Abstract:

The life sciences curriculum is one of the curricula in which some arrangements can be made with regard to the cultivation of knowledge and skills pertaining to Children’s participation rights (CPR). In this research, it was aimed at investigating the arrangements made concerning CPR in the life sciences curricula starting from the date that the UNConvention on the Rights of the Child was put into effect in Turkey until now from a comparative perspective. The document analysis method was employed in this qualitative research. The written data regarding the 1968, 1998, 2005 and 2015 curricula were analyzed through content analysis. As a result of the analysis, a total of 11 categories about CPR emerged in the life sciences curricula. The results of the research revealed that various arrangements which can be considered within the framework of CPR in the 1968 curriculum being implemented when the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was put into effect in Turkey were emphasized. However, it was found out that children’s expression of their thoughts was involved in the 1998 curriculum for the first time after the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was put into effect. The research is significant in that it provides information about what has changed or remained the same about CPR with the change and development movements implemented in the life sciences curriculum after the enactment of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Turkey. 

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