Investigation of the relationship between pre-school teacher candidates' playfulness tendencies and perceptions of professional self-efficacy

In this study, the relationship between pre-school teacher candidates' playfulness tendencies and professional self-efficacy was examined. Along with this general purpose, pre-school teacher candidates' tendency towards playfulness and professional self-efficacy variables such as gender, grade level, mother's education level and father's education level were compared. In this respect, this research is a descriptive relational survey research. The research was conducted with 188 pre-school teacher candidates studying pre-school teaching at a university in the Western Black Sea. Frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Kolmogorow-Smirnov test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskall Wallis test were used to analyze the data in the study. In the study, it was concluded that pre-school teacher candidates have a high level of playfulness, there is a significant difference according to gender, but there is no significant difference according to the grade level variable and education level of parents. It was concluded that pre-school teacher candidates' professional self-efficacy levels are quite high, there is a significant difference according to the grade level variable, but there is no significant difference according to the gender variable. It was concluded that there is a positive relationship between pre-school teacher candidates' playfulness tendencies and professional self-efficacy perceptions.