@article{article_1623308, title={Examination of Relationships Between Creative Thinking Dispositions, Psychological Flexibility and Self-Compassion Levels of Special Education Teacher Candidates}, journal={Ahmet Keleşoğlu Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi}, volume={7}, pages={133–146}, year={2025}, DOI={10.38151/akef.2025.154}, author={Özenli, Tuğba and Yakıcı, Hikmet Beyza}, keywords={Special Education, Creative Thinking Dispositions, Psychological Flexibility, Self-Compassion}, abstract={This study aims to examine the relationship between the creative thinking dispositions, psychological flexibility, and self-compassion levels of special education teacher candidates. This research was designed using a correlational model, one of the quantitative research methods. The study group was selected using criterion sampling and consisted of a total of 480 students, including 337 female (70.2%) and 143 male (29.8%) undergraduate students from the Special Education Department. Data were collected using the "Marmara Creative Thinking Dispositions Scale," the "Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II," the "Self-Compassion Scale," and a "Personal Information Form." Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis were used in data analysis. As a result of this research, it was concluded that the creative thinking dispositions of pre-service special education teachers did not differ significantly according to gender (t478=621, p>.05) and the creative thinking dispositions of pre-service special education teachers differed significantly according to grade level (F3-476 =9,845, <05). According to the results of the Tukey test, the scores of 1st-grade undergraduate students (x̄=100.28) are statistically significantly higher than the scores of 2nd-grade (x̄=93.83), 3rd-grade (x̄=91.50) and 4th grade (x̄=95.24) students. A statistically significant relationship was obtained between the creative thinking dispositions of pre-service special education teachers and their psychological flexibility (r=.233, p<.01) at a low level in a positive direction and with their self-compassion scores (r=.465, p<.01) at a moderate level in a positive direction. The results of this study show that it is important to increase the psychological flexibility and self-understanding levels of pre-service special education teachers to improve their creative thinking tendencies. In this direction, it is recommended to design training programs that contribute to the teacher training processes in the field of special education and support the creative thinking skills of the candidates.}, number={2}, publisher={Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi}, organization={TÜBİTAK Bilim İnsanı Destek Programları Başkanlığı (BİDEB)-2209-A Üniversite Öğrencileri Araştırma Projeleri Destekleme Programı}