Examination of prospective teachers' educational beliefs and attitudes towards educational history

Abstract

The aim of this research is to reveal the educational beliefs of prospective teachers and their attitudes towards the History of Education course and the relationship between them. This research aimed to determine the opinions of prospective teachers about their future profession and to make suggestions about teacher training. The research was designed in the survey model and the relational survey model was used to determine the relationship between the variables. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 453 teacher candidates, 90 of whom were male and 363 were female. The data of the research were collected by using the "Educational Beliefs Scale" and "Attitude Scale Towards Turkish Education History Course". The data were analyzed with computer package programs. In line with the educational beliefs scale used in the research, it was revealed that the educational beliefs of the teacher candidates were 'Existentialism', 'Progressivism', 'Perennialism', 'Reconstructionism' and 'Essentialism', respectively. According to the data obtained from the scale of attitude towards education history, it was concluded that prospective teachers’ attitudes towards education history are high. Finally, it was concluded that there is a moderate, positive, and significant relationship between the educational beliefs of the prospective teachers and their attitudes towards Education History.