Alevi non-governmental institutions' studies and expectations about decision-making in education

Abstract

There are many non-governmental organizations which aim to keep the Alewi culture alive in Turkey and enhance partnership among the Alewi citizens. This study aims to find out the efforts and expectations of Alewi non-governmental institutions in the process of decision- making in Turkish education system. The study has a qualitative research design and it is a descriptive research. The study group consists of 10 Alewi non-governmental institutions which were chosen with the help of criterion sampling. Semi-structured interviews were formed and analyzed with qualitative data analysis methods. Reliability of the study wasfound to be 0.86 according to Huberman Reliability formula. Expert opinion was employed to ensure validity of the study. Some of the findings of the study are as in the following: Alewi non-governmental institutions generally refer to the press, participate in workshops, prepare joint declarations and pay visits to homes in order to explain their views on educational problems and their expectations. 10 Alewi non-governmental organizations, which form the study group, say that religion courses delivered at state schools are mostly under the influence of Sunnî sect, defend the idea that the parts related to Alawism are insufficient, and state that they couldn't get a satisfactory reply from the political authorities despite their efforts. For the solution of the problems encountered, the related Alewi non-governmental organizations suggest that Alewi leaders called "dede" should visit the schools regularly and inform the students about Alawism.