Primary school teacher's self-efficacy beliefs related to being able to arrange excursions and their opinions regarding the out-of-school learning within the context of life science lesson

The Life Science Lesson at primary schools refers to the course which aims to have the first, second and third grade primary school kids gain the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and habits that are necessary in order for them to accommodate themselves in the social environment. When the Life Science Lesson teaching programs are analyzed, it is understood that out-of-school environments should be taken into account while planning to teach skills to the kids. It is well known that teachers' self-efficacy beliefs matter in terms of utilizing out-of-school environments as learning environments. Additionally, teachers' opinions (what they think about it, benefits, limitations, etc.) related to out-of-school learning can be thought to play a key role for them to use the out-of-school environments. This study intends to determine primary school teachers' self-efficacy belief levels in terms of being able to arrange excursions to the out-of-school learning environments by using various variables, and to reveal the primary school teachers' thoughts related to out-of-school learning within the context of Life Science Lesson. The data used in this study, which is designed in mixed method, have been obtained with both quantitative and qualitative methods. In the quantitative dimension of the study, a cross-sectional survey method has been used and the data were collected from "Self-Efficacy Belief Scale for Organizing Educational Excursions to the Out-of-School Environments" and the sample comprise 324 primary school teachers. In the qualitative dimension, the case study method was used and the data were collected through focal group discussion. 20 primary school teachers attended the focal group discussions, which were organized in four sessions. The data were analyzed with SPSS and MAXQDA. The results of the study show that primary school teachers' beliefs related to being able to arrange educational excursions to out-of-school environments are significantly high. Analysis of the results also indicates that self-efficacy beliefs of primary school teachers do not differ depending on gender, class level at school (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades), the faculty and the department that they graduated from, while teachers' beliefs related to being able to arrange educational excursions to the out-of-school learning environments differ depending on the year of seniority at teaching. Qualitative analysis shows that a great majority of primary school teachers relate the out-of-school environments to the six units in the 2018 Life Science Lesson Teaching Program. Among the out-of-school environments that they said they visit are public and private organizations (library, home for the aged, dam, orphanage), sport activities (swimming, walking, tennis, races, basketball), park, garden, cinema, theatre, market places, historical sites, cultural centers, restaurants, zoos, post offices, mosques, traffic places, centers for family life, villages, fire stations, shelters, disaster and emergency management departments, hospitals, book fair, family visits, community health centers and natural environments. They expressed that out-of-school learning environments should be chosen carefully considering appropriateness for the achievements, transportation opportunities, financial aspects, appropriateness for the kids, safety and security. It is also found that they are fully competent in all steps of implementation in terms of using out-of school learning environments and they can prepare concordant activities before, during and after the activities. They also expressed that out-of-school learning environments offer concrete learning, improve kids' personal characteristics, eliminate uniformity and monotony, facilitate the things for teachers and improve retaining by offering a great observation opportunity. In terms of out-of-school learning environments, the teachers also complained that opportunities are limited, they are difficult to afford and there are some bureaucratic prohibitions.