Sense-making of citizenship norms by teachers in Türkiye: Conservative, liberal or critical?

This study examines how sixteen citizenship education teachers in Türkiye interpret citizenship norms through conservative, liberal, and critical perspectives, using Weick's sense-making theory. Findings reveal that most teachers predominantly adopt a conservative understanding of citizenship, emphasizing national identity, social cohesion, and loyalty to state values, while fewer teachers align with liberal views focused on individual rights and democratic participation, and only a minority embrace a critical perspective that promotes questioning social injustices and transformative civic engagement. The research highlights significant sociopolitical and institutional challenges limiting the implementation of critical citizenship education, including curriculum constraints and political pressures. It suggests that fostering a balanced, hybrid citizenship education model incorporating conservative, liberal, and critical elements could better support democratic participation, social responsibility, and alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG4 (Quality Education) and SDG16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).