now challenged due to the global perspectives deriving from the fundamental change concerning the traditional boundaries that separated communities and ideologies. Accordingly, approaches that were appropriate in the past may be inappropriate for the contexts in the current period; thus, a search for new ways may be a vital necessity in the 21st century (Stephenson, et al. 1998).

Values-based education aims to cultivate the moral character of learners through different educational activities (Nucci & Narvaez, 2008). Moral dilemma discussions, for instance, are one of the various educational activities of this kind to be implemented (Blatt, & Kohlberg, 1975). In addition to moral dilemma discussions, other examples of frequently used contexts where values-based education methods are utilized may be as follows: presentation of moral models (Kristjánsson, 2006), building an unbiased community at schools (Power, 1988), encouraging learners to participate in civic activities such as community service and expressive activities, and presenting the biographies of moral exemplars and their moral characters (Han et al., 2018).

Various kinds of activities which are implemented by teachers to help learners grasp and develop values and morality are referred to as the means to conduct values-based education (e.g, Halstead, 1996; Lovat, 2011; Powney, Cullen, Schlapp, Johnstone, & Munn, 1995). It is also possible to discriminate between two forms of values-based education: the former being explicit, and the latter involving implicit values education (Thornberg, & Oğuz, 2013). While the teaching of values may be in implicit or explicit ways, “the explicit consideration, discussion, and/or debating of values such as respect, inclusion, responsibility and perseverance in the classroom and/or the school community enables teachers and students to explore, and potentially change, their values” (Mergler, & Spooner-Lane, 2012, p. 67).

Values Based Education and English Language Teaching

Little research has been conducted in English Language Teaching (ELT) in relation to the ethics and values in language classrooms. However, studies in the field have demonstrated that teaching practices which focus on the development of values in a respectful, warm and accepting manner for students result in satisfying educational outcomes on the part of the students (Benninga, Berkowitz, Kuehn, & Smith, 2006; Brooks, & McCarthy, 2001; Ferguson, 1999; Weinberger, 1996).

In the book The Moral Life of Schools, one study reported the teacher’s role as a moral agent by focusing on classroom interaction in various state and private schools (Jackson, Boostrom, & Hansen, 2003) as a result of extensive lesson observations, the analysis of classroom interaction, conversations and periodical interviews with the teachers. Accordingly, eight “categories of moral influence’ (Jackson et al., 2003, p.2) were introduced in two sets: the former was concerned with direct and observable reference to moral principles, which emphasized the teaching of morals while the latter was concerned with the process, the actions of the teachers and the moral influence they have on students. For the well-being of students, three categories were introduced: (1) classroom rules and regulations, (2) the curricular framework, (3) expressive morality (pp. 11-42). The rules and regulations category consists of the rules of conduct to ensure the well-being of students. The curricular framework, on the other hand, includes the states that are created within the borders of the class to facilitate and ensure that all the educational processes are operating the same in similar sessions, schools and subjects as stated in the curriculum Thus, the curricular substructure involves the shared beliefs, understandings, assumptions and presuppositions of students and teachers to engage students in the pedagogical tasks (Jackson et al., 2003).

Hence, curricular substructure serves as the milieu for moral agency in that the shared assumptions among the students and the teachers are formed as students are involved in classroom events and take part in classroom interaction. For example, the assumption of truthfulness requires both parties, teachers and students, to speak the truth in discussions. In short, through this substructure, moral messages are communicated to students (Ewald, 2003). The third category within Jackson et al.’s (1993) taxonomy is that in addition to communicating moral judgments through the rules and regulations and the curricular substructure, teachers also stand out as moral agents in the class as they communicate their messages to students through their choice of words, their tone of voice, their facial expressions and classroom settings to maximize learning opportunities (Johnson, Juhász, Marken, & Ruiz, 1998).

Values Education and ELT Materials in Turkey

Coursebooks are materials which are written to actualize the aims and objectives of school subjects. They also play a vital role in forming the views of teachers, students and families (O’Keeffe, 2012). ELT materials have different roles such as promoting language acquisition, providing rich experiences with different genres, helping learners to be independent language users and discoverers as well as helping them to personalize their language experiences (Tomlinson, 2003). Indeed, the use of published materials in ELT is widespread (Littlejohn, 1998) and various guides have been designed to help teachers to select coursebooks in systematic ways (Ellis, 1998).

ELT materials, more specifically, coursebooks play the role of conveying universal or community-specific values to learners (Gebregeorgis, 2017) as well as teaching language and various hidden values (Setyono & Puji Widodo, 2019). In terms of the teaching of morals, coursebooks are generally based on portraying moral discourses which involve well-rounded persons. This is compatible with the independent pursuit of language objectives, and the discourses presented in coursebooks consist of the traditions and certain situations in a chosen country from a long-term perspective (Karasawa, 1989).

Values and values-based education have been emphasized particularly in social studies and life sciences curricula and, in contrast, have been emphasized in the hidden curriculum in primary schools in Turkey (Demirel, 2009). The current study particularly focuses on moral education in coursebooks suggested in secondary state schools in Turkey. The teaching of values as stated in the curriculum as set by the Turkish Ministry of Education in 2018 is claimed to be taught through texts and activities in the coursebooks. The rationale for the analysis of these coursebooks derives from the fact that the Turkish Ministry of National Education explicitly claims that a new curriculum was prepared in 2018 aiming to raise the awareness of national, universal, moral, humane, cultural values and ethics beside the teaching of the four skills. It is also maintained that the new curriculum prepared in 2018 differs from the older version in that the key values such as honesty, justice, friendship, patience, self-control, responsibility, love, altruism and patriotism are embedded within the themes of the coursebooks at different levels. Besides, it was explicitly emphasized in the curricula that these values should be integrated within the themes and topics of the syllabi (http://mufredat.meb.gov.tr/ProgramDetay.aspx?PID=342). Therefore, the moral discourse and desirable human characteristics thought to be existing in coursebooks that are currently presented at secondary level and published in Turkey were analyzed in detail. The main reason for selecting these coursebooks derives from the fact that the books are highly recommended by the Ministry of National education and even freely distributed to high schools in Turkey, which means the coursebooks are used in a wide range of contexts. Moreover, the main reason resides in the claim in terms of values teaching that was overtly made in the curriculum of the curricula as presented in 2018. This study; however, could also be replicated for the analysis of other coursebooks which have foreign origins and the results could be generalized for different contexts. Since values education has been recently emphasized in the literature, the coursebooks which were written in recent years were chosen for this study.

To the knowledge of the researcher, there have been very few studies examining the means of values-based education in Turkey, particularly coursebooks. One previous study, for example, studied the perspectives of Swedish and Turkish teachers on values education, yet irrespective of the analysis of the coursebooks (Thornberg, & Oğuz, 2013). Another study scrutinized the views of teachers in Turkey and the USA to examine how K-8 teachers approached morality, moral education, and the moral development of children (LePage et al., 2009).

The Basic Law of National Education, No. 739 also specifies the general aims and the fundamentals of Turkish National Education. The fundamental principles as stated by the law are universality and equality, orientation, educational rights of the learners, equality of opportunity and possibility, the revolution and principles of Atatürk, secularity, democracy education, providing scientific education, continuity, cooperation of school and parents, planning, and education in all places (MoNE, 1973). There has also been a revival of interest in the teaching of moral values and values-based education recently in Turkey (Thornberg & Oğuz, 2013) in recent years and many scholars who have considered this issue as their main focus of research interest emphasize the importance of values-based learning in their efforts (e.g. Kafadar et al., 2018; Karatay, 2011; Tay, 2013; Zehir-Topkaya, &Yavuz, 2011).

Research Questions

Values-based learning has been researched not only in the field of education but also psychology and other disciplines. Through presenting various values in coursebooks, students could learn and internalize a lot about the world around them and this, in turn, could highly contribute to both to their language development and their personal growth as individuals through the presentation of different themes and topics. EFL coursebooks, with their potential to influence the values of learners, need to be further analyzed since they play a major role in promoting learners language skills along with many others. The main purpose of this study is to explore and analyze the inclusion of values and the ways (explicitly and/or implicitly) they are presented in all units in the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade high school coursebooks for English education in Turkey. Within this context, the study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What values are portrayed in secondary level EFL coursebooks?
2. What are the frequencies and percentages of the value distribution portrayed in secondary level English coursebooks?
3. How is values-based teaching reflected in the selected textbooks in secondary education in Turkey?

Theoretical Framework

The concept of the morality of teaching has gained prominence in recent pedagogical research conducted in classrooms ranging from elementary schools to tertiary level learning contexts (Ewald, 2003; Bergem, 1990; Sanger, 2001; Buzzelli & Johnston, 2001; Jackson, Boostrom & Hansen, 1993; Johnston et al., 1998). If an education system is aiming for mutual understanding, tolerance, and patience, and surpasses mere academic achievement, which may lead to a suitable condition for social and emotional development, learners should be equipped with the ability to be agents of change and they should acknowledge and accommodate diversity, appreciate and respect one another, strengthen alliances and harmony, and solve problems in their educational pursuits (UNESCO 1995).

In the literature, values have been classified in different ways. Messick and McClintock (1968) emphasized the role of choice in social dilemma situations. Liebrand (1984) classified social value orientations which differ in predispositions for distributions of outcomes for oneself or others as individualistic, competitive, altruistic, and cooperative. Rokeach (1973) divided values into two categories as the end values and the mean values whereas Schwartz (1992) studied values in ten basic dimensions: conformity, tradition, universalism, benevolence, power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction and security. Whereas the first four value clusters are related to social values, the other six clusters meditate individualistic values (Clayton, 2012). Schwartz (2012) maintains that values within this theory are involved in a circular design which discloses the motivations each value manifests. According to Schwartz et al. (2012), Schwartz’s (1992) value classifications based on the four value dimensions as self-expansion, openness to change, self-transcendence and conservatism are also divided into 19 separate value types such as face, power sources, power-dominance, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction-action, self-direction-thought, universalism-tolerance, universalism-nature, universalism-concern, benevolence-dependability, benevolence, caring, humility, conformity-interpersonal, conformity-rules, tradition, security-societal, security-personal. The dynamic relations among the different types of values manifest themselves in the conflict or congruence of different consequences regarding these specific values. For instance, any person who is trying to pursue achievement values may conflict with pursuing benevolence values since seeking success for oneself may contradict with the welfare of others and group bonding (Schwartz, 2012). These relations are related to the two-dimensional representation of Schwartz’s theory:

The first dimension distinguishes self-enhancement from self-transcendence values, which is similar to the distinction between proself and prosocial values in the social value orientation framework …. The second dimension distinguishes openness to change from conversation values, reflecting whether individuals are open to new things and ideas versus whether they have a preference for tradition or conformity. Values in the same value cluster are prioritized in a similar way, while values belonging to clusters that are wide apart from each other are typically prioritized very differently. The closer together values are in this two-dimensional space, the more compatible they are, while values conflict in a particular situation, people are most likely to act upon the values they prioritize (Clayton, 2012, p.83).

The value typology of Schwartz has been tested and validated worldwide across many cultures and countries (Collins, Steg & Koning, 2007; Schwartz, 1992; Schwartz & Sagiv, 1995; Spini, 2003) and it was revealed that the majority of values in his framework indicate high cross-cultural consistency in terms of the meaning people attach to those values (Schwartz & Sagiv, 1995) and this suggests that the structure of values show a considerable similarity in different cultures although people may show some differences in the way they prioritize these values (Clayton, 2012). The circular structure as stated below reveals the totality of the relations of congruence or conflict among different value types.

Figure 1. Theoretical model of relations among types of different values based on Schwartz’s framework

The recent theoretical developments in value theory emphasizes (Schwartz, 2012; Smith & Schwartz, 1997) a renewal in terms of research on values and they add that among the so-called structured values there exist some universals and differences. Beside these universals and differences, individuals and/or groups may diverge in terms of the priorities or hierarchies they attach to these various values. Whereas some values conform to (e.g., security and conformity) each other, some others may severely diverge (e.g., power and benevolence). Within this framework, the ten values are described in the broad goals they express, and some value types have multiple meanings revealing the motivational goals of multiple goals. Below the defining goals of these values are stated:

• Self-Direction: independent thought and action–choosing, creating, exploring.
• Stimulation: excitement, novelty, and challenge in life.
• Hedonism: pleasure or sensuous gratification for oneself.
• Achievement: personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards.
• Power: social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources.
• Security: safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self.
• Conformity: restraint of actions, inclinations and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms.
• Tradition: respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that one’s culture or religion provides.
• Benevolence: preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent personal contact (the ‘in-group’).
• Universalism: understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature (Schwartz, 2012, pp. 5-7).

Methodology

Research Design

To address the research questions and the conceptual framework of the study, the qualitative research method with document analysis design was used as the main method of data collection and analysis. Owen (2014) maintains that gathering facts from documents is a challenging endeavor in that the researcher must prioritize the documents under scrutiny in terms of importance and relevance.

Being one of the analytical methods in qualitative research, document analysis offers a systematic approach for the review or evaluation of materials, both printed and electronic. Merriam (1988) maintains that any kind of document can help the researcher to unearth the hidden meaning, develop one’s understanding and identify insights about the research problem. Qualitative document analysis is based on informed study of the subject matter through various examples and documents in a systematic manner by focusing on specific terms in the discourse, which requires constant exploration and the willingness to analyze other sources (Glaser, & Strauss, 1967). There exist systematic steps within the body of document analysis and through these steps printed and/or electronic documents can be reviewed and evaluated (Bowen, 2009).

In addition, documents could render the means to track development or change over time. The researcher can also use the document analysis method to verify findings on a subject. When the documentary evidence provided from the analysis of documents yields to corroboratory rather than contradictory information, the researcher can have greater confidence in the credibility of the findings. Document analysis is an iterative process combining elements of thematic analysis and content analysis. The process involves three major stages: skimming the documents, reading them more thoroughly and interpreting through a critical eye. The researcher is supposed to determine the appropriateness of documents under research to the research problem and purpose of the study (Bowen, 2009).

Procedure

For the current study, High School RELEARN! (9th grade), English 10 (10th grade) Sunshine English (11th grade) and Count Me in (12th grade) coursebooks were analyzed. In the curriculum prepared by the Turkish Ministry of National Education (MoNE, 2018), it is stated that the teaching of values is important, and they are defined and explicitly stated in the national objectives. Based on the regulations set by the Turkish Ministry of National Education, the teaching of values should be embedded in the themes and topics of the syllabi, taking into account learners’ ages, psychological and sociological levels when choosing texts, characters, texts and visuals to be used in the instruction.

The selected coursebooks (Table 1) were chosen for the current study since it is overtly claimed by the Turkish Ministry of Education (MoNE) that values-based learning exists within the scope of these textbooks and these values can be uncovered by studying the language content and activities in which they are embedded. In Turkey, the foreign language curriculum is prepared by the Ministry of Education; however, the coursebook writing process is left to private publishers and experts in the field. All the coursebooks selected for secondary education are valid for five years upon acceptance by the Ministry of Education and they are used for +14 year-old learners at most state schools across the country with some exceptions, since some state schools may prefer other commercial language coursebooks depending on their purposes and the policies of their school administrations.

Table 1

Data Related to the Textbooks as Data Sources in the Study

High School RELEARN! Student Coursebook Grade 9 was written by Lamia Karamil and Evrim Birincioğlu and published by Pacific Publishing in 2019. The book consists of 10 themes and 319 pages. Including 10 units under different themes and 160 pages, English Coursebook Grade 10 was written by Ciler Genc Karatas and published by Gizem Publishing. Written by Muge Akgedik Can and Neslihan Atcan Altan and published by Cem Publishing, Sunshine English Grade 11, similarly includes 10 units and 167 pages. Finally Count Me in Grade 12 was written by Fethi Cimen, Bilgen Taskiran Tigin, Ayten Cokcaliskan, Nihan Ozyildirim and Mustafa Ozdemir. Published by Ada Publishing, the coursebook consists of ten units and 249 pages.

Table 2

The Themes as Presented in Textbooks

All content in the form of reading texts and listening sections as well as speaking and writing activities were considered in the analysis focusing on the embedded values in coursebooks. Moreover, each coursebook consists of 10 units with varying themes to teach the necessary language skills and functions.

The data for the research were accessed through a visit to a high school in Izmir, Turkey. The researcher met an English teacher working at the school in person and received some important information regarding the use of these coursebooks, their views on the books and values education. The researcher received the four different copies of coursebooks as well as the e-books with the consent of the teacher and the school administration for further analysis. The so-called coursebooks were chosen as units of analysis based on the following justifications:

1. The coursebooks under analysis are curricular artefacts of the 2018 ELT curriculum for secondary schools all around the country. This could be a factor in increasing content validity since current ELT coursebooks are used by both English teachers and students.
2. These coursebooks are widely used at state schools throughout the country. This situation is assumed to enhance readership validity since the users of these coursebooks, teachers and students, have different backgrounds, from all over the country.
3. The incorporation of different values in the coursebooks needs critical consideration since the coursebooks are curricular products and in these there exist various value types and components in different ways which could reveal the rationale of the curricula.
4. The coursebook writers emphasize values (e.g. benevolence, respecting others) in some chapters overtly whereas some values are conveyed in implicit ways. This indicates values are projected as pedagogical foci in the Turkish language education system, particularly in secondary education.

To provide validity for the research, all the coursebooks for all levels were scrutinized without omitting a section or unit. To interpret the data in the most objective way, all suitable categories were formed through a comprehensive study of the literature. Thus, it was concluded that the validity of the research was achieved through using Schwartz’s framework, which only focuses on measuring and evaluating the research questions. Besides, to provide interrater reliability an expert view was achieved. Another researcher independently coded the value types existing in the coursebooks and the coding of both researchers were compared for agreements. The results of the coding process showed close agreement on some value types; however, for the coding of values which diverged to a large extent, the two researchers negotiated and came to a mutual agreement to make the final coding prior to presenting the frequencies and percentages in tables.

Analysis, Findings, and Results

Table 3

The Analysis of the 9th Grade Coursebook based on Schwartz’s Value Framework

In Table 3, the visual spread of page numbers reveals the instances of different value types as stated either implicitly or explicitly in the 9th grade English coursebook High school Relearn. It is clear from Table 3 that the motivations embedded in the different activities in the coursebook serve some closely-related values at times. For instance, throughout the explicitly stated ethics and values education sections in the book, the love and friendship value may be considered under the dimension of both benevolence and universalism. Thus, one motivation, or activity may include elements of two congruent value types. As a result of the analysis of the values, it was shown that there were 99 instances of all value types stated in the coursebook in relation to Schwartz’s framework. The horizontal total line at the end of the table reveals the frequency of occurrence of different value types throughout the coursebook whereas the vertical column at the right end demonstrates the frequencies of occurrence of different values per unit.

Among all the values emphasized, benevolence (f: 16, 16%) is the most frequent value type occurring in the 9th grade coursebook. Following benevolence, there are instances of self-direction (f: 14, 14%), stimulation (f: 14, 14%), achievement (f: 14, 14%), and universalism (f: 14, 14%). Tradition (f: 8, 8%), security (f: 7, 7%), hedonism (f: 6, 6%), conformity (f: 4, 4%) and power (f: 2, 2%) were other value types represented in the coursebook, all of them mostly explicitly.

Table 4

The analysis of 9th Grade Coursebook based on Schwartz’s value clusters

When the distribution of values was analyzed based on the four value clusters in Table 4, it was revealed that openness to change (31%) and self-transcendence (30%) were the mostly emphasized value clusters with self-enhancement and conservation following them with 19% respectively.

Table 5

The Analysis of the 10th Grade Coursebook based on Schwartz’s Framework

The analysis of the 10th grade coursebook revealed 108 instances of different value types. In the 10th grade coursebook there are no explicit values and ethics sections throughout the book; however, the values intended to be passed to the learners are embedded within the themes presented in each unit. Similar to the 9th grade coursebook, the motivations interwoven within the themes and different activities in the coursebook serve closely-related values at the same time. Among all the values emphasized, tradition (f: 25, 23%) is the most frequent value type occurring in the 10th grade English coursebook. Following tradition, the majority of value types are achievement (f: 16, 15%) and self-direction (f: 15, 14%). Other value types either explicitly or implicitly stated are stimulation (f: 13, 12%), universalism (f: 9, 8%) and conformity (f: 9, 8%), security (f: 8, 7%), power (f: 5, 5%), hedonism (f: 4, 4%) and benevolence (f: 4, 4%).

Table 6

The analysis of 10th Grade Coursebook based on Schwartz’s value clusters

When the distribution of values was analyzed based on the four value clusters in the 10th Grade English coursebook, the figures indicate that conservation (38%) and openness to change (28%) were the mostly emphasized value clusters with self-enhancement (22%) and self-transcendence (12%) following them. This may suggest that traditional values and norms are fostered in the coursebook whereas learners are also expected to be involved in independent thought and action through choosing, creating, and exploring by experiencing challenge and excitement in life through various activities.

Table 7

The Analysis of the 11th Grade Coursebook based on Schwartz’s Framework

The analysis of the 11th grade coursebook revealed 131 instances of different value types. In the 11th grade coursebook, in addition the implicitly stated values, there is an explicit unit which emphasizes values and ethics. In this unit, some values are presented through moral exemplars and the targeted values are contextualized through different tasks with varying levels of learning suited to Bloom’s taxonomy (1956). In the other units, however, the target values intended to be taught are embedded within the themes presented in each unit. Among all the values presented in the coursebook, achievement (f: 23, 18%) is the most frequent value type that occurs in the 11th grade English coursebook. Following achievement, other presented value types are self-direction (f:21, 16%), tradition (f: 18, 14%), benevolence (f: 17, 13%), universalism (f:15, 11%). stimulation (f: 13, 10%), tradition (f: 13, 10%), hedonism (f: 4, 3%), power (f: 4, 3%) and conformity (f: 3, 2%).

Table 8

The analysis of the 11th Grade Coursebook based on Schwartz’s value clusters

Regarding the distribution of values in the 11th grade English coursebook, it was revealed that openness to change (28%) and conservation (26%) were the mostly emphasized value clusters with self-transcendence (24%) and self-enhancement (23%) following them. This may indicate that the book interestingly gave almost equal importance to both openness to change and conservation. While self-expansion and growth, promotion of attaining goals and anxiety-free values seem to emerge with a more personal focus, there are also instances of activities aiming to regulate how learners relate these values in social contexts and how this influences them. With regard to the figures of other value clusters, it is possible to observe the dynamic relationships of values and the balance between the top clusters [self enhancement (23%) and openness to change (28%)] which emphasize the expression of personal interests and characteristics, and the bottom category [conservation (26%) and self-transcendence (24%)] with a focus on regulating this personal emphasis with a more social perspective. Where the 11th grade coursebook is concerned, it is interesting to note that all value clusters seem to be almost equally distributed.

Table 9

The Analysis of the 12th Grade Coursebook based on Schwartz’s Value Framework

In Table 7, the visual spread of page numbers in the 12th grade English coursebook reveals the instances of different value types as stated, all in an implicit way. As a result of the analysis of the values, it was shown that there were 88 instances of all value types stated in the coursebook in relation to Schwartz’s framework. The coursebook portrays values differently from other coursebooks in that there exist no explicit values and ethics sections in the coursebook.

Among all the values emphasized, universalism (f: 18, 20%) is the most frequent value type occurring in the 12th grade coursebook. This indicates that values such as understanding, tolerance appreciation, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature are mostly emphasized (Schwartz, 2012, pp.5-7), albeit implicitly. Following universalism, there are instances of security (f: 16, 18%), benevolence (f: 14, 16%), self-direction (f: 14, 16%), and conformity (f: 8, 9%). Hedonism (f: 5, 6%), achievement (f: 5, 6%), tradition (f: 4, 5%), power (f:2, 2%) and stimulation (f:2, 2%) followed these value typologies with less frequency. It is interesting to note that Unit 9 includes only one instance of values. The portrayal of different values was observed in the form of moral dilemmas (e.g. doctors having to decide about euthanasia) and/or moral exemplars (e.g. famous people or institutions like Darüşşafaka schools in Turkey) throughout the coursebook. The values were also presented in the units embedded in accordance with the themes of the coursebooks. The values presented were compatible with the target-intended behaviors, which were presented through different themes such as friendship, manners, human rights etc.

Table 10

The analysis of the 12th Grade Coursebook based on Schwartz’s value clusters

Where the value clusters are concerned, it was revealed that self-transcendence (36%) and conservation (32%) were mostly emphasized with openness to change (21%) and self-enhancement (11%) following them, respectively. The emphasis on self-transcendence is revealing in terms of the social value orientation, which emphasizes understanding other people as well as sustaining and fostering the welfare of other people with whom one is in continuing personal contact (Schwartz, 2012). Besides, openness to change is fostered with 21%, which indicates that the coursebook assumes that students should be fostered in terms of independent thought and action, which might further lead to autonomy. Furthermore, the book emphasizes challenge in life and sensuous gratification for learners.

Discussion and Conclusion and Implications

Within the current study, a comprehensive analysis of 40 units in the form of themes existing in secondary grade EFL language coursebooks for Turkish teenagers was conducted. The results were presented in the form of tables where the frequencies and percentages of different value types were presented. In addition to these figures, the percentages of four value clusters were presented to reveal the general tendency of these value clusters presented in EFL coursebooks.

Considering the general value clusters, the results of the study showed that the 11th grade coursebook shows a more equally weighed distribution among all value types with openness to change (28%), self-enhancement (23%), self-transcendence (24%) and conservation (26%) whereas the 10th and 12th grade EFL coursebooks seem to emphasize conservation (38% and 32% respectively). By contrast, the self-transcendence cluster was least emphasized with (12%) whereas it was highly emphasized (36%) in the 12th grade English coursebook. This category embodies universalism and benevolence values, which involve the importance of social order, helpfulness, and justice in society. This finding reveals that the final book of the series put a more comprehensive emphasis on the relations between individuals and groups and the welfare of others, and some values such as honesty, responsibility, loyalty and friendship are emphasized. In addition to benevolence, universalism is also emphasized in the 12th grade coursebook, which includes appreciation of other groups and cultures, tolerance, protection, and welfare of other groups as well as the care for nature. However, the 10th grade coursebook is the only coursebook in secondary education which emphasizes the conversation value cluster with the highest percentage (38%), which indicates that security, conformity, and tradition are the main value types represented in the coursebook.

When the percentages of value clusters are concerned, it is also interesting to note that the 9th grade English coursebook included activities which involve the clusters of openness to change (31%) and self-transcendence (30%) whereas self-enhancement (19%) and conservation (19%) values did not receive enough attention. This means that students are fostered to an extent where they can have independent thought and action by choosing, creating, and exploring by themselves, which helps them to improve their identities in terms of learner autonomy and challenge in their life. In addition to openness to change cluster, the relative emphasis on self-transcendence values existing in the 9th grade coursebook, namely benevolence and universalism, the coursebook seems to assume that students will be able to enhance the welfare of those who are in frequent contact and also their understanding, appreciation and tolerance will be enhanced through the activities presented in the coursebook. On the other hand, the 9th grade coursebook was the only coursebook in the series that provided learners with explicit values and ethics sections throughout the book. Since the 9th grade coursebook explicitly provided students with activities to practice different values, the emphasis on two clusters – openness to change and self-transcendence were emphasized more compared to other clusters in terms of the themes of the units as presented in the coursebook. It is also interesting to observe that these clusters put an emphasis on the contrasts like the one between openness to change and conservation on the one hand, and like the one between self-enhancement and self-transcendence on the other. This indicates that students are exposed to different kinds of values which favor the welfare of others rather than that of the interests of one-self. It is clear from the analysis of the coursebook that students’ awareness to improve the well-being of others is sharpened on purpose.

The 10th, 11th and 12th grade coursebooks provided values education sections only through implicit ways like presenting idioms, reading passages, stories, and moral exemplars embedded within the themes of the coursebooks. Considering the portrayal of these value clusters might prove to be fruitful for having an impressionistic view of the books; however, a more detailed analysis of various activity types is needed to provide a more comprehensive values-based education context. Whereas some activities are more integrated and have a higher potential of involving learners in understanding and practising some values, other activities follow an independent path which could make activities fail in terms of achieving the desired values training. Besides, these coursebooks were written by different people most probably with different backgrounds or personalities. This may have contributed to the different distributions and emphasis on these different values. Since values education was only recently included in the curricula and the coursebooks were written in accordance with these principles in a short time, involving different values in the themes of the coursebooks might have been organized randomly. A more comprehensive framework for the presentation of values may also prove to be useful in the long run. In addition to that, close cooperation among coursebook writers might yield to a more efficient way of presenting values in the coursebooks.

It is known that language coursebooks provide the tool for language learners to observe values in life. Likewise, Komalasari and Saripudin (2018) claim that the application of values could also be learned through the coursebooks. Tajeddin and Teirmournezhad (2015) also point out that textbooks play their role in conveying learners’ cultural values. Indeed, in the 9th, 10tth, 11th and 12th grade EFL coursebooks cultural values were presented in accordance with the themes of the coursebooks to expand learners’ cultural awareness in studying English. However, the secondary grade EFL coursebooks as suggested by MoNE in Turkey fail to achieve this purpose. Values were interwoven within the themes of the coursebook. However, the existence of values in EFL coursebooks does not guarantee that learners will grasp and internalize these values since the activities presented in the coursebooks need to be well planned and presented.

In accordance with the third research question, values-based teaching is reflected in the so-called coursebooks in both implicit and explicit ways. In the 9th, 10th and 12th grade coursebooks, values-based teaching generally takes place in the form of expanding learners’ awareness, the purpose of which is to raise the consciousness of students regarding their values and identities through presenting some moral exemplars, reading passages and national and universal dialogues through implicit or explicit ways. Although some national values such as tradition and conformity or more universal values are stated, they do not seem to be practised thoroughly in the 9th, 10th and 12th grade English coursebooks. However, in the 11th grade, values are practised at higher levels depending on Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy and students are supposed to analyze, order and inquire into their tasks while they are exposed to different values through their language learning period. In the 11th grade English book, for instance, students are expected to discuss the values for business ethics and perform a brainstorming activity prior to doing research about other successful entrepreneurs of the 21st century based on their interests and making a video to introduce that person, which involves them in the creation of new knowledge at a higher level of learning.

Values-based learning has been studied by various scholars from different fields. Presenting values in coursebooks might be a good tool to understand the world through a variety of different themes and topics. Coursebooks have the potential of affecting the values of learners. More generally, coursebooks stand out as the central component in many educational systems as they play the role of a reference book for any kind of learning activity. Besides, they convey beliefs, values, concepts, facts and procedures through the themes they embody. For this reason, they have a high capacity for curriculum material producers and conveyors in meeting the standards of presentation, language and legibility, content feasibility and visuals (Saripudin, & Komalasari, 2016; Komalasari, & Saripudin, 2017).

Feng (2019) pointed out that in the presentation of values in an EFL course, teachers must develop analytical tools and they should be equipped with the knowledge to analyze social values in the classroom, as well as to put these into practice and further use them to shape discourse in the future coursebooks. Since the majority of values were presented in a random manner in the EFL coursebooks which were under analysis in this study, the role of teachers while they are using these books is of vital importance in that teachers can facilitate the learning of students through some effective techniques and strategies. For instance, in the books there are cultural depictions of men and women in middle-eastern countries. Besides, in all coursebooks the national anthem and address to the youth by Atatürk are provided at the beginning of the books. Sharpening learners’ awareness in terms of some national and universal values, some gender roles as well as some cultural values such as honesty, individuality, prestige through inquiry might prove to be long-lasting and more effective. When these coursebooks are considered, some more guidance for the teaching of values could be provided by textbook writers for language teachers, in order to familiarize them with the process of considering the recent involvement of values-based teaching in the curricula. Hence, the role of teachers plays a major role in helping learners facilitate their internalized capacity of discovery (Eidle, 1993). Cranton and King (2003) also state that professional development sessions may yield some productive results in terms of the examination of people’s beliefs by using thoughts from other people and these processes and experiences might allow individuals to make sense of the world through transformative learning.

Weninger and Kiss (2013) also analyzed visuals, texts, and tasks in EFL textbooks what were written for and by Hungarians in terms of cultural meanings. The results of the semiotic analysis revealed that the texts, images, and tasks played their role in managing and facilitating learners’ understanding. The analysis of two different textbooks, namely ‘Bloggers 2’ and ‘Steps’, portrayed the reading passages about famous people from different nationalities, which supposedly involved cultural elements. However, the lack of the links between these passages and the tasks was one of the important findings and it was suggested that learners needed to be prompted with carefully planned tasks for the discourse in forthcoming textbooks. Similarly, the EFL coursebooks analyzed in this study required more careful planning in terms of the links between the target values and activities presented, where a unit with the name of a value does not guarantee that effective values-based teaching is fulfilled. Activities and the instructions given in these activities should activate learners and make them use their critical thinking skills as well as metacognition.

In addition, the three EFL coursebooks failed to spend enough time and effort on providing discussions that involve negotiation and practice of different values on the part of the learners except for the 11th grade coursebook, which provided learners with more varied, stimulating and connected activities in a contextualized manner, whereas others failed to achieve this connectedness and context. In addition to the lack of the weight given to different values, the analysis of the EFL coursebooks also revealed that the majority of activities in the coursebooks play the role of raising the awareness of the learners, thus leaving no room for practice and internalization of the target values. Instead, values seem to be introduced, realized in a passive way with no further room for discussions. It has been pointed out that such discussions on cultures and values may prove to be prolific in facilitating the learners’ learning process as well as motivating them and identifying commonalities and differences among different cultures, since these discussions closely provide the ground for appreciation and understanding of norms, beliefs and values. (Folse, 1996; Shulman, 1998).

In brief, since some values seem to surpass others in terms of importance and the weight given to these values, a more comprehensive approach would be more useful in teaching these values. For all coursebooks used in secondary grade in the Turkish education system, a more systematic classification of value clusters could be embedded in the themes by curriculum designers and curriculum content could be revised in order to provide this congruence for the Turkish context. Besides, the results of this study could provide a basis for the detailed comparative analysis of other coursebooks with foreign origins worldwide; that is, the value distributions as revealed within this study can be compared to the value distributions of other coursebooks with foreign origins. Accordingly, the concept of ‘values teaching’ can be purified by analyzing various language coursebooks worldwide and the results could be generalized for various audiences like teachers, practitioners, administrators, and experts in the field. This would contribute positively to course book writing practices on a larger scale, too. Finally, besides providing closer links between the target values to be taught and the activities, a balanced distribution of Schwartz’s value typology could be applied as the main framework for the presentation of value-related teaching materials and activities.

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About the Author

Dr. Gülşah Tikiz Ertürk: Assist. Professor, English Language Teaching Department, Izmir Democracy University (Turkey); e-mail: gulsahtikiz@gmail.com; gulsah.tikiz@idu.edu.tr

As a book length study on young refugee Roma from South Eastern Europe in Germany, Bildungswege und gesellschaftliche Teilhabe junger Roma in Deutschland, is a relevant contribution on challenges and barriers that the Roma minority face daily in all significant areas of life in Germany and across Europe.

Natascha Hofmann has written a uniquely researched and brief description of migration as seen through the lens of the Roma refugee youth and young adults from ex- Yugoslavian countries, aged 14 to 25 years, who came to Germany between 1992 and 2004. These Roma youth and young adults are living with either a toleration certificate or residence permit in Tüberg and its surroundings. In most of the case, the legal status has had deep negative implications on all aspects of life for the Roma minority.

The author draws upon observations, interviews and informal conversations with supervisors of refugees and other persons of interest as well as with predominantly male Roma interviewees, which were included in an empirical study conducted in 2007. They revised the results and updated the analysis, bringing a new perspective on the daily living conditions and the development of the education process of this community.

The introductory chapter opens the study by explaining that migration often amplifies the uncertainties and dissatisfaction of both the immigrants and local populations and exacerbates socio-economic inequality (p. 11). As the author remarks, the ethnic minority commonly referred to as Roma, which encompasses approximatively 10 to 12 Million members, has become a target for discrimination and persecution in many countries across Europe, an experience which they have become familiar with over past centuries (pp. 12-14). As the author explains, the term “Roma” is used as an umbrella term (p. 12). Further descriptions and explications are developed in chapter 3.1 (pp. 52-54). After briefly addressing the action plans and policies decided by the European Union in order to protect and include this vulnerable minority in the host countries, Natascha Hofmann sheds light on the importance of education, in fighting stereotypes and prejudices and improving their participation in the society.

Chapter 2 offers rich theoretical insights into the history of this ethnic minority, as well as the phenomena of inclusion and integration, the impact of social status, milieu affiliation and exclusion mechanisms in social participatory processes, as well as the influence of education on the integrative process. According to the author, “education is the key to individual life chances and participation in social life”(p.19).

Hofmann draws on a range of theoretical frameworks in her analysis of the aforementioned notions, from Humboldt’s concept of Bildung as a tool of self-development (p. 37) and Hof’s and Óhidy’s as a lifelong process (p. 38) to Reinhold’s concept of integration as an “incorporation of an individual into a social group with simultaneous acceptance as a member” (p.23). The author also states that the following concepts also are of great importance in the integration process: external assignments and perceptions, the binary code other/foreign as a deviation from the familiar – or the staged own and the figure of the foreigner (pp. 26-31). Moreover, minorities and migrants are highly disadvantaged when it comes to social participation, as the decisive factors for it are primarily social status, milieu affiliation and the power gap within a society as according to Bourdieu ( 1982) (p. 31).

Throughout both chapters, the readers learn that Roma and Sinti children remain disproportionally overrepresented in special education schools and underrepresented in secondary schools (p. 13). The German school system is a place where social inequality is still reproduced and it is in need of reform (p. 42). There is almost no other education system where the socio- economic background of the parents influences the academic performance of their children as strongly as in Germany (p. 41). As the author concludes, the integration process implies intersectionality of external factors such as access to education, employment, language skills, accommodation, contact to the local population and having a stable legal status as well as internal factors such as individual prerequisites, subjective perceptions, identification and exclusion mechanisms (p. 50)

We argue that Chapters 3 through 5 provide the most significant contributions of this book, as they reveal and explore the subjective perceptions and the lived experiences witnessed by the interviewees, predominantly young male Roma from Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Republic of Macedonia. Chapter 3 begins by problematizing the generic term of Roma or the “umbrella term” as the author calls it (p. 50), in consideration of the diverse subgroups, which are included. The question that the author poses is if there is unity in the Roma minority in spite of the diversity present among them (p. 51).

The population summarized under this umbrella term differs in many aspects, such as historical profession, religion and language. Roma often assimilated to the majority language and gave up their own Romanes dialects in an effort to avoid discrimination. Hofmann emphasizes those aspects such as identity and language constantly by presenting excerpts of the interviews (pp. 51-52), so that the readers can relate them to real experiences of the young Roma. She focusses on the use of the term “cultures” instead of “culture” to emphasize the diversity of the Roma population. In order to make the German residence rights more comprehensible to readers, we think that the author should have included an excursus here.

The following subchapter is dedicated to the shared experiences of the Roma originating from the Balkans throughout history and in present day. The author points to the loss of confidence of the Roma minorities in the majority societies, which is due to discrimination, persecution and genocide (pp. 59-60). She details the connections between discrimination, poverty, segregation and education (pp. 61-62).

Chapter 4 encourages a closer consideration of these causal relationships. According to Hoffman motivation is the prerequisite to accessing education. She establishes a connection between the knowledge of the functional structures in Germany, such as the right of residence and the education system, and knowledge of the national language as relevant to the self-confidence and self-efficacy of young Roma (pp. 70-71). Schools, teachers and other mentors have a high impact on their motivation. It is also pointed out that residential status, age at the time of arrival in Germany and educational background influence educational success (pp. 71-78). The author draws on the aforementioned historical reasons and traditional family values to shed light on these causal relationships. It is important to collaborate with parents in order to appreciate the values of the Roma families and their traditions. They are seen by young Roma as an example of family building and as role models and have an important significance in their lives.

Chapter 5 relates the process of integration of the interviewed young Roma and their identity and future plans. The chosen excerpts of the interviews focus on their reality as in-between-cultures, as “schon irgendwie entzweit” (“already somehow divided”, own translation, p. 118) and how they develop strategies to deal with discrimination (p. 127).

The author explains the impact of the research design on the achieved analysis of the data in chapter 6. We think it would have been better to include this section following the introductory chapter so that the readers would have the chance to get acquainted with the research design and navigate through the empirical units more easily.

The final chapter concludes that social participation is shaped by successful educational biographies, but also by socio-cultural background, by formal educational qualifications of both the interviewees and their parents, by intrinsic motivation and perseverance, and by the support of mentors and the German society as a whole.

Overall, Bildungswege und gesellschaftliche Teilhabe junger Roma in Deutschland is a good read for scholars and anyone interested in understanding the facets and complexities of the lives of young Roma refugees. While the empirical research took place in Germany, the results and the analysis could be applied to broad localities in Europe and beyond. The reader is introduced to critical issues and policy aspects that affect the lives of those in vulnerable and precarious positions. This book brings a valuable contribution to the field of migration of marginalised groups as well as education.

About the Reviewers

Alina Boutiuc-Kaiser: Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Education Freiburg, Institute of Education Science (Germany); e-mail: alina.boutiuc@ph-freiburg.de

Nadine Comes: Research Fellow at the University of Education Freiburg (Germany), Institute of Science of Education; e-mail: nadine.comes@ph-freiburg.de