Evaluation of Information Technologies Teachers' in-class Behaviors in the Context of Hidden Curriculum

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the in-class behaviors of information technologies teachers and the factors that lead to those behaviors in the context of hidden curriculum on the basis of the opinions of information technologies teachers. From the qualitative research methods, the 'phenomonology' research design was used in this study. A total of 15 information technologies teachers who were teaching at secondary schools in a central town of a city located in the West Blacksea Region, Turkey, participated in the study. From purposeful sampling method, criterion and maximum diversity samplings were used in selection of the sample. Data were collected by means of semi-constructed interview forms. The gathered data were analyzed through both descriptive and content analysis methods. As a result of the interviews made with teachers, it was observed that the teachers gave messages and responses which were not in the scope of the formal curriculum. In this direction, teacher behaviours were divided into seven sub-themes such as power and authority, prejudices and discrimination, narratives, communication, role-model, getting a profession, and school culture. It was identified that most of the teachers were authoritarian and serious, discriminated among students according to individual diffferences, conveyed the ideas that they did not adopt in real life, made social, moral and ideological narratives suiting with their own thoughts and beliefs, preferred teacher-centered methods and techniques and were not able to create a democratical environment during lessons. In this study, it was understood that information technologies served to the hidden curriculum especially in terms of adoption of school culture, interaction with students was effective in occurance of hidden learnings, and status and economical advantages of a profession were of primary importance in teachers' professional guidance. Depending on the results of this study, some educational conclusions and recommendations for future studies were also included in this paper.