RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY BASED ON THE VIEWS OF PRE-SERVICE SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS

Abstract

One of the objectives of the social studies course is to train active and democratic citizens, who could tolerate differences. The aim of the present study was to determine the concept of respect for diversity based on the views of pre-service social science teachers and to reveal the cases where there is and there is no respect for diversity. The study was conducted at Firat University, Faculty of Education during the 2018-2019 academic year spring semester. The case study method, a qualitative research design, was used in the study. Convenience sampling method, a purposive sampling method, was also utilized. The study group included 21 pre-service social studies teachers. In the study, the data were collected with a semi-structured interview form and analyzed with the descriptive analysis technique. Based on the study findings, pre-service teachers stated that there was no respect for diversity in religion, ancestry, lifestyle and several other issues. According to the pre-service teachers, the reasons for the lack of respect for diversity were bias, a desire to consider others as inequal, gender differences, ignorance and lack of empathy, and traditional social structure. They defined respect for diversity as respect for differences in religion, language, and race. Article visualizations: