Teachers' Cognitive Constructs on Democratic Education in Schools: A Case Study (original) (raw)

The Democracy Education at Schools and Pre-service Teachers’ Observations to the Democratic Attitudes and Behaviors in School

2009

In this research, the evaluation of approaches and implementations of democratic attitudes and behaviors in schools has been aimed. To achieve this purpose, the pre-service teachers’, who has gone to primary and high school for teaching practice in Canakkale (Turkey) in 2005-2006, observation reports have been used. Schools are the laboratories where the democracy culture and conscious are composed. In democratic systems, schools are the important organizations for teaching democracy. Democracy education should be taught as theoretical and practical. Democracy is a life philosophy. So, the knowledge of democratic values and attitudes is not enough, it has to be transferred to life. Education has importance on democracy than training. The approaches and implementations that related with democratic attitudes and behaviors can be differentiated in many times. When democratic values are accepted in generally, there is been up against lacks of implementations. This study’s importance is ...

Öğretmen Adaylarının “Demokrasi” Kavramına Yönelik Metafor Algıları / Perceptions of Prospective Teachers About the Concept of "Democracy

Journal of History Culture and Art Research

In this study, it is aimed to reveal the perceptions of 4th grade prospective teachers studying in Kastamonu University with respect to the concept of democracy through metaphors. By giving emphasis on common objectives in line with the metaphors students produced, the inferences were made about what they understand from the democracy and direction of their perceptions. In accordance with the nature of the research, qualitative research design "phenomenological pattern" was used. The study group includes a total of 297 prospective teachers who voluntarily participate the study, including 76 men and 221 women girls studying in the fourth class in Kastamonu University Faculty of Education in the 2016-2017 academic year. A survey form, consisted of 1 open-ended question, was used as data collection tool to set students' perceptions. The participants were asked to fulfil the "Democracy is like …… because ….." expressions featured in the survey form. Data were analyzed with content analysis technique. The data were analyzed by descriptive analysis. In the study, prospective teachers developed 149 different metaphors about the concept of democracy. According to the results obtained in this study, prospective teachers focused on most freedom sun, seesaw, water, balance, tree, equality, bird, life, justice, father, rainbow, sky, shield, breath, train and conscience metaphors. Teacher candidates see the concept of democracy with metaphors that they develop as a factor changing from the point of view. In the study, it was determined that the perception of democracy changed according to gender. In addition, it is seen that prospective teachers perceive democracy as different from each other according to their branches.

Comparative Analysis of Democratic Attitude and Value Perceptions of School Administrators, Teachers, Preservice Teachers and Students: A Meta-Analysis Study

International Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies, 2022

This study aims to comparatively analyze the effect size of perceptions related to democratic attitudes and values of school administrators, teachers, preservice teachers, and students. The meta-analysis method, one of the research synthesis methods, was used in the research. Within the scope of the study, master’s and doctoral theses and research articles dealing with this topic in Turkey were investigated. Based on the screening results, a total of 101 studies from 2013 to 2020 abided by the inclusion criteria. For these 101 studies comprising a sample of 33,774 people, four effect sizes were calculated. According to research results, high levels of effect size were determined based on the random effect model for opinions related to democratic attitudes and values of school administrators, teachers, preservice teachers, and students (d=41.14). The perceptions of democratic attitudes and values of participants were ranked from low to high as students (d=30.45), school administrator...

Democratic Practices at School. Theoretical and Research Ascertainments

European Journal of Development Studies

The modern democratic society must ensure the realization of the ideal democracy through the education of the youth with knowledge-skills and critical thinking and finally through the education of democratic citizens. A democratic citizen is defined as a citizen who is personally responsible, participatory, and oriented towards social justice and has the will to work for the realization of democratic ideals. The key issues the study focuses on are: What school practices contribute to the preparation of democratic citizens? What is meant by the open / positive climate of the classroom and how is it related to the strengthening of citizenship according to research data? The main purpose of the study is to reflect and raise awareness about the democratic conditions we must ensure in schools, to avoid the erosion of institutions and the rejection or loose commitment to the rules of democracy.

A Comparative Research on the Democratic Attitudes of the Teachers and the Prospective Teachers

The main purpose of this research was to assess the democratic attitudes of the teachers and the prospective teachers. The sample of the study consisted of teachers of various branches working at different levels (N = 317) in Ýzmir and the prospective teachers (N = 768). In terms of gender, 58.4 %of the teachers are females and 41.6 % of them are males. 28.7% of them are 20-30 years old; 38.2% are 31-40 years old; 30.6% are 41-50 years old; and 2.5% are 51 years and older. In the prospective teachers group, 52.7% are females and 47.3% are males. In this group, 18.1% are 18-20 years old; 60.02 % are 21-23 years old; 21.88% are 24 years old and older. A democratic Attitude Scale, developed by the Attitude Research Laboratory adapted into Turkish by Gözütok (1995), was administered to the sample. The scale’s alpha reliability coefficient was .87. The results of the study revealed that there was a statistically significant difference among the prospective teachers’ democratic attitudes by the institutions, departments, gender, age, social environment of the family, which high school graduated, educational level of the parents, and how keen they are in their professions. The study shows that there is no statistical difference in between the democratic attitudes of the teachers and the institutions where they work, gender, branches, seniority, the institution where they graduated, their satisfaction from their branch and the institutions where they work. When democratic attitudes of the teachers and the students were compared, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference in the favor of the prospective teachers.

ROLE OF CURRICULUM IN DEVELOPING DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDE AMONG STUDENTS AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL: TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS

ROLE OF CURRICULUM IN DEVELOPING DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDE AMONG STUDENTS AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL: TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS, 2022

The development of democratic citizens is the basic need of any country and responsibility of the schools in Pakistan. The major objective of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions about the role of curriculum in developing democratic attitude among students at elementary level. The population of the study comprised of 105 subject teachers, teaching social studies at elementary level from 21Federal Government Educational Institutions (Cantt/Garrison) [FGEIs (C/G)] of Multan Region. The sample of the study was 105 teachers teaching social study that was selected through census sampling technique. Self-developed and self-validated questionnaire was used as research tool for the collection of data. Data were analyzed by calculating i.e. percentage, mean, and t. test. The results revealed that the curriculum of social studies had a significant role in developing democratic attitude among students at elementary level. However, some of the teachers have the opinion that they were facing some difficulties e.g. lack of support by management, lack of proper training, and unsupported environment of the schools. The study recommended that school management should enhance support, provide proper

Determining the Views of Pre-service Teachers on the Characteristics of Democratic Schools

Croatian Journal of Education, 2018

Teacher education at both pre-service and in-service levels is a crucial factor in terms of developing democratic schools. Pre-service education is the first step in the professional development of teachers. Perhaps democratic education should commence at this stage. For this reason it is important to know pre-service teachers’ opinions about democratic education and the characteristics of democratic schools. This study aims to investigate pre-service primary teachers’ perceptions about democratic education and the main characteristics of democratic schools. The study was designed within basic qualitative research approach. The study group consists of six primary pre-service teachers who attend the 4th year of teacher education programme at a faculty of education. A semi-structured interview form was used for data gathering. Data were analysed using the “content analysis” method. The findings of the study illustrate that pre-service teachers conceptualize the term of democracy with different words based on their experiences; what is more, pre-service teachers have not fully internalized the concept of democracy. The results of the study show that according to pre service teachers, democracy education can be realized through thematic learning and hands-on activities. It is recommended that policy makers should be aware of the atmosphere of democratic schools and that a curriculum should be designed thematically, which includes democracy in all attainment targets.

A Relational Survey on The Effect of School Culture Perceptions of Teachers on Their Democratic Attitudes

The Pandemic Process and New Horizons in Educational Sciences, 2021

The main purpose of this study is to test the relationship between school culture perceptions and democratic attitudes of teachers together with certain variables. To this end, the study was conducted using “the relational screening model”, which is one of the general screening models. The study population consisted of teachers working in the province of Kirikkale. 232 teachers were included in the study. "Democratic Attitude Scale” developed by Gozutok (1995) and “School Culture Scale” (SCS) developed by Sahin-Firat were used for data collection. Independent sample t test, Kruskal Wallis H test, one way ANOVA, and simple-partial correlation technique were used to analyze the data. According to the results of the study, there was no statistically significant difference between school culture perceptions and democratic attitudes of the participants in terms of gender, field, time of service in school, and seniority. However, it was found that school culture perceptions of teachers varied depending on their time of service in school. School culture perceptions of teachers improved as time of service increased.

Predicting Democratic Attitudes and Educational Philosophies of Student Teachers

2014

The curriculum of Turkey aims to bring up creative and productive individuals who are able to think in a democratic and critical way. To realize this, a democratic education environment is a prequisite. The educational environment that teachers create is deeply affected by their philosophical views. Nevertheless, revealing the extent of this effect can be a source of data in order to use in pre-service training of teachers who are expected to create a democratic classroom environment. This study aims to predict democratic attitudes and educational philosophies of student teachers. This quantitative study was designed in relational screening model. In this study, the study group was comprised of 226 student teachers who study at the different departments of Education Faculty in Pamukkale University. To collect the data, the Inventory of Educational Thoughts and Applications, which was designed by the researcher, was used in addition to the Democratic Attitudes Inventory. To model the...

Democratic Classroom Management and the Opinions of University Students about Attitudes and Behavior of Faculty

International Journal of Educational Reform, 2005

in many parts of the world, definitions of democracy tend to focus on explanations that put emphasis on individual sides of democracy rather than on social ones (Touraine, 1991). Democracy as a way of life is undoubtedly based on perfect consciousness. Perfect consciousness means wise consciousness. It desires to be autonomous in terms of outer condition and free in terms of inner condition (Gündüz, 2003). This type of consciousness can be acquired through education. Democracy can be established and maintained only by conscious individuals who consider democracy a way of life. Democracy is not only a way of government but a point of view, intuition, and comprehension. It requires a kind of organization, consciousness, and genuineness of consciousness toward itself (Gündüz, 2003). It is not wrong to assume that family and, in a broader sense, school are the basic institutions where this point of view and intuition defined as a democratic culture are taught. If schools are to teach democracy and raise democratic individuals, it is essential that they have democratic structures and management. Education and democracy are two concepts that are interrelated in terms of meaning and usage. Democratization of education and schools, the basics of an educational process, is an issue of having a well-established democratic culture in a society (Polat, 2003). Education plays a crucial role in transferring democratic values to students and in their gaining democratic personalities. Schools and society have got to be a part of this personality-shaping process. Education for democracy liberates thoughts and supports its criticism power. It is possible to notice a strong relationship between education and democracy when the educational targets are looked at. In modern societies, one of the educational targets, one that is continuous in education policy, is the democratization of education in quality and quantity (Kazamias & Massialas, 1965). Research done internationally has indicated that the most important factor differentiating people who act democratically from those who do not is education (Yeşil, 2002). Education in a general sense means humanizing. The basic question to which the educational process tries to find an answer is, what kind of humankind do we want to raise? This is such a question that its answers may differ according to changing conditions. Today, all parties related to education agree that people should be raised to do research, think, inquire, and use information rather than just keep it, as well as continue to learn in the future (Polat, 2003). Educational systems and education's basic structures-schools and classrooms-need to reorganize themselves in terms of structure and management in order to educate such individuals. A classroom is a living environment in which educational activities occur (Aydın, 2000). The structure, the management, and the quality of those activities shape the personality development of students. Class management is the first and basic stage of the educational management stages. The classroom is a place where face-to-face interaction exists.