Preparation of the Instructional Package for Citizenship Training in Social Communications for Elementary School Students

Citizenship education is derived from society's values and ideology and is a part of the national identity that causes a sense of belonging, especially in the early years of life. Education as an important institution in society should deal with the issue of citizenship education of students. Therefore, the aim of the current research was to develop an instructional package for citizenship education (identification of goals, components, methods of education) in social communications for elementary school students. The research was conducted with a qualitative approach to content analysis in the form of a themed network. The participants of the research were second-year elementary school teachers who were selected for a purposeful sampling method, purposive sampling using the method of key experts and using the theoretical saturation criterion (16 people). In-depth and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the required data. In answering the first question of the research, what are the goals of citizenship education in social communication, the findings of three overarching themes with the titles of head, heart and health skills and seven organizing components (self-awareness, communication skills, empathy, interpersonal skills, etc.) and 41 basic themes (individual identity, collective identity, commitment, etc.) were summarized. The results of the second question regarding the identification of the components of citizenship education in the field of social communication include three overarching themes including knowledge, skill and attitude and four organizing themes (cognitive, emotional, attitudinal-motivational and skillful), fifteen basic themes (encouragement, punishment, patriotism, godliness, etc.) was summarized. The results of the third question regarding the teaching methods of citizenship education included two inclusive themes, including active education and passive education, five organizing themes (interactive, problem-oriented, direct, indirect, individual) and 25 basic themes (game, speech, show, etc.). Finally, the findings of the current research confirmed the importance of paying attention to specific individual and social goals, paying attention to knowledge, skills and attitudes, and applying active and passive education methods in citizenship education.