Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Open and Distance Learning Conference 2022, Eskişehir, Türkiye, 28 - 30 Eylül 2022, ss.757, (Özet Bildiri)
A body of literature in higher education research has been discussing how open
and distance education may act as a driver of change in the nature and form of
higher education, and create new meanings and values regarding the delivery and
credentialization of higher education, especially after pandemic times. While the
educational value of distance higher education is increasingly being expressed in its
disruptive capacity to innovate, there is a need to analyze the meanings attached to it in
educational policy-making.
This study examines the distance higher education related policy strategies of the
Turkish state. Using critical discourse analysis, based on Norman Fairclough’s work, the
aim is to analyse the discourses used within policy-related documents and government
reports regarding the role and significance of distance education in the Turkish higher
education system. In order to achieve this objective, certain key documents including
annual activity reports, national youth and education policy documents, and strategic
plans produced by the Ministry of National Education and Higher Education Council
have been analyzed. Preliminary findings reveal that in the dominant discourses
regarding distance education in the Turkish higher education system, the policy makers
seem to have very little interest in distance education as a strategic tool. The superficiality
and indifference towards the open university system in the analysed documents may
come to mean that the policies and envisaged programmes are far away from any solid
theoretical background in how distance education may contribute to social inclusion
and the development of the society through higher education of masses.
This study is significant in the sense that there has been no prior research into discourses
of distance education in the Turkish context. Since discourse analysis in this work has
only been conducted on formal policy documents such as reports, further research
might be needed to unmask the hidden agendas of the governments regarding distance
higher education based on more informal data. The experiences and meanings of the
students as part of the open university system could also be investigated to see how their
discourses differentiate from the formal policy discourse.
Keywords: Distance Higher Education, Critical Discourse Analysis, Management of
Distance Higher Education