Views of classroom teachers about student centered education implemantations

This study was conducted to explore the views of the classroom teachers at primary schools about student-centered education implementations. The study has been framed around phenomenology, one of the qualitative research methods. Eleven classroom teachers from five schools in Alanya, Antalya, who were selected based on convenience sampling method, participated in the study in 2017-2018 school year. Semi-structured interview was used as data collection tool in the study. Descriptive and content analysis were used to analyze the data collected through the semi-structured interviews. The results of the data analysis were explained under the following topics: classroom management process, preparation process for student centered education implementations, classroom teaching process, teachers' approach to students' problems, development of students; thinking skills, managing research tasks, benefits of student centered education to students, the effect of the implementation of student-centered education on teachers, and expectations of teachers from administrators. In this context, it was found that individual differences affect time management and there have been challenges in classroom management process. The participants expressed that students were active and their participation in lessons was high in student-centered education. The teachers reported that they designed various activities during class preparation stage. They also stated that they are in need of a diversity of materials in educational settings. The participants remarked that the paid attention to student level and subject matter content while preparing activities. The teachers pointed out that there is a need for changing the seating arrangements based on the activity content. Teachers stated that they set up group work and made effort to ensure the active contribution of students. It was also found that there is a need for students to notice individual differences. The findings of the study revealed that student problems influenced classroom management negatively. It was found that students were able to express themselves and their opinions were conferred upon solving problems, and classroom teachers let their students express their free thoughts. The results of the study suggested that thinking activities were used so that students could look at the phenomenon from different perspectives. It was also found that classroom teachers research tasks to improve students' entrepreneurship perceptions. The participants reported that they paid attention to what extent each student contributes to the research task while they work on it. It appears that the classroom teachers think that the student-centered teaching methods and techniques strengthen their communication with students. And they pointed out that the student-centered teaching methods and techniques helped them better get to know their students. The participants expressed that teachers need professional development in the process of implementing student-centered teaching methods and techniques. The findings showed that classroom teachers attend seminars, read books, and conduct research in order to increase their practice competence. The classroom teachers were found to be happy during practice stage and to develop themselves professionally. It appears that these teachers asked for materials support from the school administrations. The teachers expressed the need for some arrangements out of classroom settings in order to implement student-centered teaching methods and techniques. The teachers also highlighted that the classroom size should be reduced to better implement the student-centered education. The results of the study showed that classroom teachers are willing to implement student-centered education. It is important to acknowledge teachers' readiness for all stakeholders in consideration of utilizing the environments established for student-centered education.