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Turkish Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs about the Nature of Social Studies

Mehmet Açıkalın (Istanbul University, Turkey) *

Social Studies Research and Practice

ISSN: 1933-5415

Article publication date: 1 November 2011

Issue publication date: 1 November 2011

1009

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate Turkish pre-service teachers’ beliefs about social studies in order to expand upon a debate that has been ongoing for the last few decades. While there always have been various definition since the inception of the field, to date, no single, official definition has been agreed upon among social studies educators. The study indicated that there are a wide variety of beliefs regarding social studies exist among Turkish pre-service teachers. The vast majority of the participants characterized social studies is an integrated field of study, although what they included as tenets of this field varied widely. The majority of the participants cited either “preparing informed citizens” or “improving communication skills” as the sole purpose of social studies.

Keywords

Citation

Açıkalın, M. (2011), "Turkish Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs about the Nature of Social Studies", Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 18-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-03-2011-B0002

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Publishing Limited

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