Educational programs and student opinions about the future

Abstract

This study aims to determine students' opinions about the extent to which activities concerning the future are included in primary and secondary education programs, the factors that affect the way they think about the future most, the future of their country and of themselves and the positive or negative factors that influence the future of the world. The study was conducted in 2001 on the pupils of the 5th and 8th grades of three primary schools at low, middle and upper socio-economic levels and the 11th grade high-school students in randomly picked classrooms - 313 students in total. A questionnaire form was used as the data collecting means. Frequency and percentages were used to analyze the data collected through the questionnaire form and the correlation between dependent and interdependent variables was tested through chi square. According to the findings gained through this study, the students state that some activities that are related to the future and promote thinking about the future are performed at schools, there are subjects within lessons that are related the future and promote thinking about the future and teachers establish a connection among "yesterday, today and tomorrow" and they provide activities to make them think about the future. They state that what affect them most in their thinking about the future are the people in the family and immediate surrounding, teachers and the mass media among which computers, television and books are the most influential ones. Also, while the students think that the future of the world and of themselves will be better, they think that nothing will change concerning the future of their country. According to them, the major negative factors affecting the world's future are wars and arms race followed by fatal diseases spreading rapidly (cancer, aids etc.), terror incidents, hunger, (famine, waste of resources etc.) and natural disasters (earthquake, flood, fire etc). Positive factors, on the other hand, are the rapid advances in science and technology and developments in medicine.