Examining of the relationship between levels of social intelligence and communication ski̇lls of prospective social studies teacher

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between social intelligence levels and commucation skills of preservice social studies teachers. In the framework of this study, the social intelligence levels and the communication skills of preservice social studies teachers have also been analysed according to certain variables. In the content of the study, the relational screening model, which is one of the descriptive survey models, has been used. Relational surveys aim to reveal the relationships between more than one variables and to obtain presumptions regarding cause and effect relationships. The population of the research includes preservice social studies teachers who receive education at Faculties of Education in Turkey. The sample of the survey consist of the third and fourth year students who study Social studies Teaching at Faculties of Education at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Uşak University, Afyon Kocatepe University and Aksaray University in the academic year of 2017-2018. The sample of the survey have been determined by means of convenience sampling. In the data collection for the survey, Communication Skills Scale (CSS) which has been developed by Korkut Owen and Bugay (2014); Tromso Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) which has been developed by Silvera, Marinussen and Dahl (2001) and adapted to Turkish by Doğan and Çetin (2009) and the personal information form which has been prepared by the researcher of this study have been used. The data obtained have been analysed on computer using statistical software package programs. In order to determine whether social intelligence and communication skills levels of preservice social studies teachers vary according to certain variables, the unpaired t-test, the one-way analysis variance (ANOVA), the Scheffe and Games- Howell test have been used. In order to reveal the relationship between social intelligence levels and communication skills of preservice social studies teachers, the Pearson product-moment correlation analysis has been used. As a result of the study, it has been found out that preservice social studies teachers demonstrate "high" communication skills, but "moderate" social intelligence. It has also been determined that there is a moderate, linear, positive and meaningful correlation between the communication skills and social intelligence levels of preservice social studies teachers. In addition to these, it has been observed that communication skills and social intelligence levels of preservice teachers differ to a meaningful extent according to factors such as gender, universities they attend and the number of books they read per month. On the other hand, their age, the high schools they studied at, their monthly income, their parents' educational background and their parents jobs, whether they work at a job or not have not caused any meaningful difference in the communication skills and social intelligence levels of preservice teachers. Keyword: Social Studies, Social İntelligence, Communication Skills.