Journal of Divinity Faculty of Hitit University

The institutions that have the most important function after the family in transferring values to individuals are schools. Education is not only cognitive; it is an entire system that should be realized socially, emotionally and psychomotor. For Imam Hatip Secondary Schools (IHSS), it is possible to say that it is a unique experience for Turkey, whose roots go back to the last periods of the Ottoman State, combining social and physical sciences with the Islamic sciences in the same curriculum. This research is aimed to determine the situation of students about material values and social responsibilities in the globalizing world of today, where materialism comes to the fore and the culture of individual living has become widespread. It is especially important to determine the situation of students of Imam Hatip schools, due to the reason that they have courses of national-spiritual values in their curricula and have a unique climate. In particular, it is significant to identify the tendencies of young people who are under the intense influence of the environment and media towards material values and to determine whether they are aware of their social and global responsibilities.
The research was carried out in 2020 with the participation of 733 students studying at 11 IHSS in Istanbul. "Material Values Scale" and "Social Responsibility Scale" were used in the research conducted by quantitative method. One of the scales used in this study is the “Material Values Scale” developed by Opree and others in 2011 and adapted to Turkish in 2013 by Ahmet Akın and others. Cronbach's alpha values vary between .90 for the total scale of material values and .84 to .86 for its sub-dimensions. The other is the “Social Responsibility Scale” developed by Önder Eryılmaz and Handan Deveci in 2019 to measure the social responsibility levels of secondary school students. Cronbach alpha values for the entire social responsibility scale are .83, and ranges from .53 to .74 for its sub-dimensions.
It has been determined that the relationship between the social responsibility perceptions the material value perceptions of the students, which is the main subject of the study, is negative and significant. This result is compatible with previous studies and according to it, it can be said that individuals with high perception of material values are more self-centered, far from adapting to society and acting together, their social-environmental sensibilities and benevolence behaviors are lacking, and as a result, their social responsibility perception is lower.
In the study, it is determined that male students tend to act together more than girls do, and the material income variable does not affect the material value and the social responsibility perception of the students. It is determined that the variable of the grade level makes a significant difference in the perceptions of material values of IHSS students. It is seen that the perception of material values of the 8th grade students is significantly lower than other grades. In previous studies, it is stated that students of secondary school age attribute a social meaning to material values and have a higher perception of material value than their minors have. However, it can be said that the low perception of material value as the grade level rises in this research is the result of the education, school climate and culture in IHSS. It is determined that the variable of grade level makes a significant difference in the social responsibility perceptions of IHSS students. It has been determined that 5th grade students have a significantly higher perception in terms of philanthropy, acting together and environmental sensitivity. In addition, it is observed that the perception of social responsibility decreases significantly as the grade level increases. In addition, having less technological tools, following the world agenda and participating in a social responsibility project decrease the perception of material value of the students and increase their social responsibility values. According to the results of this research, we can make the following suggestions:
More projects can be implemented to increase social responsibility values in schools. Seminars, trips, competitions, etc. where students can have a better understanding on what is going on a national, regional and global basis can be organized. Similar to this, the research can be applied in other secondary schools, high schools and other regions. Qualitative studies can be conducted to determine the reasons for some of the results in this study.