The Analysis of the Perceptions of Pre-service Social Studies Teachers on Teacher-Student Communications
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The present study aimed to investigate the perceptions of pre-service social studies teachers on teacher-student communication. The study group of the research consists of pre-service teachers studying at Aydın Adnan Menderes University Social Studies Education. In order to determine the perceptions of the participants about teacher- student communication, data was collected through both the metaphor form and the semi-structured interview form. The pre-service social studies teachers were asked to fill “Teacher-student communication is like …………. Because …………… .. ”statement on the metaphor form. On the interview form, pre-service social studies teachers were asked to answer following questions: ‘’What is the concept of communication?’’, ‘’What are the factors affecting teacher-student communication?’’, ‘’What are the qualities of teachers with effective communication?’’, and ‘’What are the characteristics of teachers who do not have effective communication’’. The analysis of metaphor data demonstrated that pre-service teachers associated the teacher-student communication with the concepts of “source” and “interaction”. The analysis of the interviews revealed that pre-service teachers emphasized interaction the most when defining the concept of communication. The participants also stated that teacher-student communication was mostly affected by the teacher and then the student. Participants argued that the characteristics of a teacher with active communication skills included personality traits, being open to communication, and the instruction of the course. On the characteristics of a teacher without active communication skills, participants included negative attitude towards the student, negative judgments about the personality of the teacher, inadequate communication skills, professional incompetency, and inadequacy in self-management.