The factors affecting the teaching skills of social studies teachers

In this study, the relationship between self-efficacy perceptions, self-confidence, attitudes towards teaching profession, and perceptions of school climate and support for teachers of Social Studies working in the middle schools is determined. 613 social studies teachers participate in this study. The research is conducted by using relational comparative survey method and causal comparison method. Self-efficacy, self-confidence, attitude toward teaching profession and school climate and support scales are used for data collection about social studies education. A pilot study is applied to 269 social studies teachers working in the city of Balıkesir. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is performed to verify the construct validity of the scales. Independent Samples T Test, and One Way Variance Analysis (ANOVA) are conducted to see comparison of variables, and correlation analysis and path analysis also are used to determine the relationship between the variables. As a result of this study, it is determined that Social Studies teachers have high level of self-efficacy, self-confidence, attitudes towards teaching profession and perception school climate and support. In addition, this study examined whetherthe teachers' self-efficacy, self-confidence, attitude and school climate and support levels differ from in terms of gender, seniority, the school they graduated from, type of educationin school, whether they teach different type of courses or not and weekly course load. According to correlation and path analysis results of this study, there is a relationship between teachers' self-efficacy, self-confidence, attitude, school climate and support variables and also these variables influence each other. Key Words: Teaching Skills, Self-Efficacy, Self-Confidence, Attitude, School Climate and Support