Do Reading Texts in Science Textbooks Contribute to Values Education?

Abstract

Values education refers to a form of character education that comprehensively imparts various human values to students. It holds great significance to instill in students the values embraced by society through textbooks at the middle school level. Hence, this study aims to assess the extent to which reading texts (or reading passages) in science textbooks, aligned with the Turkish Science Curriculum implemented in 2018, address the ten root values adopted by the Ministry of National Education. The research employs the document analysis method, a qualitative research approach. Four science textbooks taught at the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade levels were analyzed within the study. The data were subjected to content analysis, and the findings reveal that the reading texts in the four science textbooks partially incorporate the ten root values. The results of this study demonstrated that despite being abstract course, science textbooks emphasize the majority of the ten root values, albeit not all of them extensively. This finding is a significant indication that the type and content of the course do not hinder to boost values education. At the end of the study, a few suggestions were made to ensure that the ten root values are acquired by students.