Abstract
TEACHER CANDİDATES’ OPİNİONS ABOUT VALUES AND VALUES EDUCATİON
Values are defined as genereal principles that determine human behavior, as general guidelines that direct the behaviors (Zengin, 2017). Variables such as family, society, media, communication tools, belief systems guide human behaviors in different ways. When values are thought to exist in factors that direct the actions that individuals and societies exhibit, the importance of educating people with proper values arises. Individual exhibitions of desired values and developing a common understanding of values will enhance the quality of social life environments (Kurtulmuş, Tösten & Gündaş, 2009). Values indicate to the individuals who constitute the society what is important, what is to be preferred, and briefly how to live. When the general objectives of educational institutions are examined, it is seen that many of them include many values such as being clean, paying attention to health, being organized, being fair, being creative, being entrepreneur, being patriotic. Educational institutions guide learners with these and similar values about what is important and how to experiment with them (Akbaş, 2008).
The aim of this study, which is conducted with the teacher candidates who will guide the transfer of values in the educational institutions, is to determine the opinions of the senior students who are educated in the Faculty of Education about the values and values education. The study group of the research conducted with qualitative method is formed with the teacher candidates who are studying in different branches in the last classes of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Education in the fall semester of 2017-2018 academic year. 21 teacher candidates participated in the research. In this study, semi-structured interview technique from qualitative data collection techniques is used. The data obtained after the interview are analyzed by using descriptive analysis technique. In order to express the views of the participants, their expressions are also quoted in the relevant sections.
The following findings were obtained from the research: The vast majority of teacher candidates are prioritizing values such as love, respect and responsibility, they are agreed on family is the most effective environment to transfer values, and they believe that they have to take compulsory values education courses in the education faculties. According to the research results, it is emphasized the importance of family environment in values education and parents should be made aware of this issue, it is underlined that it is necessary to be included value education as a lecture in the education faculties, and practices such as school experience and teaching practice should include the activities about values education.
Keywords
Teacher candidates, values, values education.
