Is there a place for environmental education in religious education in Türkiye?

ABSTRACT

The study aims to assess the integration of environmental education within religious education in Türkiye. Employing a qualitative research approach, the analysis focuses on aspects like the physical environment, environmental degradation, and associated issues. The investigation found that the curricula and Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge textbooks explicitly address environmental concerns at the 4th and 10th-grade levels. However, the treatment of the environmental concept needs a comprehensive and structured approach. The study’s results indicate that environmental education is partially integrated into religious education, viewed as a component of one’s religious obligations and a means to demonstrate devotion to Allah. These conclusions are drawn from a set of guiding principles and religious, ethical considerations.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious education
• environment
• environmental education
• values

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Finally, with the Presidential Decree No. 85 published in the Official Gazette No. 31643 in 2021, its name was changed to the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change.

2. https://www.mgm.gov.tr/FILES/haberler/2010/meb-protokol/meb_cevre_orman_protokolu.pdf.

3. https://www.meb.gov.tr/cevre-egitimine-yonelik-is-birligi-protokolu-imzalandi/haber/7724/tr.

4. https://merkezisgb.meb.gov.tr/meb_iys_dosyalar/2018_12/25164018_TEMA_PROTOKOL.pdf

5. https://karayazi.meb.gov.tr/meb_iys_dosyalar/2022_05/17162118_cevre.pdf.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fatma Kurttekin

Fatma Kurttekin is an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Education at the University of Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit, Türkiye. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Teacher of Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge from the University of Uludağ in 2011. She further pursued her MA degree in Religious Education from the same university in 2013. Later, she successfully completed her PhD in Religious Education from the University of Cumhuriyet.

Her professional journey began in 2011 when she worked as a teacher of Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge. In 2012, she became a research assistant at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Cumhuriyet. From 2012 to 2023, she held a position at the Faculty of Theology, University of Sivas Cumhuriyet.