THE PROSPECTIVE TEACHER’ OPINIONS RELATING REFLECTIVE THINKING SKILLS

Year 2013, Volume: 34 Issue: 34, 169 - 131, 01.06.2013

Mithat Aydın Türkan Çelik

https://doi.org/10.9779/PUJE611

Cited By: 14

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the prospective teachers’ opinions relating reflective thinking skills in terms of sex, education, grade, socio-economic condition of family and parent’s educational status. The universe of research is formed by the sophomore and junior prospective teachers from Social Sciences Teaching (2011-2012 academic years) in Education Faculty in Pamukkale University. This study was conducted on totally 188 prospective teachers by using ratio group sampling method because of impossibility to reach all population. SPSS for Windows 16.00 (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences) was used in data analysis. In the study, the reflective thinking scale designed by Güney (2008) was applied and Cronbach Alpha coefficient reliability was found as 0.94. Mann Whitney U Test and Kruskal Wallis analysis from descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests were used in the evaluation of quantitative data obtained from questionnaire. As the findings suggest, the prospective teachers’ opinions relating reflective thinking skills are in the form of ‘I entirely agree.’ While it was found a significant difference between their opinions relating reflective thinking skills and sex variability, there was no significant difference between their opinions relating reflective skills and other variabilities (education, grade, socio-economic condition of family and parent’s educational status).

Keywords

the prospective teacher in Social Sciences teaching, reflective thinking.

Sosyal Bilgiler Öğretmen Adaylarının Yansıtıcı Düşünme Becerilerinin Bazı Değişkenler Açısından İncelenmesi

Abstract

Bu araştırmanın amacı, Sosyal bilgiler öğretmen adaylarının yansıtıcı düşünme becerilerine ilişkin görüşlerini cinsiyet, öğrenim türü, sınıf düzeyi, ailenin sosyo-ekonomik durumu, anne eğitim durumu ve baba eğitim durumu açısından değerlendirmektir. Araştırmanın evrenini 2011â€"2012 eğitim öğretim yılında Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi 2. ve 3. sınıfta öğrenim gören Sosyal Bilgiler öğretmen adayları oluşturmaktadır. Evrenin tamamına ulaşmak mümkün olmadığından Sosyal Bilgiler öğretmen adayları oranlı küme örnekleme yöntemiyle seçilmiştir. Örnekleme 188 Sosyal Bilgiler öğretmen adayı alınmıştır. Verilerin çözümlenmesinde “SPSS For Windows 16.00 (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences)” paket programı kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada, Güney (2008) tarafından geliştirilen “Yansıtıcı düşünme ölçeği” uygulanmıştır. Uygulama sonucunda elde edilen Cronbach's Alpha güvenirlik katsayısı r= 0, 94 bulunmuştur. Ankette elde edilen nicel verilerin değerlendirilmesinde betimsel istatistik ve nonparametrik testlerden Mann Whitney U testi ve Kruskal Wallis analizi kullanılmıştır. Bu araştırmada şu sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır: Sosyal Bilgiler öğretmen adaylarının yansıtıcı düşünme becerilerine ilişkin görüşleri “Tamamen katılıyorum” şeklindedir. Sosyal Bilgiler öğretmen adaylarının yansıtıcı düşünme becerilerine ilişkin görüşlerinde cinsiyet değişkenine göre anlamlı fark bulunurken; öğrenim türü, sınıf düzeyi, ailenin sosyo ekonomik durumu, anne eğitim ve baba eğitim durumu değişkenlerine göre anlamlı fark bulunmamıştır.

Keywords

Sosyal bilgiler öğretmen adayı, yansıtıcı düşünme.

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• Today education of qualified teachers has entailed more careful consideration of modern teaching methods, techniques and strategies as well as conducting research and transferring resarch findings into real life. In our country a constructivist approach to education is applied and teachers are expected to develop a number of related qualifications. One of the most important qualifications of these is teachers’ reflective thinking skills. When the the education of “effective citizenship” is considered as a major mission of Social Studies, it is inevitable for the Social Studies teachers to self-reflect on their own practice as part of educational ethics along the education-traning process. With the emergence of constructivist approach, there have been attempts to apply “reflective thinking” that enables teachers to reflect on their own practice. Reflective thinking being one of the effective educational methods and techniques is effective, continous and careful thinking of information that enables reaching any sort of information or its targeted results; emergence of doubt, confusion and mental difficulty that starts thinking; and a search that attempts to find out a solution to solve, sort out and avoid confusion (Dewey,1933: 185). Reflective thinking that starts with a doubt requires a continous search process that would sort out such a doubt and also requires individuals by Güney (2008) was used. Cronbach’s Alpha reliability co-efficiency was found as r= 0, 94.
• Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests as descriptive non-parametric tests were used in order to analyse data collected. Findings “I do not create an intimate relationship with my students” and “I do not give importance to students’ level” received the highest values ( X =4,57) “strongly disagree)” among the items related to reflective teaching categories. This may show that Social Studies student teachers had very positive views of reflective teaching. The item ”I do not use either reward or punishment” recieved the lowest value ( X =4,11) “I do not agree”) among Social Studies student teachers. Study findings obtained in line with the research questions show a significant difference among Social Studies student teachers in terms of gender as to reflective thinking skills (p (0,007)<0,05). When the mean ranks were analysed in order to determine which gender group had positive views, female student teachers were seen to have a higher mean rank (X s0= 105,13) than that of male student teachers (X s0= 83,89). There was no significant difference in terms of students’ education background (p=0,53), class level, (p=0,84), socio-economic status of families (p=0,24), education level of mother (p=0,39) and education level of father (p=0,56). Results and Discussion In this study “I strongly agree” category of reflective thining skills received the highest value among Social Studies student teachers. On the other hand when such a finding was analysed in relation to student teachers’ gender, socio-economic level, education level of mother, education level of father, and class level, female student teachers had more positive values when compared with those of males. There was therefore no significant difference in terms of all these variables except for the gender variable. This study may indicate that reflective thinking skills had nothing to do with such variables as student teachers’ socioeconomic level of family, education level of mother, education level of father, and class level. This study may also show that reflective thinking skills do not depend upon such research variables. However, the fact that these student teachers had high levels of reflective teaching skills may indicate the possible effect of other courses on their reflective thinking skills since such courses they recieve in their second and third years as Teaching Methods and Principles, Special Teaching Methods, Class Management, Teaching Methodologies and Materails Design can facilitate reflective thinking skills of student teachers.