Patriotism as perceived by social studies teachers: An outlook on the individual, society and education

Patriotism is a citizenship value involved in the affective objectives of social studies education. The present study aimed to investigate the social studies teachers' perceptions of patriotism. A total of 14 social studies teachers selected as per maximum variation method participated in the study, which was designed as a phenomenological research. The research data were collected using a semi-structured interview form. The data were analysed using content analysis method with the help of NVivo software program. The results of the research suggested that participating social studies teachers explain patriotism with concepts of love, commitment and responsibility, and perceived themselves closer to blind patriotism. It was recommended that teachers should become more aware of active and democratic citizenship, get training to become constructive citizens, and improve their practices in this direction.