Covid-19 Fears and Psychological Well-Being of Pre-service Music Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the Covid-19 fears and psychological well-being of students (n=123) at the Music Education Department of Bursa Uludağ University /Turkey in terms of some variables. Data were collected through a questionnaire that consists of the Student Demographic Information Form, the Fear of Covid-19 Scale and the Psychological Well-being Scale. Within the framework of the descriptive survey model, data were analyzed with the Mann Whitney U Test considering the students’ gender, the status of their own or a relative having had Covid-19, following the courses face-to-face or online, arrival at the department by public transport, taxi or private vehicle, and the income level change of the students or their families during the pandemic. As for the analysis of psychological well-being and Covid-19 fear regarding being with family, friends or being alone during the pandemic process and the frequency of coming to the department, Kruskal Wallis H was used. In the study, Covid-19 fears of music teacher candidates were found to be slightly below the middle and their psychological well-being mean scores were above the middle. Moreover, significant results in the psychological well-being of the music teacher candidates were obtained regarding accommodation (staying with family/ friends or alone) and arrival at the department (by public transportation, taxi or private vehicle). Results for other variables for which no significant results could be obtained were interpreted on the basis of their mean scores and suggestions were made in the light of the results