Turning Social Problems Determined by Pre-service Teachers into Course Content in Primary Education

Ahu Taneri

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.9n.2p.151

Abstract

In the present study, after 109 pre-service teachers had completed at least one of the teaching practice or teaching practicum courses, their styles of identifying social problems and adapting social problems into lesson contents were examined. The pre-service teachers’ perceptions of social problems, the values they want to teach while transforming social problems into course content, key competencies, and the teaching method and techniques they prefer to use were analyzed. In addition, the grade levels and primary school lessons at which they intended to teach social problems were also examined. As a result, it was concluded that the pre-service teachers were able to handle social problems within national and international contexts and turn them into course contents.

Highlights

Professional development of teacher educators is receiving increasing attention globally (Maaranen et al, 2019)
In order to find an answer to the first research question (What are the pre-service teachers’ perceptions of social problems?), the pre-service teachers were asked to define the social problem
It was found that the school subject and the grade level in which the pre-service teachers would like to teach social problems the most are social studies course and 4th grade, respectively and that they associated social problems with social and civic competencies to the greatest extent; the findings of the current study can be argued to be consistent in itself

Summary

Introduction

Professional development of teacher educators is receiving increasing attention globally (Maaranen et al, 2019). In order to increase the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs, emphasis has been placed on which preparation features are associated with better teaching quality within and between programs (Ronfeldt et al, 2020). Teacher educators around the world are looking for new ways to bridge the gap between theory and practice (Hennissen et al, 2017). Hamodi et al (2017) found that teachers used their experiences they had gained during their undergraduate education in their professional practices. This and many other studies should encourage universities and academics to increase the areas where teachers can gain more experience during their undergraduate period. Preservice preparations of pre-service teachers should be considered and evaluated more in-depth

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion