An Analysis of the Texts in the Life Studies Textbooks in the Context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

In this research, we analyzed the life studies lesson textbooks taught in Turkey as of 2019–2020 within the scope of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Considering this purpose, we conducted content analysis using the document analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods. As a result, two themes emerged from life studies textbooks (LSTs), namely “the formation of the perception of children’s rights” and “the basic rights of immigrants and children with special needs,” and we developed a total of 17 codes belonging to these themes. We found that the texts in the LSTs do not contain enough information and findings within the scope of the articles of the UNCRC. In some themes, children’s rights are expressed intensely, while in other themes they are not included at all. Our findings suggest that children’s rights are expressed in the books but do not sufficiently address children’s rights as stated in the 54 articles of the UNCRC. In addition, the themes around children’s rights included in the textbooks are very scattered; we determined that there is no balanced distribution