An Analysis of the Relation between Teacher Candidates’ Attitudes toward the Teaching Profession and Teaching-Learning Process Competencies

Bir egitim sisteminde benimsenmis ogrenme-ogretme yaklasimlari ve uygulanan ogretim programlari degisse de egitim sisteminin temel niteligini, ogretmenlerin sahip oldugu mesleki yeterlikleri ve tutumlari belirler. Arastirmanin temel amaci ogretmen adaylarinin ogretmenlik meslegine yonelik tutum duzeyleri ile ogretme-ogrenme sureci yeterlik duzeylerini ve aralarindaki iliskiyi belirlemektir. Bu calisma ogretmen adaylarinin meslege yonelik tutumlari ile ogretme-ogrenme sureci yeterliklerinin belirlenmesi yonuyle genel tarama, meslege yonelik tutumlar ile ogretme-ogrenme sureci yeterliklerin birlikte degisip degismediginin belirlenmesi yonuyle ise iliskisel tarama modelindedir. Arastirma sosyal bilimler ile fen-matematik alanlari arasinda karsilastirmayi amacladigindan, veriler branslari bu alanlarda gruplanabilen toplam 387 ogretmen adayindan, "Ogretmenlik Meslegi Tutum Olcegi" ve "Ogretme-Ogrenme Sureci Yeterlikleri Olcegi" ile elde edilmistir. Arastirma sonucunda ogretmen adaylarinin meslege yonelik olumlu tutuma ve yuksek duzeyde ogretme-ogrenme sureci yeterliklerine sahip olduklari belirlenmistir. Ayrica ogretmen adaylarinin meslege yonelik tutum duzeyleri ile ogretme-ogrenme sureci yeterlik duzeylerinin anlamli duzeyde pozitif yonlu iliskiye sahip oldugu sonucuna ulasilmistir.


Introduction
How to train qualified teachers?The answer to this question has long been debated because the teaching profession is important, and high quality has always been pursued in this profession.Throughout history, teachers have been given a variety of missions, and the teaching profession has sometimes been interpreted in terms of art skills, sometimes science, and sometimes art.Regardless of how this profession has been defined, that the teacher is a major variable of education has constantly been acknowledged.
While its status and prestige change across cultures and countries, it has ever since been regarded as a holy job as it is directly related with human beings.Similarly, in the history of Turkish education, teachers have always had a respected place in society, and the word teacher has always conjured up a role-model image in society.Therefore, in every society, there is a need for qualified teachers (Eker, 2015).
The teacher has a prominent role in raising a creative, efficient, constructive, productive, employable, and responsible generation (Eker, 2015).Even if the individual traits aimed at in an educational system, teaching-learning approaches adopted to this end, and the curricula developed based on these may change, teacher is the main element of any education system.Indeed, even if these factors change, the competence of teachers is the determinant factor in the accomplishment of learning objectives.An important educational issue in our country has recently been the teacher training process and competencies of teachers who are trained.The teacher, who helps develop and shape the coming generations, should go through an effective education process him/herself.As every profession, teaching has unique cognitive, affective, and kinetic behaviour characteristics (Tanrıverdi, 2015).Determination of learning objectives and expected outcomes, arrangement of a suitable learning environment, and having the responsibility to do evaluations as regards these dimensions heavily depend on the skills teachers gain during pre-service training (Çoban 2015).The teaching qualities of the candidate teachers depend on two factors: the extent to which they possess the competencies of the teaching profession and their attitude towards the teaching profession (Çapri & Çelikkaleli, 2008).
Attitudes are worthy to explore scientifically as they are one of the influences on both our social perception and behaviours (Üstüner, 2006).Attitude can be defined as a tendency shaping an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviours (Kağıtçıbaşı, 1999).Similarly, Bohner and Wanke (2002) describe the term as a fundamental element of the human individuality.People's attitudes towards their professions play an important role in meeting requirements of the profession (Durmuşoğlu, Yanık, & Akkoyunlu, 2009).Particularly, when it is the profession of teaching, the issue gains greater importance.Teachers' attitudes are closely linked with their behaviours and practices in the class (Rimm- Kaufman & Sawyer, 2004).Thus, many studies have verified that positive attitude is a factor positively correlated with teachers' effectiveness (Demir, 2004;Aşkar & Erdem, 1987;Çakır, 2005;Terzi & Tezci, 2007).Knowing an individual's attitude will also allow for prediction of his or her reaction to the relevant stimulus, which has important implications for the teaching profession.Indeed, having a positive attitude towards teaching is important for those who will be involved in teaching, i.e. it helps meet an important requirement of this profession (Üstüner, 2006).
Numerous factors affect the development of attitude.Among them, cognitive factor is an important one (Tavşancıl, 2002).Obviously, attitude based on sufficient knowledge and that based on extensive and deep knowledge will form in different intensity and degree (Tezci & Terzi, 2007).In other words, teacher candidates need to possess certain skills to develop a positive attitude toward the profession and to organize high-quality teaching learning processes.
Competence refers to the qualities a person has to possess to be able to complete a task (Bursalıoğlu, 1981).Basic Law of National Education numbered 1739 declares that "the qualities required of teacher candidates about general world knowledge, field knowledge, and pedagogical training are determined by Ministry of National Education" (MEB, 2006).Within this framework, Teacher Competencies Commission, consisting of MEB and university representatives, assembled in March 1999 and identified the main categories of competencies: "training-teaching competencies", "general world knowledge and skills", and "specific field knowledge and skills".Based on the feedback received, the committees working within the body of General Directorate of Teacher Training and Education proposed a law of "General Competencies of Teaching Profession".These competencies are at the same time criteria for the determination of teacher training programs, planning of pre-service and in-service training of teachers, selection of teachers, observation and evaluation of teachers' performance (MEB, 2006).This list of competencies, which was put into practice in November 2006, is comprised of six main competencies, namely "Personal and Occupational Values-Professional Development", "Knowing the Students", "Teaching Learning Process", "Observation and Evaluation of Teaching and Learning", "School-parents and Society Relation" and "Knowledge of Program and Content", as well as 31 subcompetencies and 233 performance indicators (MEB, 2006).Ministry of Education General Directorate of teacher training and education sent these competencies to teacher training institutions and requested that teachers be trained accordingly (Mahiroğlu, 2004).
There is a strong relation between teachers' classroom performance and their theoretical knowledge (Holligan, 1997).What is more, teachers' belief in competencies is a major factor in creating an efficient school (Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993;Pajares & Miller, 1994).Within the framework of the research questions, this study engages with the following dimensions of the competency groups: teaching-learning process competencies, lesson-plans made for students to reach the learning objectives, material design, setting of teaching-learning environments, preparation of extra-curricular activities, diversification of teaching according to individual differences as well as time and behaviour management.
Teacher candidates' self-perception of professional competencies and their attitude towards their profession play an important role for any training program; if they are missing, the programs cannot achieve the objectives as regards the traits the teachers need to gain.There is no doubt that teachers who have a positive attitude towards their profession and have the necessary competencies will have a direct influence on the system and its outcomes.At this point, the pre-service and in-service training teachers go through has a great impact on the development of positive attitude towards the teaching profession and gaining of the required qualities.Professional development aims to prepare individuals for different areas.It intends to help the people who have chosen this profession and who undergo relevant training gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that they will need to perform effectively in the profession (Üstüner, 2006).Thus, the most important aim of teacher training programs is to help develop positive attitudes to the teaching profession and equip the teacher candidates with occupational competencies.It is unknown to what extent these principles work in the teacher training process and the teacher candidates possess these competencies at time of graduation.Yet, an insight into how teacher competence develops and what it is composed of bears great importance for understanding what kinds of programs to design for high levels of teacher competence (Pajares, 1997).
Evaluating the effectiveness of pre-service training of teacher candidates according to the determined criteria is of utmost importance for the development of these competencies (Çam Aktaş, 2016).It is hoped that the present study will have theoretical significance.First, it derives data from different types of sample.Second, it relates its findings to those of previous studies, tracing changes that might have occurred through the course of time in the attitude tendencies as regards teacher candidates' approach to their career and teaching competencies.It is hoped that the study will have a practical significance in that it focuses on the teachers' teaching-learning competencies.
Within this framework, the present study mainly intends to determine the relationship between teacher candidates' levels of attitude towards the teaching profession and the levels of teachinglearning process competencies. What is the relationship between teacher candidates' levels of attitude toward the teaching profession and teaching-learning competencies?

Design of the Study
This study has a survey design in terms of identification of teacher candidates' attitudes toward the profession and teaching-learning process competencies, and a relational survey design in terms of analysis of the link between attitudes toward the profession and teaching-learning competencies.

Population and Sampling
The population of the study is comprised of 850 teacher candidates who attended the pedagogical formation training course organized during the 2015-2016 academic year in Balıkesir University Necatibey Faculty of Education.As the study aims to make comparison between social sciences and science-math fields, the data was collected from 387 teacher candidates whose subject fields' fall into one of the two areas.In the research, social sciences (Literature, History, and Geography) and sciencemath fields (Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry) were determined via statistical layering, and the research sample was selected randomly.
Of the study group, 249 (64.34%) are female, and 138 (35.66%) are male participants.The number of those who have received education in science fields is 147 (37.98%) and in social fields is 240 (62.02%).A total of 103 (26.61%) are at the graduate status, and 284 (73.39%) are in their final year of education.
The data was collected through "Attitude to Teaching Profession Scale" and "Teaching Learning Process Competencies Scale".

Attitude to Teaching Profession Scale:
This scale was developed by Akkuzu (2012).The tool includes 25 items, whose validity and reliability tests were conducted, and is designed to rate candidate teachers' perception of their profession and their attitude towards it.It is a 5-point Likert type scale comprising positive statements from "Completely Agree" (5) to "Completely Disagree" (1).It also comprises negative statements which have the reversed values, namely "Completely Agree" (1) to "Completely Disagree" (5).Attitude to Teaching Profession Scale is composed of the sub-dimensions of "love-fearimportance".Teacher candidates' statements regarding teaching profession are grouped under these dimensions respectively: statements about their love towards teaching profession under the "love" dimension, statements about their fear towards teaching profession under the "fear" dimension, and statements about the importance of the teaching profession under the "importance" dimension.The reliability coefficients of the scale's sub dimensions (love, .95),(fear, .75),(importance, .76)are the indicators of the scale's reliability.Because of the sample size, KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) was used for factor analysis to test the suitability of the data structure (.92).Alpha reliability coefficient was found as .93.In addition, CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) results and confirmatory fit index values proved to confirm the three-factor structure.In the present study, KMO value was again found as .92,while alpha reliability coefficient was found as .91.In this research, the reliability coefficients of the scale's sub dimensions are calculated as love (.93), fear (.80), and importance (.73).
Teaching Learning Process Competencies Scale: "Teaching Learning Process Competencies Scale", which was designed to identify the level of teacher candidates' competencies related to the teaching learning process, was employed.The statements, laid down under the main competency section of "Teaching Learning Process Competencies" (MEB, 2006) within the scope of "Overall Competencies of Teaching Profession" put into effect in November 2006, were formulated as the items of the scale.The scale is comprised of the following five parts, and a total of 41 competency items, under this main competency area: "Planning Teaching" (8 items), "Learning Environment and Materials" (12 items), "Extra-curricular Activities" (7 items), "Diversification of Teaching" (8 items) and "Classroom Management" (6 items).The response options in each item were designed in the form of Likert type with the range "Very Incompetent", "Incompetent", "Partially Competent", "Competent", and "Very Competent".
The initially designed version of the "Teaching Learning Process Competencies Scale" with 60 items was administered to 74 teacher candidates, and the data obtained was subject to analysis.Based on the results of the analysis, some items were eliminated from the scale, and the scale was administered to 47 items, this time to 58 teacher candidates.Further analysis conducted on the data obtained from these participants led to the elimination of six more items from the scale, resulting in the remaining 41 items.The final version of the scale was applied to 159 teacher candidates, and the reliability, validity, and explanatory factor analysis tests were performed using the collected data.
Factor analysis is a multivariate method of explaining the correlations between a variety of variables and finding latent and conceptually meaningful new variables (Büyüköztürk, 2002).The items whose factor loadings were found as .30and above in the analysis after the conversion step were taken into consideration.Table 1 presents the AFA results of the Teaching Learning Process Competencies Scale.The scale is made up of five factors, which account for 62.28% of total variance.The 12 items in the first factor named "Learning Environment and Materials" account for 31.26% of total variance; eight items in the second factor named "Planning Teaching" account for 10.59% of total variance; the eight items in the third factor called "Diversifying Teaching" account for 8.56% of total variance; the seven items in the fourth factor called "Extracurricular Activities" explain 6.90% of total variance; and finally, the six items in the fifth factor named "Classroom Management" explain 4.98% of the total variance.Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient for the Teaching-Learning Process Competencies Scale is .94for the whole scale, while it was calculated as .94for the learning environment and materials factor; .95for the planning teaching factor; .90 for the diversifying teaching factor; .91 for the extracurricular activities factor; and .85 for the classroom management factor.The scale was divided into two, and the two halves were simultaneously applied to the participants.The split-half method, which tests the correlation and reliability between the two halves (Ercan & Kan, 2004), was then applied.The results show that the figure for the whole scale is .73,while it is .94for the learning environment and materials factor; .89for the planning teaching factor; .88 for the diversifying teaching factor; .85 for the extracurricular activities factor and .81for the classroom management factor.Factor loading values for the items in the Teaching-Learning Process Competencies Scale are given in Table 2.
The Teaching-Learning Process Competencies Scale was subject to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the structure above.CFA is often used in the development of assessment models, and it aims to confirm a pre-specified structure (Aytaç & Öngen, 2012).The structure of the scale determined through the exploratory factor analysis was examined through CFA, and the level of conformity in this study group was obtained.
Chi-square (χ2) value and statistical significance levels were calculated for the conformity indicators relating to the confirmatory factor analysis presented in Figure 1.The Chi-square value [χ2=1032.35,df=77, p<.05] calculated with regard to the model-data fit is significant.Chi-square degree of freedom rate, which was calculated by including the effect of sample size, is fairly low (1032.35/774=1.3).In fit indexes, on the other hand, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was found to be .05.RMSEA value between 0 and .05shows that a good fit was achieved.

Table 2.
Factor Loading Values for the items in the Teaching-Learning Process Competencies Scale.

Learning Environment and materials
Factor Loading 10-Making use of computers and other technological devices in material preparation .8114-Making use of environmental opportunities in material preparation .8018-Organizing the physical conditions in the learning environment (temperature, light, noise level etc.) in a way to support learning .77 19-Considering the principles of usage of tools and equipment while designing the learning environment .77 12-Making the materials user-friendly and economical .7711-Considering the views of students while preparing materials in the teaching-learning process .7717-Designing learning environments according to activity type (individual, collaborative etc.) .7513-Making sure that the prepared materials are suitable for the course content .7515-Reaching resources on teaching-learning in technological environments (databases, online resources etc.) .

Data Analysis and Interpretation
As the "Attitude Toward Teaching Profession Scale" and "Teaching-Learning Process Competencies Scale" used in the study are five-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 to 5, the attitudes and competence levels of teacher candidates were interpreted with respect to the score intervals corresponding to each option [(1.00-1.80),(1.81-2.60),( 2 T-test was used to determine whether the difference was significant in terms of the variables derived from the scales (gender, field and graduation status), and .05level of significance was taken as basis in interpretation.In cases when the difference was significant, the effect size (ES) was calculated by dividing the difference among the group averages into combined standard deviation (Can, 2014).Pearson Correlation coefficient was used to calculate whether a meaningful relationship exists between levels of attitude toward teaching profession and levels of teacher competencies.

Results
Averages and standard deviation values for teacher candidates' attitudes toward teaching profession are given in Table 3.When the averages relating to attitude toward teaching profession are examined, it can be stated that teacher candidates' love (X ̅ =4.27) and importance (X ̅ =4.27) attitudes are higher than fear (X ̅ =3.59) attitude, and that their total attitude toward teaching profession is high (X ̅ =4.05).
Averages for teacher candidates' attitudes toward teaching profession and the distribution of these averages across genders are given in Table 3. candidates have a higher level of positive attitude compared to the male teacher candidates.In "fear" factor, on the other hand, no meaningful difference was found in terms of gender.Averages pertaining to teacher candidates' attitudes toward teaching profession and the distribution of these averages across fields of education are given in Table 5.As can be seen in Table 5, it is seen that in the factor "fear", teacher candidates in the field of science have a higher level of positive attitude compared to the teacher candidates in the field of social sciences (t=1.98,p<.05, ES=.21).It was also found that in the factors "love" and "importance", and "general attitude toward teaching profession", no meaningful difference was observed in terms of field of education.
Averages for teacher candidates' attitudes toward teaching profession and the distribution of these averages according to graduation status are given in Table 6.When the values in Table 6 are examined, no statistically significant difference is observed in the factors and in general attitude toward teaching profession in terms of graduation status.
Averages and standard deviation values pertaining to teacher candidates' teaching-learning process competencies are given in Table 7.When the averages for attitudes toward teaching-learning process competencies are examined, it is seen that teacher candidates consider themselves most competent in classroom management (X ̅ =3.91), which is followed by planning teaching (X ̅ =3.82), learning environment and materials (X ̅ =3.80), extracurricular activities (X ̅ =3.75) and diversifying teaching (X ̅ =3.73).It can be stated that teacher candidates consider themselves competent in teaching-learning process in general (X ̅ =3.80).Averages for teacher candidates' teaching-learning process competencies and the distribution of these averages across genders are given in Table 8.As seen in Table 8, teaching-learning process competencies of teacher candidates did not differ statistically significantly in the factors and in total teaching-learning process competencies according to gender.Averages for teacher candidates' teaching-learning process competencies and the distribution of these averages across fields of education are given in Table 9.When the values in Table 9 are examined, it is seen that the competence levels of teacher candidates in science field are higher in classroom management (t=2.23,p<.05, ES=.24) and teaching-learning process competencies in general (t=1.99,p<.05, ES=.21) compared to those in social sciences field.No statistically significant difference was observed in other factors in terms of field of education variable.
Averages for teacher candidates' teaching-learning process competencies and the distribution of these averages according to graduation status are given in Table 10.Table 10 shows that in the learning environment and materials factor, graduates consider themselves more competent compared to senior teacher candidates (t=2.02,p<.05, ES=.23).No statistically significant difference was observed in other factors and in total teaching-learning process competencies in terms of graduation status.
The findings on the relationship between teacher candidates' levels of attitude toward teaching profession and the level of teaching-learning process competence are given in Table 11.Table 11 shows that, as far as teacher candidates' levels of attitude toward teaching profession and the level of teaching-learning process competence are concerned, both scales and all the subdimensions are positively and statistically significantly correlated with one another.

Discussion, Conclusion and Implementation
This study, which aimed to identify teacher candidates' levels of attitude toward teaching profession and levels of teaching-learning process competencies and the relationship between them, revealed that female teacher candidates have a more positive attitude toward teaching profession compared to male teacher candidates.This finding coincides with the findings of Cramer ( 2004), Çapri and Çelikkaleli (2008), Çetinkaya (2009), Pehlivan (2004), Sağlam (2008) and Terzi and Tezci (2007).The reason behind this finding may be the fact that teaching profession is considered as a female profession in society and females are more inclined to raise individuals due to their maternal instinct.Another finding was that teacher candidates' attitudes toward teaching profession did not differ according to their fields of education, as also maintained by Çapri and Çelikkaleli (2008) and Demirtaş et al. (2008).The study also revealed that the attitudes of senior teacher candidates and graduates toward teaching profession did not differ.
It was also found that teacher candidates' teaching-learning process competencies did not differ according to gender.Konokman andYelken (2013), andSeferoğlu (2004) also revealed that gender does not affect teaching-learning process competencies.Moreover, the studies of Çakır, Erkuş and Kılıç (2000), and Şeker, Deniz and Görgen (2005) indicated that teacher candidates' professional competence or self-efficacy believes (Kalaian & Freeman, 1994) is significantly higher in female teacher candidates.Our study also examined whether teacher candidates' teaching-learning process competencies are influenced by their field of education.The analyses demonstrated that teacher candidates in science field had higher competencies compared to those in social sciences field.On the other hand, some studies in the literature showed that teacher candidates in social sciences had higher competencies (Demirtaş, Cömert, & Öner, 2011;Çakır, Kan, & Sünbül, 2006;Gürbüztürk & Şad, 2009).These different findings may be attributed to the differences in sample size.
The results of the examination of the relationship between teacher candidates' attitudes toward teaching profession and teaching-learning process competencies revealed a positive relationship between affection, fear and care sub-dimensions of the Attitudes toward Teaching Profession Scale and planning teaching, learning environment and materials, extracurricular activities, diversifying teaching and classroom management sub-dimensions of the Teaching-Learning Process Competencies Scale.In other words, as teacher candidates' attitudes toward their profession improve, they consider themselves more competent in the teaching-learning process.Our literature review revealed that there are many studies which point to a positive significant relationship between teacher candidates' competence and their attitudes toward teaching profession (Çakır, 2005;Çakır, Erkuş & Kılıç, 2000;Çapri & Çelikkaleli, 2008;Demirtaş, Cömert, & Öner, 2011;Oğuz & Topkaya, 2008).Similar results were also obtained by Caprara, Barbaranelli, Steca and Malone (2006), who maintained that teachers' perceptions of competence are influenced by their attitude toward teaching profession.
This study which was conducted to discover teacher candidates' levels of attitude toward teaching profession and the level of teaching-learning process competencies, and the relationship between these two aspects found that teacher candidates had a positive attitude toward their profession and a high level of teaching-learning process competencies.It also revealed a positively significant relationship between teacher candidates' levels of attitude toward their profession and levels of teaching-learning process competencies.Some suggestions derived from the results of the current study are listed below for future researchers: • It is of great significance to strengthen teacher candidates' attitude toward teaching profession and maintain its contribution to teaching-learning process competence levels during the preservice training period.
• Also, the necessary working conditions should be ensured so that teacher candidates do not experience any negative change in their attitude toward their profession and their levels of teachinglearning process competencies upon starting teaching.
• As the Teaching-Learning Process Competencies Scale designed for this study is valid and reliable, it can be used to determine the variables that affect competencies of in-service teachers and teacher candidates.
• Further studies could be conducted on teacher candidates' attitudes toward teaching profession and their teaching-learning process competencies, and different teacher candidate groups could be compared.
• A similar study which involves a larger sample from technical education faculties of various universities may be conducted.

Acknowledge
A part of this study was presented as oral presentation in the 4th International Conference on Curriculum and Instruction, 27-30 October, 2016, Antalya, Turkey.

Table 1 .
Analysis Results-Teaching Learning Process Competencies Scale.

Table 3 .
Teacher Candidates' Levels of Attitude toward Teaching Profession.

Table 4 .
Levels of Attitude toward Teaching Profession according to Gender.

Table 5 .
Levels of Attitude toward Teaching Profession according to Field of Education.

Table 6 .
Levels of Attitude toward Teaching Profession according to Graduation Status.

Table 7 .
Teaching-Learning Process Competencies of Teacher Candidates.

Table 8 .
Teaching-Learning Process Competence Levels according to Gender.

Table 9 .
Levels of Teaching-Learning Process Competence according to Field of Education.

Table 10 .
Teaching-Learning Process Competence Levels according to Graduation Status.

Table 11 .
The Relationship between Levels of Attitude toward Teaching Profession and the Level of Teaching-Learning Process Competence.