Values Education and Recent Debates: A Critical Discourse Analysis on Newspapers

In articular, in the curricula updating process in 2016 and 2017, values education understanding can be seen in all draft curricula under construction. Values education is increasingly becoming the destination of more intense interest. Besides academic interest reflected in the number of published articles and thesis, recent regulations particularly regarding education curricula have made values education an important topic of debate in public opinion as well. In tis context. The aim of this study is to analyse the media representations concerning values education and carry out a multidimensional evaluation accordingly. To this end the study was designed as a qualitative study as it intended to analyse media representations of values education in connection with newspaper articles and to suggest a multidimensional evaluation. Due to the date when drafts of curriculum update studies were introduced to public debate, the news stories on values education appearing in nation-wide Turkish newspapers from January 1, 2017 to March 7, 2017 were appointed as study group. The news stories were reviewed with critical discourse analysis based on the socio-cognitive approach. According to the study findings, the newspapers spare very limited room for news about values education and values education was seen to be reported as news based on the basis of debates, polarizations and disintegration in the wider social/political environment