Examining Prospective Teachers’ Conflict and Violence Awareness Levels by Some Variables

Yıl 2010, Cilt: 4 Sayı: 4, 601 - 615, 01.05.2010

Nurten Sargın

Öz

Background. Conflict is defined as a state of tenseness owing to the stress which impedes the physiological and psycho-social satisfaction (Eren, 2002), or as a challenge by an individual or a group to another one with behaviours or statements as a result of the conflict between their interests (Longaretti ve Wilson, 2006). Most of the daily problems contain interpersonal conflicts over various issues in schools, which may occur between children and parents, students and teachers, teachers and administrators or any two people or groups (Öğülmüş). Violence is also one of the basic problems in human life. WHO (2002) defines violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation." It is important to settle up conflicts before they turn into violence. In daily life or at school environment, the solution of conflicts vary according to the reactions of people to conflict, which depend on, to a great extent, their awareness and perception of conflict, their past learning, other people they take as a model, reactions of other people to conflict, their methods of solving the problem and the culture they live in. The culture forms the perception and standpoint of individuals towards life (Ömür,1998). Awareness is related with how well individuals sense what they are going through and how they experiencing it. It is not related with the memories they recall but the things they live at the current time (Acar, 2004). Being aware of conflict requires six necessary basic skills for its solution, namely tendency, orientation, perceptive and emotional communication, creative thinking, critical thinking and perceptive skills (Öğülmüş, 2001). Perception is a term given to the process by which the data sent by sense organs to the brain is organized, interpreted and made sense (Dökmen, 2001). Differences between people in the perception of the same stimulus may cause conflict and violence. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to examine the conflict and violence awareness levels of prospective teachers and to investigate whether the conflict and violence awareness levels of prospective teachers vary by gender, age and disciplines they study. Method. Survey method was used in the study. The study group is consisted of Ahmet Keleşoğlu Education Faculty students at Selçuk University in 2009-2010. They were chosen with stratified sampling method. 99 students from verbal disciplines, 100 students from numerical ones, 100 students from verbal-numerical, 100 from special talents and 100 from language departments, totally 500 students, between 18-27 years old, took part in the study. 338 of the participants were girls and 168 of them were boys. The Scale of Conflict and Violence Awareness (SCVA) was adapted from “School Conflict Management Resource Guide” of Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management (2002). The SCVA is designed as a 27 item scale; (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) somewhat agree, (4) agree, and (5) strongly agree). Scores range between 27 and 135. The higher points obtained from the addition of the items in the scale indicates that the individual has a higher level of conflict and violence awareness. Factor analysis produced a single structure factor with a minimum factor loading of .332 (KMO = .81; Barlett's=1675.82, df:378.00, p<.00). Data were analyzed by using t-test and one-way ANOVA, and post-hoc comparisons were performed by Tukey's HSD test. Findings and discussion. In scale ranging from 27 to 135, prospective teachers mean score 102.81 indicates a relatively high level of conflict and violence awareness. No significant differences were observed in of conflict and violence awareness scores by gender. However, significant differences were found in of conflict and violence awareness scores both by discipline of study and by age cohorts of prospective teachers. Student enrolled in academic programs oriented towards mathematical subjects scored the lowest on the scale as compared to students enrolled in social or verbal subject areas. In the evaluation of the findings, no significant difference was found in the participants' conflict and violence awareness levels in terms of their gender. As for the age variable, it was found that the conflict and violence awareness levels of 18-20 year-old prospective teachers was lower than those of 21-25 year-old ones. As a result of the study, no significant difference was found in the participants' conflict and violence awareness levels in terms of their gender. This finding is in parallel with those of Champion (1979), Revilla (1984), Duser (2002), Paglia (2003) and Bozoğlan (2010). According to the departments of the participants, the conflict and violence awareness levels of prospective teachers at verbal departments were higher than those at numerical ones, which is also in parallel with the findings of Bozoğlan (2010). In order for the conflicts to be solved with constructive methods, it is necessary to determine the conflict and violence awareness levels of individuals because the unnoticed and misinterpreted conflict and violence states are likely to occur, increase and lead to unwanted results. These findings suggest that there is need for designing conflict and violence awareness interventions or programs for students enrolled in academic programs oriented towards mathematical subjects as well as the need for early intervention in teacher training programs, as the age cohort of 18-20 reportedly demonstrated lower level of conflict and violence awareness.

Anahtar Kelimeler

conflict awareness , violence awareness , conflict management , teacher training.

Öğretmen Adaylarının Çatışma ve Şiddete İlişkin Farkındalık Düzeylerinin Çeşitli Değişkenlere Göre İncelenmesi

Öz

Bu çalışma ile öğretmen adaylarının çatışma ve şiddete ilişkin farkındalık düzeyleri; cinsiyet, öğrenim gördükleri alan ve yaş değişkenlerine göre incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın amacı; öğretmen adaylarının çatışma ve şiddete ilişkin farkındalık düzeylerinin cinsiyet, öğrenim gördükleri alan ve yaşlarına göre farklılaşıp, farklılaşmadığını belirlemektir. Araştırmada betimsel tarama yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu 2009–2010 öğretim yıllarında öğrenim gören Selçuk Üniversitesi Ahmet Keleşoğlu Eğitim Fakültesinde öğrenim gören 499 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Katılımcıların 331'si kız, 168'i erkektir. Veri toplama araçları olarak kişisel bilgi formu, Ohio Eğitim Bölümü ve Ohio Çatışma Çözüm ve Çatışma Yönetimi Komisyonu tarafından form olarak geliştirilen ve araştırmacı tarafından geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması yapılan çatışma ve şiddete ilişkin farkındalık ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Araştırma bulgularında sözel alandaki öğretmen adaylarının sayısal alandaki öğretmen adaylarına göre, 21–25 yaş arasındaki öğretmen adaylarının 18-20 yaşındakilere göre çatışma ve şiddet farkındalık düzeyleri daha yüksek bulunmuştur. Cinsiyetlerine göre çatışma ve şiddet farkındalık düzeyleri arasında anlamlı bir fark bulunmamıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

çatışma arkındalığı , şiddet farkındalığı , çatışma yönetimi , öğretmen yetiştirme.

Kaynakça

• Acar, N. V. (2004). Ne kadar farkındayım: Gestalt terapi (2. Baskı). Ankara: Babil Yayınevi.
• Bozoğlan, B. (2010). Balkan ülkeleri üniversite öğrencilerinin çatışma ve şiddete ilişkin farkındalık düzeyleri ve çatışma çözme stilleri.. Yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Selçuk Üniversitesi.
• Champion, D. (1979). Comparison of men and women managers of prefernces for organizational conflict management.. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Florida State University..
• Dökmen, Ü. (2001). İletişim çatışmaları ve empati. İstanbul: Sistem Yayınları
• Eren, E. (2000). Örgütsel davranış ve yönetim psikolojisi. İstanbul: Beta Basım Yayım Dağıtım A.Ş.
• Gümüşeli, A. İ. (1994). İzmir ili ortaöğretim okulları yöneticilerinin çatışmayı yönetme biçimleri. Yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Ankara Üniversitesi.
• Kapıcıoğlu, İ. (2008). Üniversite öğrencilerinin şiddet algısı. Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Selçuk Üniversitesi..
• Karataş, S. (2007). Afyonkarahisar ili merkez ilköğretim okullarında görev yapan sınıf ve branş öğretmenlerinin kurum içi çatışmaları yönetim biçemine ilişkin görüşleri. Bilim Eğitim Düşünce Dergisi, 7 (2).
• Karip, E. (2000). Çatışma yönetimi. Ankara: Pegem A Yayıncılık.
• Kline, P. (1994). An easy guide to factor analysis. New York: Routledge.
• Köknel, Ö. (2000). Bireysel ve toplumsal şiddet. İstanbul: Altın Kitapları Yayınevi.
• Longretti, L., Wilson, J. (2006) The impact of perception on conflict management. Educational Research Quarterly; 29 (4), 3.
• Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management (2002). School conflict management resource guide for grades 7-12. Ohio: State Board of Education.
• Opotow, S.V. (1991). Adolescent peer conflict: Implications for students and for schools. Educational and Urban Society, 23(4), 16-441.
• Öğülmüş, S. (2001). Kişiler arası sorun çözme becerileri eğitimi. Ankara: Nobel Yayınları.
• Ömür, S. (1998). Çatışma yönetiminde uluslar arası kültürel farklılıkların etkisi ve bir anket çalışması. YayınlanmamışYüksek Lisans Tezi, Anadolu Üniversitesi.
• Paglia, A. & Adlaf, E. M. (2003). Secular trends in self-reported violent activity among ontario students, 1983-2001. Canadian Journal of Public Health (ProQuest Health and Medical Complete), 94, 3.
• Revilla, V. M. (1984). Conflict management styles of men and women adninistartors in higher education.. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. USA: University of Pitsburgh.
• Sargın, N. , Tor, H. , Bozoğlan, B. & Köroğlu, M. (2008). A study related to teacher candıdates’ conflıct resolutıon methods. Bulletin,Educational Sciences Series. Petroleum-Gas university of Ploieşti, Vol.LX,2,76-82..
• Schrumpf, F., Crawford, D. K. & Bodine, R. J. (1991). Peer mediation, conflict resolution in schools, program guide. (Çeviren Akbalık, G. F., 2007). Okulda Çatışma Çözme ve Akran Arabuluculuk. İstanbul: İmge Kitabevi.
• Stevahn, L., Munger, L. & Kealey, K. (2005). Conflict resolution in a French immersion elementary school. Journal ofEducational Research, 99 (1), 3-18.
• Taştan, N. (2006). Çatışma çözme eğitimi ve akran arabuluculuğu. In Uğur Öner (Ed.). Ankara: Nobel Yayınları.
• Tor, H., Sargın, N. (2007). İlköğretim okullarının II. kademesinde okuyan öğrencilerin şiddetle karşı karşıya kalma durumları ve şiddete ilişkin görüşleri. Selçuk Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 24, 305-328.
• Türnüklü, A. (2006). Sınıf ve okul disiplinine çağdaş bir yaklaşım onarıcı disiplin: okullarda yaşanan kişiler arası çatışmaları yapıcı ve barışçıl olarak yönetmek için çağdaş bir yaklaşım. Ankara: Ekinoks.
• Welt, E. S., (2000). Conflict management styles of middel school principals compared to comprehensive high school principal..Unpublished Dissertation of Doctorate, University of La Verne.
• WHO. (2002). Injuries and violence prevention, Youth Violence.