Gaining of common culture perception to students in divided societies and the role of Art course in this context; Northern and Southern Cyprus

Near East University Atatürk Faculty of Education, North Cyprus Boulevard, 88138 Nicosia TRNC Mersin 10 – Turkey.

^* Corresponding author: fatma.miralay@neu.edu.tr

Abstract

Cultural dimension in education bears importance in terms of transferring and sustaining cultural values in addition to creating local and upper intercultural awareness in individuals. Especially in divided societies, gaining cultural values to individuals via education eliminates boundaries between societies, ensures cultural integration and carries local values to a universal point without terminating them. In this paper, effort is paid to identify the importance of preserving common cultural values of Cyprus in the content of art course curricula applied in Northern and Southern Cyprus societies according to teacher opinions. In accordance with this purpose, research data were collected using a semi-structured interview form which is a qualitative research method. The study was conducted on 20 secondary education art teachers in capital Northern and Southern Nicosia regions. Descriptive analysis method was used in the analysis of data. An examination of research results shows that there is no difference between the opinions of Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot teachers, but that Turkish Cypriot teachers give more prominence to the basic needs as regards the course. It has been determined that material needs of Greek Cypriot teachers are supported by the ministry whereas the opportunities of Turkish Cypriot teachers are limited. A majority of the teachers emphasized that the topic should be included in education curricula and the methods should serve to put this into practice. In the study, it has been concluded that the similarity of positive opinions between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot teachers is high and that there are fewer disagreements.