Marife Turkish Journal of Religious Studies

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the views and expectations of teachers working in Anatolian imam hatip high schools (AIHHS) regarding their students as an important element of the hidden program and to evaluate them in terms of the hidden curriculum.
The hidden curriculum is defined as the values, norms and institutional expectations that the administration, teachers and parents want students to acquire, which students do not know exactly at the beginning of their education. Considering this definition and other definitions of the term, the hidden curriculum can be defined as the educational realities that are not specified in the official curriculum in writing, but are intended to shape students' thinking, behaviors and experiences according to the norms and values of the society, which are outside the official curriculum, but also include the way it is implemented and are as effective as it.
Evaluation of the opinions and expectations of the teachers working in AIHHS in terms of the hidden curriculum makes it necessary to mention the relationship between the hidden curriculum and religious education, since these high schools are a type of school that provides religious education. Religious education, which is a concept that includes all kinds of learning about religion, includes religious behavior changes based on beliefs, attitudes, knowledge and skills that occur consciously or unconsciously in individuals. The hidden curriculum is as important as the official program in gaining these behaviors to the individual. Because the hidden curriculum is the values and norms and institutional expectations that the administration, teachers and parents want the students to gain. For this reason, although it is not included in the official curriculum, the significance of teacher expectations in these schools is an undeniable educational reality since it allows students to change their behavior in the desired direction and is an element of the hidden program.
When the literature is examined, it is seen that the issue of hidden curriculum in the context of imam hatip high schools (IHHS) has not been directly discussed. This study is important in terms of revealing what the views and expectations of teachers, that are an important element of the hidden curriculum, are and how they are reflected in the hidden curriculum of the school in order for students to internalize religious, national and spiritual values. In this context, it is thought that the study will fill an important gap in the literature in terms of both drawing attention to the functionality of the hidden curriculum in religious and value education and leading possible studies in the field.
This research was conducted with phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research method designs. Interview was preferred as a data collection tool. The questions in the interview form prepared by the researchers were directed to the participant teachers and the answers given by the teachers were recorded on the forms. The study group of the research consisted of 43 volunteer teachers working in the AIHHS in Konya city center in the 2018-2019 academic year. The collected data were interpreted by content analysis because it was more appropriate for the purpose of the study.
The findings of the study are as follows: The most emphasized creedal characteristic is "Ahl al-Sunnah Faith"; the most emphasized moral characteristic is "having an Islamic Ethics on the axis of the Qur'an and Sunnah"; the most emphasized mental characteristic is "using his/her intelligence, thinking, being productive and solution-oriented"; the most emphasized cultural characteristic is "having awareness of national and spiritual culture"; and the most emphasized characteristic regarding his/her social position is "being an exemplary person in Islamic, moral and scientific sense". In addition to these, “advices, examples and various activities outside the curricula regarding national and spiritual values" are the most emphasized aspect regarding of an Imam Hatip Student Spirit that teachers want an AIHHS student to gain.
As a result of the research, it was seen that the participant teachers attributed a unique mission to imam hatip high schools students in terms of the representation of religious, national and spiritual values. In this context, it was tried to evaluate the student vision of the teachers working in AIHHS in terms of the hidden curriculum.