Şişman, Zehra Betül; Ünlü, İhsan; Kaşkaya, Alper

Contemporary democratic societies face increasing challenges such as polarization and the erosion of public dialogue, underscoring the urgent need to equip young people with democratic citizenship skills. Philosophy for Children (P4C) offers a promising pedagogical framework to meet these challenges; however, empirical evidence of its impact on democratic citizenship remains scarce in non-Western educational contexts. This mixed-methods study examined the effects of a P4C-based education program on seventh-grade students’ perceptions of democratic citizenship in Türkiye. The experimental group participated in a 15-week intervention grounded in Lipman’s 4C model—critical, creative, caring, and collaborative thinking—while the control group followed the conventional Social Studies curriculum. Data were collected through perception scales, classroom observations, reflective journals, and focus group interviews. Findings revealed that P4C practices significantly enhanced students’ democratic understanding, including inquiry, justification, empathy, cooperation, and respect for diverse perspectives. The results suggest that P4C can transform traditional teacher-centered classrooms into democratic communities of inquiry, fostering critical and participatory citizenship. This study contributes to the growing body of research advocating philosophical inquiry in education and provides practical implications for curriculum design, teacher education, and educational policy reform. © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Kösreli, Saadet

This study examines how academics teaching instrumental and vocal courses in higher music education construct and negotiate their professional identities at the intersection of musician, educator, and researcher roles. While previous research has largely focused on dual-role identity configurations, this study presents a triadic conceptualization of professional identity. Adopting a phenomenological approach, the study is based on semi-structured interviews with 20 academics working in music education departments at universities in Turkey. Data were analyzed using an expanded Colaizzi phenomenological framework. During the interpretive synthesis of the findings, a/r/tography informed the conceptualization of professional identity as a relational process of becoming. The findings reveal that these three identity domains are both mutually reinforcing and in tension. While teaching practices stimulate research production and musical performance enhances pedagogical effectiveness, institutional pressures particularly publication demands, workload intensification, and administrative responsibilities create structural constraints that challenge the sustainability of all three roles simultaneously. The study contributes to the literature by offering a process-oriented and relational understanding of professional identity in performance-based academic fields. It also provides empirical insights into how academics navigate identity multiplicity under contemporary higher education conditions, highlighting the need for institutional policies that recognize and support the integration of artistic, pedagogical, and research practices. © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Ak, Murat; Turkmenoglu, Mehmet Ali; Uysal, Hasan Tezcan; Kilickaya, Fatma Yilmaz; Bilgic, Emrah

The healthcare sector is characterized by high stress, irregular working conditions, and continuous performance pressure, which increase employees’ sensitivity to workplace fairness and peer evaluation. Within this context, the way employees compare themselves to other colleagues and how employees interpret their psychological contracts with their employers become worth examining. Drawing on Equity Theory and Social Exchange Theory, our study aims to examine how social comparison affects healthcare employees’ perceptions of organizational justice and to reveal the mediating role of the psychological contract in this relationship. Data were collected from 364 healthcare employees in Türkiye. Validity, reliability, and correlation analyses were conducted, and a structural equation model was established based on the collected data. The results indicate that social comparison has a positive effect on both organizational justice and the psychological contract, and the psychological contract also positively affects organizational justice. Accordingly, the psychological contract partially mediates the relationship between social comparison and organizational justice. Hence, our study extends the extant literature by identifying the psychological contract as a mediating cognitive mechanism linking social comparison and justice perceptions. Practical implications are offered to healthcare managers and organizations to promote fairness and engagement among staff.

Coşğun Kandal, Sena

This study explores how School-Sport Magazine (SSM, Okul-Spor Dergisi), published by the state during the İnönü Era (1938–1950) in Turkey and aimed at young readers, discursively constructed and disseminated the concept of the national body. Although previous studies have shown that the body held a central place in early Republican nation-building, limited attention has been paid to how such ideas were communicated to youth through state-controlled publications. This study therefore examines how SSM functioned as a discursive tool shaping the moral, physical, and ideological formation of young citizens. The analysis is grounded in Foucault’s concepts of subjectivity and automatic obedience, while also employing Ruth Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach, particularly the topoi of responsibility, usefulness, definition, culture, danger and threat, and history. It draws on four key texts selected from the 20 issues of SSM published between 1939 and 1940 by the Ministry of National Education and authored by political, educational, and athletic figures. SSM was found to portray sport not only as physical training or leisure but also as a space for cultivating ideal citizenship. By emphasizing bodily discipline, self-control, and moral integrity, SSM encouraged young people to embody the ideals of national unity and endurance. Spor thus operated as a process through which individuals internalized national values as personal virtues. SSM’s discursive strategies framed the body as both a moral project and a political instrument, reflecting the İnönü Era’s biopolitical vision of disciplined, loyal, and productive Republican youth. © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Bayram, Hüseyin; Pala, Şenol Mail

Prospective social studies teachers experience future anxiety and career stress in Turkey just as in different countries around the world. The aim of the study was to examine this issue. The mediating role of career stress and the moderating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between the future anxiety and psychological well-being of prospective social studies teachers were examined. A cross-sectional research model was used throughout the study. Maximum diversity sampling formed the participant group, which included 988 prospective social studies teachers from various universities in Turkey. The Future Anxiety Scale in University Students, the Psychological Well-Being Scale, the Korean Career Stress Inventory, and the Adult Resilience Measure provided the data used in the study. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 25 package program and the Process Macro 4.2 plug-in. It was concluded that future anxiety has a significant negative effect on psychological well-being. In addition, it was concluded that career stress has a mediating role and that psychological resilience has a moderating role in the relationship between future anxiety and psychological well-being. Suggestions led to an examination the hypotheses of this study with different experimental and longitudinal studies and with the participation of prospective social studies teachers who had graduated from university and could not be appointed.

Caner-Yıldırım, Sonay

While Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technologies like ChatGPT are revolutionizing education by offering unique interaction opportunities and prompting legislative shifts toward AI literacy, there remains a significant gap in understanding the factors that influence their acceptance and effective use in educational settings. In particular, the impact of students’ digital competencies and motivational factors on their acceptance and utilization of GenAI tools is not well understood. This study investigates how these variables influence undergraduate students’ acceptance and use of ChatGPT as an informal learning tool, aiming to advance understanding of GenAI adoption in higher education. By integrating the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp) with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), this research provides a comprehensive analysis of factors affecting students’ intention to use and actual use of ChatGPT. Data were collected from 544 undergraduate students using adapted UTAUT2 scales and digital competence measures aligned with DigComp. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n = 140) validated the adapted UTAUT2, and Structural Equation Modeling (n = 404) explored relationships between variables. The findings reveal that habit, hedonic motivation, performance expectancy, and facilitating conditions significantly predict students’ intention to use ChatGPT, while behavioral intention, problem-solving skills, and ethical considerations positively influence actual use. Notably, the study highlights the critical role of problem-solving and ethical awareness—in the adoption of GenAI tools. These results suggest that existing digital competence frameworks may need updating to include GenAI-specific competencies such as prompt-writing skills, managing ongoing dialogs with GenAI tools, and critically evaluating AI-generated content.

Koçak, Daimi; Kerse, Gökhan

In this study, the concept of perceived organizational obstruction was discussed and the results of the perception of obstruction were determined with reference to social exchange theory perspective. In this context, we tested a moderated mediation model that examines organizational identification as the mediator and interactional justice as the moderator in the relationship between perceived organizational obstruction and job satisfaction. Research data were obtained through the survey technique from 293 employees of a hospital in Turkey. In the findings of the analysis, it was observed that organizational identification has a mediating effect on the relationship between perceived organizational obstruction and job satisfaction. In addition, it was determined that interactional justice has a moderator effect on the relationship between perceived organizational obstruction and organizational identification. Furthermore, results supported the moderated mediation model and showed that the indirect effect of perceived organizational obstruction on job satisfaction through organizational identification was stronger under low interactional justice than under high interactional justice. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Dincer, Ali; Yeşilyurt, Savaş; Noels, Kimberly A.; Vargas Lascano, Dayuma I.

This study examines the antecedents and outcomes of classroom engagement of 412 Turkish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Grounded in self-determination theory and the self-system model of motivation, this mixed-methods study examined the relations between context (perceived autonomy-support from the instructor), self (basic psychological needs), action (behavioral, emotional, agentic, and cognitive engagement), and outcome (achievement and absenteeism). The results of structural equation modeling supported the hypothesized model and showed that learners’ perception of their teachers’ autonomy-support within the classroom predicted their need satisfaction, which in turn predicted self-determined engagement. Engagement predicted achievement and absenteeism within English courses. Semi-structured interviews showed patterns consistent with the quantitative results, and also that students felt their engagement would best be supported in classes with a positive social atmosphere. As well, their comments underscored the important role of language teachers in supporting learners’ psychological need satisfaction, classroom engagement, and positive academic outcomes. The findings suggest strategies for English language educators to bolster students’ engagement within the classrooms, including students who seem to be unmotivated, reluctant language learners.