A Comparison of Mother-Tongue Curricula of Successful Countries in PISA and Turkey by Higher-Order Thinking Processes

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to reveal general qualities of the objectives in the mother-tongue curricula of Hong Kong and Shanghai-China, South Korea, Singapore, and Turkey in terms of higher-order thinking processes specified by PISA tests. Research Methods: In this study, the researcher used a qualitative research design. Mother-tongue curricula were obtained from the official websites of the Ministries of National Education of the researched countries. The mother-tongue curricula of the countries are in an updated form at these official websites. This data was considered in terms of the levels of high-order thinking processes determined by PISA 2015. The data were analyzed in accordance with the content analysis. Findings: Hong Kong and Shanghai-China, and South Korea had the objectives at levels 3 and 4 most, and the fewest at 1a and below. This indicated that the objectives of the mother-tongue of these countries were similar to each other as they reflected higher-order thinking processes at these levels. Singapore included 51 objectives at level 4, although it had the most objectives at level 2 and 3. On the other hand, Singapore had the most objectives at levels 5 and 6. Turkey had the most objectives at levels 2 and 3 and the fewest at level 6. Also, Turkey had the fewest objectives at levels 5 and 6 and the most objectives at levels 1b and below. Implications for Research and Practice: What can be suggested by the current study is to conduct research on how to better objectives for higher-order thinking processes in mother-tongue curricula of countries. (c) 2018 Ani Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved