Popis: |
This chapter examines the relationship between changes in the scientific paradigm and curriculum after 2000 in Turkey and Singapore as case countries that experienced the transition to social constructivist education. This chapter explores the following questions: Can the traces of paradigm shifts be seen in the curricula? What was the education curriculum like in Turkey and Singapore before 2000? Have any changes occurred in the curricula in Turkey and Singapore after 2000? If any apparent changes have occurred in the curricula, how can they be explained through the relationship with the science-knowledge paradigm shift? After 2000, Singapore and Turkey were observed to have adopted the contextual and subjectivist paradigm, which changes based on idiosyncratic conditions, rather than the objectivist science-knowledge paradigm based on the positivist paradigm. Since 2000, Turkey has started to apply the constructivist paradigm in its education system after trying out various education approaches. Likewise, Singapore started to search for a new paradigm following its independence from England in 1959 and separation from Malesia in 1965. Even though the change in Turkey’s curriculum after the 2000s indicates positivism to be questioned, the realist ontology and objectivist approach to knowledge have apparently not been put behind. In the case of Singapore, the constructivism that had evolved over time emerged in the curriculum, not the relativist and anti-realist constructivism. Singapore’s success compared to Turkey’s is debatable; nevertheless, Singapore’s performance on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is noteworthy. |