Pre-service teachers personal value orientations and attitudes toward the teaching profession in Turkey

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between pre-service teachers’ personal value orientations and their attitudes toward the teaching profession. The study was conducted with the participation of 612 students at DEU’s Buca Faculty of Education during the 2014/2015 academic year. Data were collected using the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) and the Attitudes toward the Teaching Profession Questionnaire (ATPQ). The main findings of the study are as follows: Personal value pre-service teachers’ professed the most was self-direction, followed by universalism, and thirdly security. Value was the attitude toward the teaching profession calculated the most by the same teachers. Additionally, a significant relationship was indicated between pre-service teachers’ personal value orientations and their attitudes toward the teaching profession. Pre-service teachers’ personal value orientations explained 17.4% of the variation in their attitudes toward the teaching profession. Key words: Schwartz’s value theory, personal value orientations, attitudes toward the teaching profession, pre-service teachers, students in the faculty of education.