Conducting Democratic Evaluations where Democratic Principles are not always Practiced
Background: Turkey is a fast-developing country facing a lot of different problems. One of the problems is inadequate education. A large project was started to improve Turkish elementary education. The project includes many different purposes from physical refurbishment of school buildings, to inc...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University
2011-08-01
|
| Series: | Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation |
| Online Access: | https://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/view/325 |
| _version_ | 1797812698711326720 |
|---|---|
| author | Serhat Kurt |
| author_facet | Serhat Kurt |
| author_sort | Serhat Kurt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Turkey is a fast-developing country facing a lot of different problems. One of the problems is inadequate education. A large project was started to improve Turkish elementary education. The project includes many different purposes from physical refurbishment of school buildings, to increasing technology use in education. The author of this paper carried out a democratic study to evaluate this project. This article reports on what was learned from this evaluation study conducted in Turkey.
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine how democratic evaluations can be used to help understand the complex realities where undemocratic ideology has a long history.
Setting: This evaluation study was conducted in an elementary school from a lower-middle class neighborhood.
Intervention: Not applicable.
Research Design: Qualitative method of inquiry was applied.
Data Collection and Analysis: The data mostly came from the interviews. However document analysis and observations were also conducted. Qualitative data from the interviews and observations were analyzed to interpret meaningful patterns or themes.
Findings: It was concluded that democratic evaluations can serve an important mission by informing the public when the public’s role is limited in the decision making process. Further, democratic evaluators can serve as middle men who transfer information among the stakeholders, helping the evaluated program’s or project’s success. Finally, democratic evaluations can help increase democracy where democratic values are not always obeyed.
Keywords: Democratic evaluation; Turkey; education; democracy; educational technology |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:41:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f86a3bed58854262942b68eff7adc949 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1556-8180 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:41:16Z |
| publishDate | 2011-08-01 |
| publisher | The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation |
| spelling | doaj.art-f86a3bed58854262942b68eff7adc9492023-06-03T07:06:28ZengThe Evaluation Center at Western Michigan UniversityJournal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation1556-81802011-08-0181710.56645/jmde.v8i17.325Conducting Democratic Evaluations where Democratic Principles are not always PracticedSerhat Kurt Background: Turkey is a fast-developing country facing a lot of different problems. One of the problems is inadequate education. A large project was started to improve Turkish elementary education. The project includes many different purposes from physical refurbishment of school buildings, to increasing technology use in education. The author of this paper carried out a democratic study to evaluate this project. This article reports on what was learned from this evaluation study conducted in Turkey. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine how democratic evaluations can be used to help understand the complex realities where undemocratic ideology has a long history. Setting: This evaluation study was conducted in an elementary school from a lower-middle class neighborhood. Intervention: Not applicable. Research Design: Qualitative method of inquiry was applied. Data Collection and Analysis: The data mostly came from the interviews. However document analysis and observations were also conducted. Qualitative data from the interviews and observations were analyzed to interpret meaningful patterns or themes. Findings: It was concluded that democratic evaluations can serve an important mission by informing the public when the public’s role is limited in the decision making process. Further, democratic evaluators can serve as middle men who transfer information among the stakeholders, helping the evaluated program’s or project’s success. Finally, democratic evaluations can help increase democracy where democratic values are not always obeyed. Keywords: Democratic evaluation; Turkey; education; democracy; educational technologyhttps://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/view/325 |
| spellingShingle | Serhat Kurt Conducting Democratic Evaluations where Democratic Principles are not always Practiced Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation |
| title | Conducting Democratic Evaluations where Democratic Principles are not always Practiced |
| title_full | Conducting Democratic Evaluations where Democratic Principles are not always Practiced |
| title_fullStr | Conducting Democratic Evaluations where Democratic Principles are not always Practiced |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conducting Democratic Evaluations where Democratic Principles are not always Practiced |
| title_short | Conducting Democratic Evaluations where Democratic Principles are not always Practiced |
| title_sort | conducting democratic evaluations where democratic principles are not always practiced |
| url | https://journals.sfu.ca/jmde/index.php/jmde_1/article/view/325 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT serhatkurt conductingdemocraticevaluationswheredemocraticprinciplesarenotalwayspracticed |