Ph.D. Theses

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Academic writing and the experiences of graduate students and supervisors/advisors :|the case of educational studies
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Toprak, Ziya.; Caner, Ayşe.; Gök, Fatma.
This study questions quality and experiences of graduate writing in the field of educational studies. A typical graduate work has three basic components; the writer, the advisor and the text. By using two-phase research, the present study investigates all three components. The first phase of the research examines the quality of graduate theses written in the field of education studies. The quality examination is done by using a plagiarism detection software with respect to two parameters; similarity and plagiarism. 600 theses and dissertations written in the field of educational studies are analyzed. Findings show that the mean similarity index of the sample is 28.58%, which is significantly higher than the mean threshold. The rate of theses and dissertation having high-level plagiarism is 34.5%. The second phase of the study deals with the experiences and perceptions of academic writing among graduate students, and advisors’ perceptions of academic writing and their advising practices by conducting in-depth interviews. 12 advisors and 24 graduate students are included as participants. MAQXDA, a qualitative data analysis program, is used for the content analysis of interviews. Findings show that advisors and students have a difficulty in grasping requirements of academic writing. Participants regularize and understand from academic writing an epidemic conception of writing, which repeats itself across different cases while making limited contribution. It has been suggested that the genre qualities of academic writing in the field of educational studies can explain the theses and dissertations plagiarized and having originality issues.
An evaluation of adult literacy campaigns in Turkey
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2003., 2003.) Kirazoğlu, Cem.; Gök, Fatma.
The aim of this study is to make an evaluation of adult literacy campaigns conducted in Turkey since the establishment of the Turkish Republic until 1980's, in order to analyze their approaches and philosophies, and evaluate them with a Freirean viewpoint. For this purpose, the first literacy campaign in 1928 conducted after the transition into the Latin alphabet, and the second literacy campaign in 1981 conducted after the 1980 Military Coup was taken into consideration. Other large-scale literacy activities conducted by the state agencies in 1958, 1962, and 1972 were not taken into consideration for the analysis since these activities were oriented toward a definite segment of the society. The concept of campaign in this study was defined as an official activity, the target of which is the whole population in a country rather than a definite segment of the society.As a result of this analysis, adult literacy campaigns conducted in Turkey are found to have basic, traditional, and functional approaches. The aim of the first literacy campaign is different than that of the second campaign. The first literacy campaign was one of the tools of the establishment of the nation state, which needed a new type of citizen who was equipped with the skills of reading and writing with the Latin alphabet. It was argued that the real impetus behind this project was the adaptation into the new economic, cultural and political system. On the other hand, the aim of the second literacy campaign conducted after 1980 Military Coup is to provide the contribution of the adult illiterates to the economic growth, industrial development, and technological improvement the Turkish Republic had to fulfill. Both of the campaigns are not successful in reaching all of the illiterate population. Thus, the number of the illiterates have increased. But one point that has to be addressed is the fact that the first literacy campaign was conducted with a higher enthusiasm and motivation, and the interest of the adult illiterates could be attracted.Looking from a Freirean approach, the reason why both campaigns have been unsuccessful in a sense of not reaching all of the population, and not attracting the interest of all segments of the society is that they have not considered the needs and expectancies of all of the population. As the date of the first campaign preceded the rise of the Freirean approach the implementation of that approach could not be expected. However, the needs and expectancies of the illiterate population could be investigated more effectively, which would have create a basis for further campaigns and activities. In the second campaign, the Freirean approach could be implemented after a deeper investigation of its implementation throughout the world. The most important reason why this approach was not implemented in the second campaign is that this campaign having only one type of curriculum was conducted with an offcial centralist understanding. However, the Freirean approach is one that the needs and expectancies of the adult illiterate have primary importance, and the curriculum takes a form in the direction of these needs and expectancies. This approach intends to develop the awareness of adults to situate themselves into the realities of the world and help them ask critical questions about their life.
Breastfeeding the educational system: analyzing women’s unpaid labor and voluntary mother participation in schools within the context of neoliberal economic policies
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2014., 2014.) Apak Kaya, Meral.; Gök, Fatma.
This study intends to examine the role of mothers in the school system in the context of the neoliberal transformation process with regard to the special labor of women in the forms of domestic labor, care labor and voluntary work. In this respect, the presence of mothers in the school system is analyzed in terms of the labor processes and the special characteristics of this unpaid labor in interaction with the ways in which their patriarchally defined motherhood role is utilized to penetrate in the power positions in the school system. The issue is conceptualized around the notions of power and empowerment and around the related strategies implemented by mothers in the school. The research aims to unveil the ways in which the mothers’ practices and attitudes in the school field reproduce the class and gender inequalities. In this respect, the differentiations in the mothers’ attitudes in their participation process and the tensions created by their praxis are analyzed. The research identifies and illustrates certain characteristics of the activities and relationships in the school environment to signal the reproduction of gender inequality and the exclusion generating from the class differences. Finally, with reference to the findings, an alternative way of maternal participation in order to elicit empowerment for and solidarity of women regarding the intermitting class differences is discussed and expanded. The field data and the analysis point out that with the neoliberal policies which retract public funding from education and leave the schools on their own fate with the discourse of ‘parental participation’, mothers started to take part in the ‘running’ of the schools. With this penetration, they started to locate themselves in the power positions such as Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) in the school system. The way to PTA passes from the functioning and social capital gaining in the position of Classroom Motherhood (CM) which represents the mothers who allocate their unpaid labor to substitute the duties of the state in the schools. However, these power positions and the power struggles unveil the class difference of the mothers as actresses in the school system. Because middle-class mothers have relatively more economic and cultural capital, they can easily occupy the power positions in the school, whereas working class mothers deprived of economic and cultural capital, they have no voice in the school system. The maternal participation is patriarchally designed in the neoliberal system in essence and the power is gained in a sphere where patriarchal rules are valid, thus this kind of environment results in ‘power-gaining’ of the middle class mothers and this represents a contrast with the feminist empowerment discourse as the power gained by the middle class mothers keep the working class women in deprivation. The analysis of the data led to the development of certain conceptions such as ‘network blockage strategy’, ‘dispossession of social capital’, ‘catalyzing capital’ and ‘breastocracy’ to unveil the power relations and to shed light to possibilities of genuine women’s empowerment.
Differentiating children through education: school choices and educational practices of middle-class families in neoliberal times
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2016., 2016.) Çimen, Canan Aratemur.; Gök, Fatma.
This research examines school choices and educational practices of middle-class families within the context of neoliberalization. The aim is to understand the ways in which their dispositions in education contribute to the creation of class advantage, class distinctions and increasing inequalities in a society. The data was collected mainly through in-depth interviews with parents, administrators and teachers in two selective high schools –one public and one private high school–in Istanbul. The findings indicate that reproduction of the middle class on the basis of education is highly dependent on the mobilization of economic, cultural and social capital of the families with extensive efforts of mothers. Since families have a high sense of responsibility for directing children’s education in the right way and making up differentiated children, they become more responsive to market signals in trying to find the best schools and the best ways to support the academic and individual development of their children. In this process, parents’ desires, dispositions and choices are shaped by the rationality of neoliberalism and those who continuously invest in children for enhancing their economic and social well-being turn into “active, responsible, competitive and entrepreneurial” subjects. After all, since their educational strategies and practices contribute to a social boundary-making process, middle-class families continue to retain their key roles in the creation and reproduction of class-based distinctions within the context of neoliberalization.
Family education policies in Turkey :|a critical discourse analysis of a family life education program
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Günaydın, Ayça.; Caner, Ayşe.; Gök, Fatma.
The purpose of this study was to examine the construction of family within the Family Education Program (FEP) of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services. This qualitative study utilized Critical Discourse Analysis. Seven textbooks from the field of family education and communication were chosen for the analysis. FEP posits a claim to “strengthen and protect” the family and improve its wellbeing through education. This study reveals that the authors utilized a number of textual instruments to normalize the nuclear family as a privileged institution in society. In the texts a heteronormative discourse with an emphasis on reproductivity is reinforced. It is also apparent that no attention is paid to diverse families from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. The study also reveals that women were presented as the primary care providers in the family. In this regard, it is argued that the lack of progressive or critical approaches to the conceptualization of family inhibits a wider understanding of families and therefore limits understandings of needs and educational practices available. It is concluded that by understanding multiplicity, complexity, and diversity of families it becomes possible to envision new opportunities for support and education.
School relocations in the context of urban transformation and education policy change in Turkey
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2016., 2016.) Bayhan, Sezen.; Gök, Fatma.; Ünlühisarcıklı, Özlem.
This research examines the school relocation process in Istanbul, with a particular focus on two schools. The aim is to understand the interaction between the school relocation policy and the urban and education policy processes. Much of the data was collected through participatory inquiry where the researcher was a participant observer. Two high schools in Istanbul were explored with respect to their relocation processes, with a much more emphasis on one of the schools as its relocation was imminent. The findings show that school relocations induced by urban transformation are inextricably linked to the material and symbolic reorganisation of neighbourhoods and contribute to the destabilization of secular middle class neighbourhoods and their schools. Also, by showing how neoliberalisation interacts with inherited regulatory systems, this research brings a novel contribution to the existing international literature on the interaction between education policy and urban space. While a large body of international literature has demonstrated that school relocations or closings contribute to the perpetuation of the inequalities rooted in the racialised structures and institutions, this research brings a novel dimension with its argument that the relocation policy in Istanbul interacts with the desecularisation of the city and the education system.
Seeking education beyond refuge: An analysis of Syrian parents’ perspectives of their children's education in Istanbul
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2017., 2017.) Beyazova, Ayşe.; Caner, Ayşe.; Gök, Fatma.
This study is an inquiry into the experiences of Syrian refugee parents in their pursuit for education in Istanbul for their children. Aiming to analyze the ways their parents struggle for acquisition of cultural capital for Syrian children, this thesis explores the possibilities and constraints encountered within the education system as well as the resources and strategies Syrian parents put into use as a response. A qualitative study was conducted through grounded theory methodology. The study suggests that children’s education has a significant precedence in refugee families’ lives but their overall living conditions full of deprivation have adverse influence on children’s education. The study also reveals parents’ dilemma of school choice between public schools and Temporary Education Centers nourished by the possibilities and constraints that two different school choices bring about. Some parents reported better experiences for their children’s educational inclusion in public schools. Acquisition of Turkish before school, extracurricular support in learning Turkish and other studies, having Turkish friends in and out of school, attentive treatment by teachers and strong parental involvement were particular aspects of these children’s educational lives. However Syrian refugee families’ resources to mobilize in response to the challenges against educational inclusion of their children is considerably scarce and the language barrier is a common obstacle ahead of all their strategies. Still, parents struggle to make use of their cultural and social capital, learn together with their children, engage with schools at differential levels and find ways to draw resources from the school.
The ideological meaning of primary education in Turkish modernization
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2002., 2002.) Şahin, Alper.; Gök, Fatma.
In this thesis, it was intended to find out the influence of modernization and socioeconomic politics of the State on the politics of primary education. The aim of the study is to discover the citizen model that the modem Turkish State wanted to create. The researcher used a historical perspective to understand the the features of modem primary education policies in Turkey. Therefore three primary school civics textbooks are examined from 1928, 1934 and 1937. By this way the difference between citizenship understanding during various periods is understood. Hermeneutics and content analysis methods are used to examine the textbooks. The results demonstrated that the education is an important aspect of creating a modem citizen. The nationalism has also important place in the modernization movement. Nevertheless the emphasis on freedom changes its intensity throughout the years from individual freedom to freedom of the country. The State control over public is clearly observable in the textbooks which leaves a small room for self expression. The content of the civics textbooks aim to shape the future citizen with the following characteristics: nationalist, able to self-govern with limited freedom, gaining strenght with mutual responsability and solidarity and one who values education.
The phenomenon of disability perception in blindness
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2015., 2015.) Yılmaz, Engin.; Gök, Fatma.; Müderrisoğlu, Serra.
The present study aimed to investigate the perception differences of blind people about their blindness, the determining factors of those differences and their possible consequences. For this purpose a qualitative survey was conducted on 36 blind participants, 22 men and 14 women. The findings revealed 5 perception levels from affirmer participants to normalizers. It is found out that, while affirmers and partial affirmers view blindness as a part of their identity, a difference and are not eager for a possible cure, for negative perceivers and normalizers, blindness is certainly a deficiency and is the main causes of their troubles in their lives. Independent living skills and equal interrelation with both blind and sighted people were observed as the most determining factor of perception of disability. The role of schools for blind had dualistic effects. While they provided independence skills, they had inhibitory effects in the lives of the participants. The impact of sight degree, family atmosphere, employment area, technology and blind related NGO‟s as facilitator or inhibitory factors were also discussed. The findings showed that people with more positive blindness perception had more active roles on both blind related and other NGO areas.
The transformation of higher education by means of Techno-Parks: case of Turkey
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2013., 2013.) Sart, Gamze .; Gök, Fatma.; Ercan, Fuat,
This study aims to explore the transformation of the universities by means of the techno-parks in Turkey. To conduct a critical phenomenological analysis, the study is divided two different parts in which the first part generates a perspective from outside by analyzing critically related documents about the reasons behind the transformation of the higher education and the development of the techno-parks. The university-industry-government partnership, which forces to make changes in the universities and “human capital,” is studied together with the science and technology policies and national strategies, which are taken into consideration with the arrangements and mechanisms in the techno-parks at the universities. The second part, as a case study, explores a perspective from inside by asking personal experiences and perceptions of the participants related to the same questions of the first part, which are the reasons behind the transformation of the higher education and the development of the techno-parks. The segregation in terms of gender, the implications of science and technology policies, and spatial redevelopment, which generate exacerbation of economic and spatial inequality, and political transformation, were critically analyzed by the data collected from the participants of the focus group. Exacerbation of economic and spatial inequality was analyzed together with economic and political transformation by questioning commercialization, marketization, commodification, managerialism, massification, privatization, internalization, rationalization, vocationalization, liberalization, revaluation, devaluation, reterritorialization, and entrepreneurialization of the higher education. After analyzing the related documents about the reasons behind the transformation of higher education it is so clear that the reasons are not only national, but also supranational where innovation and knowledge are taken as drivers of the competitiveness and growth. The transformation in the higher education is seen as the marketization of the universities by means of generating technological knowledge, which is commodified in the global market economy so that the integration of the universities has been enforced by the government and by the private industry. The benefits are mainly taken by the political stakeholders and private sector because the unemployment rate and the country’s current account deficit can be decreased, while the competitiveness in the knowledge economy is increased. The effects of the techno-parks are serious on the academic missions of universities, while changing innovation system so that the missions of universities are re-defined. Hence, knowledge as a commodity can be sold in the market and techno-parks and universities have become the headquarters of corporations. The analyses show that as a phenomenon, universities are not capable of absorbing the increasing demand so that techno-parks open new liberalization in commodification of knowledge. In order to make all these changes. The transformation towards entrepreneurialization has profoundly produced different problems-inequalities, segregation, and social injustices.

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Browsing Ph.D. Theses by Author "Gök, Fatma."

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