Examining trainee teachers' attitudes towards teaching profession: Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University case

Abstract

The present study both investigates the attitudes of teacher trainees towards teaching profession and the relationship between students' attitudes and the graduated school. A mixed design was employed. 118 students from the ELT Department of a state university constitute the research group. The data were collected by means of open-ended questions and an attitude scale. The data analyses revealed that majority of the students possess positive attitudes towards teaching profession. The qualitative data analyses showed that female students had more positive attitudes than the males did. When the attitude differences of students according to school graduation were examined, no significant differences were found among groups. It is necessary that the curriculum of Anatolian Teacher Training High Schools should be redesigned and the Ministry of Education and policy makers should take some measures and develop new teaching policies, and provide additional opportunities to develop consciousness on teaching profession. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.