Abstract

Teaching profession is one of the hardest jobs of today. Teachers who raise the safeguards of our future, that is, our students should be aware of the principles, methods and techniques needed for teaching; should have taken the pedagogical formation training, should have enhanced communication skills and should closely follow science and technology with a mind open to modernization. Teachers also must carry the feeling of responsibility, have high sense of awareness and consciousness, be developed in their own fields, should know well how to learn and teach, continuously refreshing their self, away from troubles, problems, and stress and supportive to their students in any case. This study was conducted to determine the attitudes and views of the teacher candidates towards the teaching profession. In the study, general survey model, which is an example of descriptive survey methods, has been implemented. The sample of the study consists of 347 teacher candidates from Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Education in 2017/2018 academic year. As data collection tool, Attitude Scale Towards the Teaching Profession was utilized. Study of validity and reliability of the scale has been calculated and Cronbach Alpha coefficient has been found to be 0.919. As a result of the study, it was found that the attitudes of teacher candidates towards the teaching profession were below the expectations, the attitudes of female teacher candidates were better than male candidates’ attitudes and teacher candidates studying in computational programs were more passionate about the teaching profession.

Key words: Teaching profession, teacher candidate, occupational experience, professional attitude.