Investigation of social studies teacher candidates' attitudes towards teaching profession (Burdur and Isparta province example)

In this study, firstly, the metaphors that social studies teacher candidates identified with their professions were examined. The effective reasons for teacher candidates to choose their departments were investigated. Their anxieties and attitudes about the teaching profession and their opinions on the problem of appointment were included in the study. Purpose of the research; It is the determination of the metaphorical perceptions and attitudes towards the teaching profession of the first and fourth grade social studies teacher candidates studying at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University and Süleyman Demirel University (Isparta). The interview form created for this purpose was handed over to prospective teachers. The interview form used in the study consists of two parts. In the first part, there is a personal information form that measures university, gender, age, class level information. In the second part, a form consisting of a metaphor question and five open-ended questions was used. Qualitative research method was used in the research. The analysis of the data was analyzed with the descriptive analysis and content analysis technique, which are among the qualitative research data analysis techniques. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the metaphor question of the research. The metaphors examined with this method were collected in nine different categories and analyzed in detail. Five open-ended questions directed to the participants in the study were analyzed using descriptive analysis method. The answers given by the teacher candidates for each question were examined and divided into categories. The opinions divided into categories were examined in detail and the analysis of the data was provided. The result of the research was structured in line with the main themes determined according to the purpose of the research and the results obtained from the findings. According to the results obtained from the findings, all social studies teacher candidates in the study group emphasized the sacredness and importance of the teaching profession with the metaphors they identified. The majority of the pre-service teachers stated that they came to the department at their own will. It has been observed that the teacher candidates who come to the department voluntarily have more positive attitudes towards their profession. The majority of the pre-service teachers stated that their biggest concern about their profession is the problem of assignment. It was concluded that especially fourth grade teacher candidates had more negative attitudes towards their professions, while first grade teacher candidates had less negative attitudes towards their professions. While there were significant differences in terms of the class level variable, no significant differences were found in terms of the university variable.