International Association of Educators   |  ISSN: 1949-4270   |  e-ISSN: 1949-4289

Volume 14 Issue 2 (June 2019)

Original Articles

An Investigation of the Effectiveness of the Gender Equality Course with a Specific Focus on Faculties of Education

Çetin Toraman & Fatmanur Özen

pp. 6 - 28   |  DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2019.201.1

Abstract

In 2015, the Turkish Council of Higher Education declared that the gender equality course would be compulsory or elective in the education programs of universities.  This decision is considered to play an important role in ensuring gender equality. The present study was conducted in a faculty of education in Turkey which includes gender equality in its education program as a compulsory-elective course.  The aim was to investigate the opinions of the students of the faculty of education on the effects of the course on their views on gender. The comparison of the data collected through the Gender Equality Scale before and after the course shows that the participants were, unexpectedly, more likely to develop the opinion that men are superior to women after the course. Whereas the course did not affect participants’ approaches to the opinion that women are dependent on men. Whether teachers' gender perspectives or views on gender equality affect classroom practices; it is envisaged that gender perception, which is shaped by most patriarchal and conservative patterns, will be transferred to future generations through education and will adversely affect the demand for equality in the future. After the findings of this study were discussed with similar research results and then in the application of gender equality in higher education institutions, it was tried to give an idea about the issues to be considered.  

Keywords: Gender, gender equality, gender course, faculty of education, students of faculty of education

Determine pre-service teachers’ burnout levels and anxiety of not to be appointed to teacher profession 

Gizem Engin

pp. 29 - 44   |  DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2019.201.2

Abstract

This study aims to determine the pre-service teachers’ burnout levels, their anxiety about not to be appointed to teacher profession, their academic achievements and the relation of these variables with each other. In accordance with this purpose, this study was designed according to correlational survey model. “It has been found that pre-service teachers’ burnout levels are moderate. It has been concluded that their emotional burnout levels are particularly high. While pre-service teachers’ depersonalization/cynicism levels are close to the average value, it has been seen that their burnout levels on the subject of academic proficiency are low and their anxiety about being not to be appointed to teacher profession is high. Most pre-service teachers’ fear levels on being not to be appointed are also high. Their personal perception level is average. Among the departments, there are differences in variables like burnout levels, anxiety about not being appointed to teacher profession and academic achievement. It has been found that academic average of group is 3,05 point and the grade point average differs between the departments. It has been concluded that burnout levels of those who choose their department willingly are lower than those who choose their department unwillingly. And also the first group’s grade point average is higher than the second group. Besides that, all pre-service teachers have anxiety about being not to be appointed.  When the correlation between pre-service teachers’ burnout levels, their anxiety about not being appointed to teacher profession and their grade point average have been examined, it has been found that there is a negative oriented moderate correlation between their grade point average and their burnout total points, and there is a positive oriented weak correlation between their burnout total points and their anxiety about not to be appointed as teachers.    

Keywords: burnout, teacher profession, being appointed to teacher profession

Value Literacy – A New Model for Education of Character and Values

Gürkan Ergen

pp. 45 - 75   |  DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2019.201.3

Abstract

Life without interaction and communication cannot exist, neither without choices. In communication, firstly every source and then every message has a value; likewise, every choice humans are to make each and every second is a result of an e‘value’tion. Because there exists no moment or field without ‘value’ and e‘value’tion, they end up in a numerous value exchanges and e‘value’tion processes occurring in numerous ways. Under all disagreements and conflicts lies the failure to perform a proper analysis of the value to be passed across in the exchange of value before us in particular and then this limitless value exchange process and the values governing our choices and the consequences thereof for ourselves and people around us. The primary concern of the present paper is to discuss the conceptualization of ‘value literacy’ as a learning model allowing for an analysis of this kind. This is an analytical study based on an exhaustive review of the literature related to literacy, values, and character education.  By allowing for the construction of relationships with an elevated awareness and sensitivity concerning the values underlying interpersonal relationships, 'Value literacy’ has a notable potential for the resolution of conflicts in these relationships and reasoning thereof worthy of human dignity and for its capacity to complete literacy types such as values education, character education, personality development, emotion management, ethics literacy.

Keywords: Education, Values, Value Literacy, Values Education, Character Education, Literacy

Recruiting for school improvement: the relationship between teacher-centric school quality factors and school improvement designations in Kentucky

Matthew Courtney

pp. 76 - 87   |  DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2019.201.4

Abstract

In 2018, Kentucky began the implementation of a new school accountability system. Like other states across the nation, Kentucky’s new system was designed to bring state policy into alignment with federal changes brought about by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. In addition to the creation of new school improvement labels, Kentucky’s system also reports on a variety of teacher-centric school quality factors. A statistical analysis was conducted to determine if a relationship exists between these school quality factors and the school’s improvement designation. The study found that schools identified as needing the greatest improvement (Comprehensive Support and Improvement [CSI]) are statistically more likely to have higher teacher turnover rates, higher percentages of new teachers, and employ teachers with lower rates of advanced education in the year prior to identification than their counterparts with either the Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) or Other designations. These findings should inform future policy making and elevate teacher recruitment and retention as a school improvement priority.

Keywords: school improvement, teacher recruitment, teacher retention

Exploring the relationship between teachers' locus of control with different variables

Bilgen Kıral

pp. 88 - 104   |  DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2019.201.5

Abstract

The research was conducted with 335 Anatolian high school teachers working in Aydın province during 2015-2016 academic year to investigate the relationship between teachers’ locus of control and different variables. "Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale" was used in the research which is one of the quantitative research methods.  The research findings showed that teachers mostly exhibited internal locus of control and this was followed by external and chance locus of control. There was no significant difference in the locus of control according to teachers’ gender, marital status, length of service at that school and love the profession. The teachers’ locus of control showed significant difference according to age, seniority, teaching specialty and socio-economic status of the school. Based on these findings, the research signified the important of aware raising activities to increase teachers’ internal locus of control and delivering practice-based training to teachers through the support of academics working in his field.

Keywords: Teacher, Anatolian high school, internal, external, chance, locus of control

A Comparative Analysis of the 2006 and 2018 Undergraduate Programs of Teaching Turkish

Funda Örge Yaşar

pp. 105 - 123   |  DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2019.201.6

Abstract

In efforts to revise the 1997, 2006 and 2009 Teacher Training Programs, the major focus was on the elementary education stage; there was no update of programs for secondary education except pedagogical knowledge courses. In the templates of Faculty of Education programs, no distinction was made between elementary and secondary education in the departmental code; hence attempts at revision were all generalized as undergraduate programs (YÖK-Higher Education Board, 2018: 10).

An important new program concerning teacher training, planned for implementation in the 2018-2019 academic year, is the Undergraduate Program of Teaching Turkish. The updated program consists of courses on Pedagogical Knowledge (33%), General Knowledge (18%) and Subject Knowledge (49%). The Updated Undergraduate Program has been supplemented with Pedagogical Knowledge courses and is thus much stronger. In the updated program, General Knowledge courses retain their prior dominance. Nevertheless, Subject Knowledge courses have been decreased in terms of total hours at theoretical and practical levels as well as in the number of credits (TPC) compared to the former Undergraduate Program. One of the positive amendments made in the updated program is expanding the “Teaching Practice” course over a longer time span. As a result, the program is compatible with the Turkish Language Education Program (grades 1-8) planned and implemented by the Turkish Ministry of Education and inclusive of elective courses as well as a pool of relevant elective courses. This study employed the qualitative research method of document analysis.

Keywords: 2006 Undergraduate Program of Teaching Turkish, 2018 Undergraduate Program of Teaching Turkish, Pedagogical Knowledge courses, General Knowledge courses, Subject Knowledge courses

The Strategies for Designing Activity Related to Listening/Following Skills and Assessment Rubric

Hülya Sönmez

pp. 124 - 154   |  DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2019.201.7

Abstract

This study deals with the experience of prospective teachers of Turkish in creating activities by using strategies suitable for verbal communication skills and designing an assessment tool to evaluate such activities. The aim of this study is to provide the participants with the necessary knowledge about activity designing strategies as well as to improve their proficiency as teachers to develop and use a suitable assessment tool so that the activities could be evaluated. The study has been carried out in accordance with the mixed research design in which the quantitative and qualitative data collecting processes are used together. The result of the review shows that the completed activity designing strategy and the rubric that evaluates the activities support the participants’ proficiency in designing the teaching process suitable for listening/following activities and help them during the teaching process. Based on those findings, it has been concluded that the information acquired during a systematical and planned listening/following process has a positive effect on prospective teachers’ skills to design a teaching process. 

Keywords: listening/following skills, strategy, rubric.