Examination of reading habits of physical education and sports teachers

One of the most important needs of today, which is called the information age, is to acquire the habit of reading. Gaining the habit of reading also depends on a certain process, like our other acquired habits. We can provide people with reading behavior by offering the appropriate reading space and environment. In this sense, teachers are the people who will shape the attitudes and interests of the society towards reading, give them the habit of reading that they will benefit from throughout their lives, and follow it up. The aim of this study is to examine the reading habits of physical education and sports teacher candidates. In the study, explanatory sequential design, one of the mixed method designs, was used. The study group was determined as physical education teacher candidates studying at different universities in Turkey. The population of the research consists of physical education and sports teacher candidates studying at different universities, and the sample group consists of 738 (402 male, 336 female) teacher candidates selected on a voluntary basis. As a data collection tool in the research; "Attitude Scale towards Reading Habits" developed by Temizsiz (2004) was used. SPSS 22.0 program was used in the analysis of the data. After testing for normality and homogeneity, t-test was performed for independent groups in paired groups, and one-way analysis of variance and LSD post-hoc test correction was performed for variables with more than two groups. Values are presented as mean and standard deviation and analyzed at 0.05 significance level. In addition, the qualitative data obtained by applying a semi-structured interview form to the research group were analyzed by content analysis method. As a result of the research; it is seen that physical education teacher candidates have a positive attitude towards reading and women have a higher attitude than men. In terms of the class variable, it was observed that the pre-service teachers studying in the 3rd and 4th grades achieved higher scores than those studying in the 1st and 2nd grades, but there was no significant difference in terms of the academic GPA variable. It was determined that physical education teacher candidates who graduated from Anatolian high school had higher reading habits than those who graduated from other high school types. In terms of income, it was seen that families with a low socioeconomic level had higher results in the sub-dimension of love and habit, while families with a high socioeconomic level in other sub-dimensions had higher scores. It has been determined that individuals whose parents have a high frequency of reading books have higher scores from the scale compared to other individuals. In addition, when the frequency of reading books is examined, the results are evident against individuals who have never read a book. In addition, physical education and sports teacher candidates stated that they like to read books and that reading is beneficial. At the same time, they stated that reading provided them with new information, gained a different perspective and developed their imagination. Physical education and sports teacher candidates participating in the research; It has been seen that they read books because it provides fast reading skills and interpersonal communication skills. In addition, the research group stated that their teachers were the most effective in gaining the habit of reading books, and they stated that they spent their free time by reading books. In addition, the research group believed that the reading skill had a positive effect on their success in the exams. It has been concluded that it gives rapid comprehension skills, fast reading skills, improves the power of interpretation and improves vocabulary.