This survey study aims to determine the gender role perceptions of high school students regarding several professions. 724 female (56.9%) and 548 male (43.1%) formed the sample of a total of 1272 high school students. The “Gender Role Perceptions regarding Various Professions Questionnaire” was used to determine the gender role perceptions of high school students based on various professions. The findings demonstrated that high school students perceived the professions of teacher, doctor, lawyer, psychologist, and dentist suitable for both male and female gender equally (neutral occupations). High school students perceived the professions of district governor (public administration), military officer, policeman, engineer, judge, prosecutor and architect as predominantly male occupations. On the other hand, students perceived the professions of nurse and dietician as mainly female occupations. The study findings demonstrated that high school students classify various professions as strictly male or female professions. These results demonstrated the significance of school psychological counselors who provide counseling services to students during the career selection process to raise awareness of the students by organizing group guidance activities on gender role perceptions and possible outcomes of various professions.

The aim of the research is to determine the predictive power of prospective physical education teachers’ attitudes towards educational technologies for their technological pedagogical content knowledge. In this study, a relational research model was used on a study group that consisted of 529 (Mage=21.49, SD=1.44) prospective physical education teachers. As a data collection tool, a “technology attitude scale” and a “technological pedagogical content knowledge scale” were used. Regarding analyses, inferential statistics as correlation and regression analyses were used, in addition to descriptive analyses. At the end of the research period, it was observed that attitudes towards educational technologies had a high-level effect on technological pedagogical content knowledge, and the variables that constituted a sub-dimension of the attitude scale for educational technologies explained 31% of the total variance in technological pedagogical content knowledge. In addition, it was established that attitudes towards educational technologies and the technological pedagogical content knowledge of prospective physical education teachers were at a high level.

The aim of this study is to determine pre-service social studies teachers’ views about the Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT). The study was conducted within the framework of case-study  which is one of the qualitative research methods. The study-group consists of 13 pre-service teachers. Two semi-structured interview forms were used to collect data. Descriptive analysis approach was utilized for the analysis of the collected data. Upon reviewing of the results, it was seen that during the interviews both before and after the exam, pre-service teachers were of the opinion that the content knowledge test should be continued to be conducted; that  the number of questions in the exam is not sufficient to measure the content knowledge; that giving weight to undergraduate academic lessons will have an affirmative contribution to this exam.

The purpose of this research, is to examine reading motivation of the primary 2, 3 and 4th grade students in the terms of gender, class and socioeconomic status. Research is structured according to model of survey in the descriptive type. In the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data “mix method”. The sample consists of total of 769 students studying in the same province including class 2, 3 and 4 in three different schools. Research data is collected by scale of Motivation to Read Profile. According to the survey results, however students' value of reading is affected class and gender variables,  students' value of reading is not affected by socioeconomic status. The value of reading of 3rd grade students is higher than 4th grade students. The value of reading of girls is higher than male students. Self-concept as reader and reading motivation of students variate depend on class, gender and socioeconomic status. In addition, reading motivation of 2nd grade students is higher than the 4th grade students. Self-concept as reader and reading motivation of students having upper socioeconomic status are than self-concept as reader and reading motivation of students having lower and middle socioeconomic status. 

This study aimed to try to understand the views and attitudes of classroom teachers concerning students with reading difficulties. Data was collected using the semi-structured interview technique, which is among the qualitative data collection techniques. The researcher prepared a semi-structured interview with 5 questions to be addressed to classroom teachers. The findings were assessed under the headings “determination of reading difficulties”, “reasons for reading difficulties”, “effect of reading difficulties”, “methods used by teachers to cope with reading difficulties” and “expectations of help”. Teachers generally stated that they determined the presence of reading difficulties through knowing students’ families, their own occupational experiences, students who were behind in class and the characteristics of their students. They associated the reasons for students having reading difficulties primarily with familial problems and then mental and psychological problems. They generally cope with reading difficulties by offering extra classes and giving homework. Teachers state that it is noteworthy that families often request cooperation. Considering the findings of this study, teachers think that the parents of students are central to the reasons behind and solutions to reading difficulties. Moreover, it is seen that children with reading difficulties are exposed to bullying by peers despite all efforts to create a positive classroom environment.

Though, Ethiopia registered an extraordinary achievement in terms of increasing student enrolment, still quality of education remains a challenge and is becoming a bottleneck. One of the problems might be the structure and nature of teacher education itself. The purpose of this study therefore was to critically examine the existing literature and policy documents and come up with effective as well as valuable modality of teacher education which will be workable in Ethiopian context. In Ethiopia, there are two extreme views that can be taken as challenges for teacher education program: pedagogical knowledge vs. subject matter knowledge. There is also contention on the modality of teacher education: concurrent vs. consecutive. The study show that the greatest ever challenge in teacher education is registered during the Post-TESO period. The program is troubled. Based on the results of this study, imperative implications for practice are forwarded.

Students spend most hours of their day within Academic Institutions in their classrooms and/or after school and weekend activities.  They are able to acquire knowledge and skills needed to be academically, socially, emotionally and physically well.  All of these factors contribute to holistic growth and development.  However, social and emotional intelligence are key ingredients to an individual’s ability to adjust and interact with others in rapidly changing societies. Therefore, the experiences that students have with their administrators, teachers, peers and parents, while at school are essential to the holistic development of one’s academic, social, emotional skills and interpersonal relations.  The authors define holistically, as the development and growth of students: intellectually, socially, emotionally, physically and ethically. The following discussion points to the importance in fostering social-emotional intelligence in all stakeholders alike, in the school-setting and in finding an equilibrium in authentic leadership by demonstrating agility with school policies and processes when one’s wisdom and genuine care can prevail; thus referring to matters of the heart and mind. Therefore, the authors are addressing the fundamental question, What type of institutional leadership does an academic institution need in order to prepare students holistically for life and to develop them to become tomorrow’s leaders? 

This study investigated effect of student- and school-level variables on mathematics achievement of fourth- and eighth-grade students using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 data of Turkey. The common variables addressed in student and school questionnaires were compared. Due to nested structure of the TIMSS data, hierarchical linear modeling analysis was performed. According to findings of the study, for both grade levels, of all teacher-related variables, only school emphasis on academic success were discovered to have statistically significant impact on schools’ mean mathematics achievements. Moreover, concerning student-level variables, being bullied at school, confidence in mathematics, being engaged in mathematics and parental involvement had statistically significant effect on students’ mathematics achievement for both grade levels. It is considered that students that hold more positive perceptions of their school and have teachers that are willing to improve themselves in their career tend to have higher performance in TIMSS.

Representations are fundamental tools to support argumentation in science learning. However, little is known about how preservice science teachers (PSTs) with different argumentation understandings view and use representations in argumentation. Therefore, the purpose of this case study was to explore the views and practices of PSTs’ use of representations for argumentation purposes. The participants were 6 graduate students enrolled in an argumentation course in a northeastern university in Turkey. Data was collected through videotaped lessons, learners’ artifacts and semi-structured interviews. Video analysis and content analysis were used to investigate research questions. Results indicated that with the increased argumentation understandings PSTs showed a sophisticated understanding of using representations for argumentation. Moreover, with the increased argumentation understanding PSTs a) used representations for multiple purposes during argumentation and b) used visual-graphical representations as rebuttals and counterarguments. Implications include the explicit teaching of the purpose of multiple representations in argumentation, integration of representational and argumentation practices in teacher education programs, and enriching argumentation experiences by providing students with multiple representations.

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates human knowledge, in particular its source, nature, limitations, system, and accuracy. The most critical issues in epistemology are considered to be belief in the nature of knowledge and belief in the nature of knowing. Since epistemology involves the structuring processes of knowledge, it assumed to be associated with individual differences, which are influential in determining an individual’s ability to organize their thoughts and behaviors as well as personal choices. In addition, the most typical reflections of individual differences are observed in learning styles. Therefore, in this research, we aimed to examine the relationship between the epistemological views and learning styles of pre-service teachers. The study was based on a quantitative design and the epistemological views of the pre-service teachers were determined using the Scientific Epistemological Beliefs Scale developed by Elder (2002) and adapted to Turkish by Acat, Tüken and Karadağ (2010). In addition, the index of learning styles developed by Felder and Soloman (1996) and adapted to Turkish by Samanci and Keskin (2007) was used to identify the participants’ learning styles. A total of 698 pre-service teachers from two state universities in Turkey constituted the sample of the research. According to the overall results, the pre-service teachers adopted philosophical skepticism and were inclined towards an active/sensing/visual/sequential learning style. Furthermore, a statistically significant relationship was found between the participants' learning styles and their epistemological views.

This paper discusses how teachers explore teaching controversial issues in the Japanese language classroom to Japanese language learner (JLL) or culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students who have different cultural and political backgrounds. Assuring educational opportunities with consideration of JLLs’ background is important especially in this globalized world. Students who spent several years in their home countries had missed the earlier part of the culture in the host countries, and they do not internalize host culture fully. Lack of cultural knowledge or literacy would lead to inequality of attainment. The research was conducted in a Japanese language classroom for Chinese from People’s Republic of China (ROC) newcomer students in a commercial night public high school in Japan.

This study examines how a Japanese teacher were aware of the cultural aspects of students, searched for appropriate methods to teach controversial issues. The research methods are participatory observations and semi-structured interviews with teachers. Through interaction with Chinese newcomer students, the Japanese teacher’s cultural and political awareness and political correctness was induced as he observed what the students needed to know and experience. The teacher tried to infuse students with global awareness in his hybrid history embedded Japanese language class. The concept which were not relevant to the political status of the country of origin, neutrality between the country of origin and Japan, were explored during the lessons. 

The aim of this study is to lay bare pre-service primary school teachers’ perception of “physics” through metaphors. The study was realized with the participation of 38 freshmen pre-service teachers taking General Physics at a public university. Data of the study were obtained with participants filling the blanks in the following sentence: “In my opinion physics is like a/an … because …” The study was designed in phenomenological method, which is one of the qualitative research methods. In the analysis of data, content analysis method was used. As a result of the obtained data, it was determined that pre-service primary school teachers constructed 31 valid metaphors in relation to the concept of physics. It was determined that the highest frequency among these metaphors belongs to the “nightmare”. Metaphors generated by the pre-service teachers were grouped under seven different conceptual categories in terms of the meanings they contain. As a result of the study, it was determined that most of the metaphors generated by the pre-service teachers consist of a negative perception.