Factors that influence the primary school eighth grade students? orientation to general and vocational secondary schools (sample of Çanakkale)

This research is a descriptive study scan examining to what extend inner and outer factors determine the general and vocational orientation choices of primary school eighth grade students in the Turkish Education System.The research has been limited with primary school eighth grade students. It is aimed to present the competencies and deficiencies of the individual during the process of high school orientation according to his/her tendencies. The questionnaire developed by the researcher in order to reach the determined aim has been administered to 300 students. The questionnaire is consisted of eight questions about personal details in the first section and 44 diagnostic questions determining the factors that are effective on the students? choices of orientation in the second section. Frequencies, percentage and arithmetic mean related to the personal details in the first section are presented. The quantity of each diagnostic question in the second section has been presented in means tables. SPSS 13.0 Programme, t-test, one way ANOVA and LSD test have been used in this study. p= 0,05 level is in significance tests.After the data collection, the diagnostic questions are shaped, charted and interpreted according to the sub aims determined previously. According to the findings the factors of family, school, psychological and sociological needs and professional guidance organization are found to be more effective than others factors on the general and vocational secondary schools choices of students.As a result, the findings of the research have been evaluated and some suggestions related to the results are made.Key Words: Vocational choice, vocational guidance, orientation, general and vocational education.