Education is constantly changing and evolving. Often this is dependent on social development. Many factors can affect education within a society; such as, economics, politics, and technological advancments. Also, changes to educational programs, access to teaching resources, transportation logistics, and school disciplinary methods can be crictical factors. As a result, intergenerational differences in education can develop. In other words, there is evidence of differences in the education experienced by students going to today’s schools and that experienced by their parents who attended in the past. Examination of the differences between the education gained by children today versus the education their families received is thought to be important since it demonstrates how social development can affect education.

Comparison of the education received by children and their families is important in terms of social improvement. According to Aslankurt (2013), in order to characterize social change and growth as being effective, the education of new generations should be superior to the education that was received by older generations. However, results that have emerged in some studies are quite thought provoking. In the Phi Delta Kappa / Gallup study, 48% of the participants stated that today's high school and higher education are even worse (Schlechty, 2001). According to Rose and Gallup (1990), American children's opinions regarding the education they receive change according to their families’ economic status. Children who benefited the most from schools and had high levels of socio-economic status in the past believe that schools now are worse while the children who benefited less from the schools and had low socio-economic status believe that current education is better.

The quality of education students receive in Turkey is closely related to the educational level of their parents. Families with a higher level of education provide more educational opportunities for their children in addition to what they already receive in school. While families with low levels of education most often are only able to send their children to school. At this point, it can be said that nowadays access to school is easier. However, this increased access to schools cannot be seen as a sign of students receiving a quality education. Because access to the school and access to education do not carry the same meaning (Aslanturk, 2013). Access to school can only provide literacy for a child. While access to education is determined by the nature of the information gained by the individuals. To Schlechty (2001), this situation is related to "functional literacy". Many adults are not functionally literate and they show reading skills in line with meeting only their basic daily needs. They have only learned sounding and reading letters., Turkey is among the lowest countries according to OECD reports (2009).

In studies that compared the education received by family members during different 10-year periods,  it was recognized that differences in the levels of participation of parents in their children’s education did occur based on the time when the parent had received their education (Li, 2006). In Norway, years of continued improvements to their quality of education has ultimately created differences in the level of education among generations. As a result, there is a disparity between parents and their children regarding the education they received in terms of practices and methods, as well as, in other respects (Aakvik, Salvanes, and  Vaage, 2005). In order to reveal intergenerational differences in education researchers conducted preliminary research and recognized participants noted that the quality of education has decreased each year.  

The aim of this study is to uncover intergenerational differences and issues of education in Turkey as well as explain how these developments affect education.

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