TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF PRE-SERVICE EARLY YEARS TEACHERS: INSIGHTS FROM A GREEK HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

This study aimed to investigate the transformative learning experiences of university students, namely pre-service teachers from an Early Years University Department in Greece. A total of 127 students were involved. The data were collected by using the Learning Activities Survey (L.A.S.). The questionnaire is divided into four parts, consisting of closed and two open-ended questions (King, 2009). The basic research questions were: (a) What stages of perspective transformation students went through during their studies, (b) What educational experiences and what personal events that experienced during their studies contributed to their perspective transformation, and (c) What elements related to students’ participation-presence at school contributed to change. It was noticed that critical reflection on assumptions, the third most important precursor step in fostering transformative learning, was one of the less common stages that students went through along with self-examination. Only 4 students went through all the stages of perspective transformation as described by Mezirow (2012). However, certain patterns of transformative learning experience were identified. The respondents were found to face disorienting dilemmas causing their awareness to be raised in terms of: (a) Previously held values, beliefs, points of view or expectations regarding children (b) Their role as early years practitioners and its impact on children, (c) The need to exceed taken for granted ideas and obsolete pedagogical perceptions and (d) The importance of self-awareness, personal growth, and empowerment. It was shown that specific educational/learning activities, especially those engaging their experience, their active participation, mutual understanding, support (between classmates or classmates and teacher) and cooperation as well as exercising theory in practice, triggered perspective transformation. These findings imply the need for cultivating a higher education learning environment that supports the practicing of strategies and the development of skills that can help learner’s transformation and promote a more sustainable, socially-just and fulfilling world. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0946/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

RETHINKING ADULT EDUCATION IN TURKEY: THE PROPOSAL OF AEP MODEL

In this study, it is aimed to examine adult education policies in Turkey based on the views of managers, teachers, qualified instructors and trainees and to present a conceptual model for a future-based adult education system. The study is a case study and has the single nested case study design. Adult education policies in Turkey, which is the single case of the study; is considered in the dimensions of policy and strategy, organizational structure and implementation. By using semi-structured interview technique in the study, data on the features of a future-based adult education system were collected from a total of 32 managers, teachers, qualified instructors and trainees who played a role in the adult education system in Turkey and were selected through stratified purposeful sampling. Content analysis, one of the qualitative data analysis methods, was used for the analysis of the data. In consequence of the study, certain findings related to the basic features of a future-based adult education system have been reached particularly in the dimensions of policy and strategy, organizational structure and implementation, educational qualifications, human capital education and sustainable development, organizational autonomy, access and participation, teaching methods and techniques and content. As a result of the study, it is suggested for the implementers that a restructuring process should be initiated towards a productive, employable, self-sufficient and sustainable economic structure in adult education. As for the researchers, quantitative and qualitative studies are also recommended in the dimensions of human capital education, sustainable development, global change and developments, and 21st century skills. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0895/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

REVIEWING HOME EDUCATION LITERATURE: DOES IT MATTER WHERE WE LEARN?

The last 20 years has seen a global increase in studies investigating various aspects of Home Education (HE) and the physical location of learning in relation to schooling; the physical location of learning outside of schooling remains under researched. This paper provides a review of some, but not all, of the existing literature, leading us to see where there are potentially gaps in the research as well as gaps in the opportunities for creative methodologies. The review starts with Home Education within the context of Scottish/UK education history and policy. It should be noted that at present there are very few differences between Scottish Home Education Policy and that from Westminster. Then we move to the exploration into Education Capital and how Bourdieu’s theories and ideas may or may not apply in the Home Education context. Firstly, this review finds that there is a very limited body of research that is specifically concerned with the voice of the home-educated children, who experience and live learning, in alternative provision; secondly this review notes the limited number of studies concerned with just what education means, to home educating families, or the value they place upon education in spaces outside of schools. It cannot be assumed that because a family have chosen to home educate, that the decision was entirely ideological. Very briefly, due to the recent lockdown of March 2020 onwards, a small amount of research is included following Covid-19 and the nationwide Home Education of most of the children in the UK. Strikingly, and despite how new this research is, the value of education within the home is still missing from core topics as is for the most part, the coproduction of data with the children’s voices at the heart of Home Education research. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0896/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

PRE-SERVICE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ REFLECTIONS ON COOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT

Cooperative Learning is an instructional model in which learners work together toward a common goal (Johnson & Johnson, 1986; Slavin, 1993). Research has clearly shown that cooperation results in higher levels of achievement (Johnson, et al., 1993). This article focuses on Cooperative Assessment, two students, one paper, as learning, and proposes viewing assessment as an integral part of the process of learning and teaching by trying to provoke thoughts about positive interdependence, individual accountability and social skill development, three key features of Cooperative Learning. The paper presents pre-service English Language Teachers’ reflections on Cooperative Assessment used as part of the final exam for “Individual Differences in Foreign Language Learning” course in Fall Semester of 2018-2019 academic year. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0870/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

AN ADVANCED STATISTICAL METHOD RESEARCH ON THE EFFECT OF KNOWLEDGE USE LEVELS ON SOME SKILLS

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of cognitive knowledge levels of senior students studying in higher education on various variables and some performance-based skills. 265 students selected by criterion sampling method participated in the study. The validity and reliability of the data of the study were determined, collected with two separate inventories, and various advanced statistical methods were used in the analysis of the data. According to some variables, it has been determined that knowledge levels have a significant effect on some performance-based skills. The obtained data were interpreted in the light of the literature and various suggestions were made to researchers and practitioners. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0761/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

TEACHERS' LEVELS OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT CONCERN AND PUPIL CONTROL IDEOLOGIES

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between teachers' classroom management concern and pupil control ideologies. In this context, research design, general survey model and relational model were preferred. The universe of the research consists of 8957 teachers working in official schools in the Malatya province. The sample of the study, on the other hand, consists of 546 teachers who were determined using the stratified sampling method. The data of the research were collected from the teachers after obtaining the necessary permissions by the researcher. In this context, a questionnaire form consisting of two parts was used. The first part is based on demographic information (gender, years of service and school level), the second part is from the "Classroom Management Concern Scale” and "Pupil Control Ideologies Scale. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that teachers' pupil control ideologies average scores differed significantly. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0781/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND SUSTAINABILITY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEDAGOGY AND NATURE IN ITALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS / EDUCAZIONE AMBIENTALE E SOSTENIBILITÀ: UN'ANALISI DELLA RELAZONE TRA PEDAGOGIA E NATURA NEI DOCUMENTI ITALIANI ED INTERNAZIONALI

In a general sense, environmental education can be understood as a process that leads to a better understanding of the relationship between man and the natural environment, and sustainability as the possibility for those who come after us to be able to do the same things we can do today. Environmental education and sustainability as such imply collaboration between all social actors in the prevention and resolution of environmental problems. Direct contact with nature in education implies the assumption of a holistic approach, which sees in the relationship between economics, politics, society and ecology a useful tool for educating the new generations, as already widely noted by prominent early 20th century pedagogues such as Giuseppina Pizzigoni. Environmental education is therefore a type of holistic and lifelong education, including education "about, for and through" the environment, the importance of which has grown over time, partly as result of increasingly frequent environmental disasters. These have been followed by various measures, such as the Tbilisi Declaration, the Declaration of the Rights of Nature, the Brundtland Report, the Kyoto Protocol, the Aahrrus Convention, Agenda 2021, Agenda 2030 and so on, in which environmental education and sustainability have been strongly linked to educational processes, so much so that, in Italy, they have been treated in an interdisciplinary key and borrowed in the National Indications (MIUR, 2012) and the National Indications and New Scenarios (MIUR, 2018), as well as in the 2014 Environmental Education Guidelines for Sustainable Development. The contribution, starting from data considerations, focuses on the construction of attitudes, behaviours and conducts in school contexts related to care and protection, as well as environmental awareness, which are combined with those of protection and teaching capable of reading and preserving the environment from the perspective of sustainability. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0798/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

THE EXAMINATION OF PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS' SELF PERCEPTIONS AND SUCCESS-ORIENTED MOTIVATIONS / TÜRKÇE ADI: ÖĞRETMEN ADAYLARININ KENDİLİK ALGILARI İLE BAŞARI ODAKLI MOTİVASYONLARININ İNCELENMESİ

The purpose of this study is to examine the self-perceptions and success-oriented motivations of prospective teachers studying at the Education Faculty of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. As the research model, the correlational survey model was used as basic. The population of the study consists of 3650 prospective teachers studying at the Education Faculty of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. The sample of the study consists of 982 prospective teachers who are 692 women and 290 men studying in 9 different departments of the education faculty. In this study, to examine prospective teachers' perceptions of themselves and their success-oriented motivations, "Personal Information Form" which was developed by the researcher, "Social Comparison Scale" and "Success Oriented Motivation Scale" were used as data collection tools. The necessary statistical analyzes of the data collected for the research questions and sub-research questions of the research were made with the help of a computer package program. The frequency and percentage values of the responses of the prospective teachers to the scales were calculated. In the study, prospective teachers’ self-perceptions differ significantly according to the variables of gender, grade level, the department they study, whether they see themselves as democrats, and department satisfaction. In the study, there was no significant difference in the self-perception of the prospective teachers according to the variables of the high school they graduated from and the reasons for choosing the department. In the study, when the success-oriented motivations of the prospective teachers were examined according to the variables of class level, the department they studied, the type of high school they graduated from, the level of democracy, and the department satisfaction variables, there was a significant difference but according to the gender variable, there was no significant difference. Finally, it was concluded that there is a positive relationship between prospective teachers’ self-perceptions and success-oriented motivations. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0789/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

MATHEMATICAL ACTIVITY DESIGNS CONDUCTED WITH E-PORTFOLIO BY SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF REALISTIC MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

Design thinking skill is perhaps the most directly related thinking skill of mathematical thinking skill, because design thinking contains a strong problem-solving process in itself. In this study, it was aimed to provide students to avoid thinking about mathematics only procedurally or instrumentally and to introduce them to mathematical studying methods and mental habits. Therefore, tasks were chosen that would encourage students to think and design using real-life mathematical elements and thus encourage effective mathematical thinking. According to Freudenthal, the theorist of the Realistic Mathematics Education, mathematics should be related to the social life of students, close to their experiences, relevant to the society they live in, and compatible with human values. The research is designed as “action research” which is one of the qualitative research methods. Participants were selected using the convenience sampling method. Edmodo software was used as an electronic portfolio. Activities were prepared within the framework of RME approach. The responses are given by the students to those activities distributed when examined under 5 main headings: designing products, expressing the mathematical opinions clearly, using the mathematical knowledge, the research skills and the originality. These criteria generated after taking an expert opinion, subjected to qualitative analysis and interpreted. Consequently, it can be concluded that the educational process which is carried out with design-based activities provides learning, and is relevant to daily life, is interesting and is motivating. The integration of face-to-face teaching with technology and online approaches also help teachers manage design-based activities in a more effective way. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0785/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

AN INSTRUCTIONAL SCENARIO (LESSON PLAN): THE IMPORTANCE OF BREATHING. IS IT POSSIBLE WITHOUT BREATHING?

This article aims to present a lesson plan entitled “The importance of breathing. Is it possible to live without breathing?” This lesson lasts for one teaching hour. It was carried out through the Cisco WebEx Meetings platform of modern training and concerns the course Nursing Theory II for the 3rd Class of Vocational High School (EPAL), specializing in Nursing Assistant in the Health, Welfare & Wellness Sector. This script material was part of the training of B2 level ICT trainees, organized by the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) with the co-financing of Greece and the European Union. The article aims to present a lesson plan so that students can deepen their knowledge in the thematic unit of Vital Signs with emphasis on the importance of breathing. More specifically, students learn to define what respiration is, to name and interpret the different types of respiration, but also to know when respirations should be counted. The strategy they relied on is collaborative learning. In particular, by organizing working groups, participation and interaction among students are enhanced. Students were asked to complete an interactive exercise created on e-me content, then worked on a collaborative document (Google forms) and completed a feedback quiz at the end of the lesson. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0790/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>