Primary School Teacher Candidates Self-Efficacy for Teaching Primary Reading and Writing

The "primary reading and writing teaching" undergraduate level course includes listening, speaking, visual reading and visual presentation, familiarization with the primary reading and writing learning areas and processes, the effects of the characteristics of Turkish in teaching primary reading and writing, the objectives and principles of teaching primary reading and writing, the characteristics of the first-grade teachers and their students, the tools and techniques used in teaching primary reading and writing, and the methods used in teaching primary reading and writing. The subject of the study is to determine the extent of giving this content to the primary school teacher candidates in universities or how competent primary school teacher candidates feel in this field. A descriptive survey model was used in the study. The study aims to reveal the teacher candidates' self-efficacy who take the primary reading and writing teaching course. The sample consisted of 302 third and fourth grades teacher candidates from the primary education department of the education faculties of three state universities. In the study, the "Self-Efficacy Scale for Primary Reading and Writing Teaching" developed by Delican (2016) was used. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of the whole scale was .90, and Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients of the sub-dimensions were between .89 and .90. Teacher candidates' self-efficacy was analyzed according to the following variables: gender, age, graduated high school, the university they attend, rank in university preference, and the number of books they read. Teacher candidates' self-efficacy did not differ significantly according to gender, grade (T-Test), graduated high school, the university they attend, and rank in university preference (ANOVA Test). It differed significantly according to the number of books read annually, in favor of those who read more books. The study is expected to contribute to the field of primary education.