The Problems of Religious Education of Syrian Asylum Seeker Students: A Qualitative Study on Religious Education Teachers
Ali Baltacı, Mehmet Kamil Coşkun, İsa CeylanIn recent years, the increasing migration movements caused various problems in religious education. The aim of this study is to determine the problems of religious education of Syrian refugee students according to religious education teachers. In addition, possible solution methods proposed by the teachers regarding the related problems were also included in the research. The research is designed with the case study method of qualitative research methods. The research data were collected from 79 teachers working in 45 schools in the Küçükçekmece, Bağcılar, Sultangazi, Fatih and Esenyurt districts of İstanbul province, with the maximum diversity sampling method, which is one of the qualitative research sampling methods. As a result of the research, it has been determined that Syrian refugee students generally have cognitive, affective, behavioral, developmental and social problems. The most important problems experienced in the religion courses are language and classroom discipline problems, and negative attitudes against religion courses. There are also problems with the religious education curriculum. According to the teachers, many problems in schools can be solved by offering language and adaptation training to students.
Suriyeli Sığınmacı Öğrencilerin Din Eğitimi Sorunları: Din Kültürü ve Ahlak Bilgisi Öğretmenleri Üzerine Nitel Bir Araştırma
Ali Baltacı, Mehmet Kamil Coşkun, İsa CeylanSon yıllarda çeşitli nedenlerle artan göç hareketleri din eğitiminde de çeşitli sorunlara yol açmıştır. Bu araştırmanın amacı, Din Kültürü ve Ahlak Bilgisi (DKAB) dersi öğretmenlerinin görüşlerine göre Suriyeli sığınmacı öğrencilerin din eğitimi sorunlarının belirlenmesidir. Ayrıca araştırma kapsamında ilgili sorunlara ilişkin öğretmenlerce önerilen olası çözüm yöntemlerine de yer verilmiştir. Araştırma, nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden durum çalışması modeli ile tasarlanmıştır. Araştırma verileri amaçlı nitel araştırma örneklem yöntemlerinden olan maksimum çeşitlilik örneklem yöntemi ile İstanbul ilinin Küçükçekmece, Bağcılar, Sultangazi, Fatih ve Esenyurt ilçelerinde 45 okulda çalışan 79 DKAB öğretmeninden toplanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, Suriyeli sığınmacı öğrencilerin genel olarak bilişsel, duyuşsal, davranışsal, gelişimsel ve sosyal sorunları olduğu belirlenmiştir. Din derslerinde yaşanan en önemli sorun dil ve sınıf içi disiplin sorunları ile din derslerine karşı sergilenen olumsuz tavırlardır. Ayrıca din öğretimi müfredatı ile ilgili sorunlar da bulunmaktadır. Öğretmenlere göre öğrencilere dil ve uyum eğitimi verilmesi ile okullarda yaşanan pek çok sorun çözümlenebilir.
Due to the ongoing civil war in Syria, there is an intense migratory flow towards Turkey. Increased asylum seekers can lead to problems of a different kind in Turkey’s social, cultural and economic life. One of the important problems arising from the migration movement is education. There are various problems that they encounter in the religious education of Syrian asylum seekers living in Turkey. That the majority of Syrian asylum seekers, because of Muslim beliefs, and for that, they can easily adapt to the offered religious education in Turkey is the main motive in the conduct of this study. At this point, we see the necessity of obtaining the opinions of religious education (RE) teachers about the religious education offered to these students, which encountered the Syrian students in their practice. It is possible to improve the quality of religious education provided to Syrian students by understanding the problems experienced by the teachers. In this study, RE teachers’ problems faced by Syrian students in religious education, obstacles to religious education and teachers’ suggestions for solving the problems were investigated. In this study, current data on the problems of religious education are presented to religious academics and policymakers. Within the scope of this study, answers to the following questions were sought.
1) What are the problems faced in the general education of Syrian students and in religious education?
2) What are the obstacles to the quality of religious education in schools and classrooms?
3) What are the regulations for the religious education of Syrian students?
4) What recommendations do RE teachers have for the religious education of Syrian students?
This study was conducted with a case study design, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The research was conducted with RE teachers who participated in Syrian refugee students’ classes, and it was decided to use the maximum diversity sample from the qualitative research sampling methods because of the attendance of these students to schools in certain regions. This study was conducted in a total of 45 primary schools, including 15 primary schools and 17 imam-hatip schools, in districts of Istanbul province (Küçükçekmece, Bağcılar, Sultangazi, Fatih, and Esenyurt). In order to increase the diversity of the study group, all RE teachers in these schools who volunteered to participate in the study were included in the sample group. The sample group consisted of 79 RE teachers, of which 38 were female and 41 were male. It was decided to conduct an interview to collect the data and a semi-structured interview form was prepared for the interviews with teachers. The content analysis method, one of the qualitative data analysis methods, was used in the study.
According to RE teachers, Syrian students experience cognitive, affective, behavioral, developmental and social problems in schools. Problems such as difficulty in perception, retardation in verbal skills, anxious mood, distractions, a tendency to violence and inability to make friends are common among Syrian students. Moreover, these students experience social and cultural adaptation problems. The majority of the teachers reported that they did not do any special work for Syrians in religious education. Some of the teachers reported that they did additional studies outside the class by using Arabic religious education books. In addition, few teachers stated that they hung posters and images about religious education in class. However, a limited number of teachers stated that they distributed the Arabic religious stories to the students in accordance with the language and academic levels of the Syrian students. The majority of the teachers think that the curriculum of religious education is appropriate for Turkish students but not for Syrian students. According to the teachers, there should be an alternative curriculum of religious instruction focusing on the problem of cultural and social adaptation of the Syrian students. In addition, teachers’ opinions regarding the necessity of preparing a new curriculum for religious education in accordance with the universal Islamic values and considering the spiritual needs of Syrians are important.
RE teachers think that the fact that Syrian students do not speak Turkish is an important educational barrier. Moreover, their inability to speak Arabic is seen as an important deficiency. According to RE teachers, sectarian differences, student absenteeism, irrelevant parents and the effects of secular life adversely affect the religious education of Syrian students. According to some teachers, Syrian students behave undisciplined, sabotage the teacher and bully their friends. Prejudiced attitudes and behaviors of Turkish students towards Syrians are also an important educational barrier. All RE teachers reported that Syrians had a negative attitude towards religious classes and were indifferent to the classes. All RE teachers suggested that Syrian parents and students should be given Turkish, literacy, cultural and social cohesion education, and that the curriculum of religious education should be renewed. In addition, teachers recommended that parents and students receive spiritual counseling, empathy training to reduce prejudices and work to solve the problem of absenteeism.
