Investigating the early years of STEM education reform in Türkiye from an equity standpoint

Date

2024-07-01

Author

Karahan, Engin

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Disadvantaged students have struggled to find equal opportunities in STEM; thus, it is critical to challenge global society’s structures so that all students have equal opportunities to learn and become proficient in STEM subjects. To even begin to address STEM equality issues, action plans and solutions must address all tiers of society. However, equity in STEM education reform has received little attention in Türkiye. The purpose of this study is to examine the first years of STEM education reform in Türkiye from the standpoint of equity. The research used a single case with embedded units. The embedded units were seven regions of Türkiye, each with its own set of social, economic, and cultural circumstances. Twenty-one teachers and school principals from different regions of Türkiye participated in the study. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and published documents. The collected data were coded based on the dimensions of the theoretical framework, which was built by combining Bybee’s (2013) framework for analyzing STEM education reform initiatives and Gutierrez’s (2009) framework for teaching for equity. The findings highlighted the equity and justice challenges and opportunities that STEM education reform entailed. While participants recognized the potential of STEM education initiatives to promote equity in classrooms, particularly in terms of identity and power, the study’s findings revealed that the reform’s implementation favored schools serving students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, widening the opportunity gap between students from different backgrounds.

URI

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11256-024-00711-x
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110307

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Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Article