Investigation of the compassion value level of primary school students based on the opinions of teachers and parents

The objective of the study is to determine the level of primary school students' compassion value by their teachers and parents. The study has the characteristics of a descriptive and quantitative study. In this research, survey model was used. The population of the study consists of class teachers working in public primary schools in the central district of Şanlıurfa province in the 2021-2022 academic year and parents of the students whose children are studying in these schools. Purposive sampling method was used in the research, sampling was performed by group determination. A total of 300 classroom teachers (161 female and 139 male) and a total of 308 parents (186 female and 122 male) whose children are studying in 6 different public schools comprised the sample group of the study. The research data were collected with Personal Information Form and Compassion Level Determination Scale Form (CLDS). CLDS form, developed by the researcher after validity and reliability analysis were performed, is a single-factor and has 34-items. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Arithmetic mean (x), standard deviation (sd), independent sample t-test, one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), correlation, and Scheffe test analyzes were used to evaluate the data. According to the findings obtained from the research data, classroom teachers and parents evaluated the compassion levels of primary school students as "good". No significant correlation was observed between teacher and parent evaluations. In addition, it was observed that the teachers' evaluations do not differ significantly based on their administrative status. On the other hand, male teachers compared to females, primary school teachers compared to other braches teachers, people who received training about "Values education" compared to not receive the training, evaluated students' compassion levels more positively with significant correlation. There is a significant and negative relationship between teachers professional seniority and their evaluations. However, there is no meaningful relationship according to the grade levels they teach. It was observed that the evaluations made by the parents about their children's compassion levels did not differ significantly according to their gender, their children's grade level, educational status and profession, but significant negative relationship was observed based on number of children. The evaluations of parents who has only one child are more positive. These results were discussed in the light of the literature and suggestions were made. In this context, it was observed that the studies about primary school students' compassion level was limited in the literature. There is a need for more research about the article considering different sample groups. Necessary steps should be taken to train teachers more adequately about value education in general and compassion education in particular before their professional life and during their professional life. In this regard, the motivation level of teachers should be increased. People who received training on values education are more positive than those who did not receive the training.