Ministry of National Education announces: Cyberbullying and peer bullying included in the curriculum

The Ministry of National Education has announced that it has included cyberbullying and peer bullying in the curriculum.

According to information obtained from Ministry of National Education officials, the curriculum for the "school-based social responsibility studies" course has been approved by the Board of Education and Discipline. It was shared that this elective course, which has a 72-hour teaching program covering every level for 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade middle school students, was included in the curriculum for the 2023-2024 academic year.

WILL HELP WITH DAILY LIFE

The course curriculum aims to provide students with social sensitivity and a sense of responsibility, and to create awareness of social issues. The curriculum includes content that will enable students to understand their social responsibilities and fulfill these responsibilities effectively. It was also stated that students will be provided with interactive learning environments that will help them develop daily life skills, not just theoretical knowledge.

The course curriculum prepared for 6th graders consists of units titled "social responsibility," "creating social awareness," "social values and ethics," "environment and sustainability," "social health," and "social solidarity." In the course, emphasis is placed on practical achievements in addition to theory at higher levels. In this context, it was noted that in addition to the existing units, the "community service and volunteering" unit is taught in 7th grade, and "social entrepreneurship and innovation" and "perspective on global issues" units are taught in 8th grade.

SOCIAL BENEFIT

In the "social responsibility" unit, concepts such as volunteering, empathy, altruism, social awareness, sustainability, social benefit, and social entrepreneurship are emphasized. It was stated that students are expected to design a social aid project within the framework of social assistance and solidarity, implement their projects, and then evaluate them in terms of social benefit.

In the "creating social awareness" unit, students will be given the skill to develop awareness of social problems in their environment. In this course, students will research social responsibility studies in their immediate surroundings. At higher levels, students will be given the opportunity to design a project where they can use mass media to increase social awareness. It was emphasized that they are expected to contribute to social awareness through campaigns and events in the project.

COPING WITH DIGITAL VIOLENCE METHODS

In the "social values and ethics" unit, concepts such as ethics, morality, social problems, peer bullying, digital security, and digital values will be covered. It was reported that methods for coping with types of digital violence will be discussed by focusing on topics such as digital security, digital addiction, cyber threats, and cyberbullying.

The role of social values in social integration and the contribution of values such as love, respect, equality, honesty, diligence, compassion, and mercy to social life will be emphasized. It was stated that the basic values and moral principles of social responsibility will be defined, and the characteristics of an individual with social responsibility will be explained with examples.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

In the "environment and sustainability" unit, students will be given the opportunity to draw attention to environmental problems and propose sustainable solutions. At higher levels, students will be given the task of developing a project where they will produce solutions to environmental problems. Students will make evaluations of their projects in terms of sustainability. It was stated that students, who will design projects for environmental awareness by cooperating with their friends, will also prepare implementation plans for these projects.

In the "social health" unit, it is aimed to provide students with the ability to understand the relationship between nutrition, hygiene, and addiction with health, and to make inferences about healthy aging. In the curriculum, which will focus on concepts such as healthy nutrition, hygiene, healthy aging, addiction, school health, and hygiene, the importance of physical activity and nutrition regarding topics such as diabetes and obesity will be emphasized. Additionally, it was stated that at higher levels, students will be offered the opportunity to develop solution proposals for social health problems caused by nutrition, hygiene, and addiction.

LIFE SATISFACTION WILL BE EMPHASIZED

In the "community service and volunteering" course, it is aimed to provide students with the skills to realize the individual and social importance of volunteering in community services, to evaluate the impact of technology on social responsibility studies, and to research projects related to the subject. It was emphasized that in the course, where concepts such as community service, volunteering, personal development, and social change are covered, concepts of self-esteem, self-confidence, and life satisfaction will also be focused on.

It was announced that in the courses, students will be offered the opportunity to understand the benefits of volunteering in community services for social development and to evaluate whether the projects they carry out contribute to change in society.

In the "social entrepreneurship and innovation" course, it is aimed to provide students with the skill to develop creative ideas by determining the similarities and differences between the concepts of social entrepreneurship and social innovation. It was noted that in the course, students will produce new ideas in the field of social innovation and will be encouraged to develop new solutions to problems aimed at improving the environment they live in.

SOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL ISSUES

In the "perspective on global issues" unit, global issues will be defined and emphasis will be placed on problems such as poverty, hunger, migration, disasters, epidemics, climate change, and endangered species. Students will develop proposals that can provide solutions to global issues in the courses. It was stated that international projects will be examined by focusing especially on the concept of "twin transformation."