An Examination of Historical Literacy Perceptions of Social Studies Preservice Teachers in Terms of Various Variables

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the historical literacy perception levels of social studies preservice teachers and to examine them in terms of various variables. In this framework, the survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The sample of this study consisted of 134 social studies preservice teachers studying at the faculty of education of a state university in the 2019-2020 academic year. The data in the study were collected with the "Historical Literacy Perception Scale" developed by Uluçay (2019), after obtaining the necessary permissions. The data obtained from the scale were analyzed using the statistical package program. Considering the results obtained from the study, it was concluded that the social studies preservice teachers in the sample had high levels of historical literacy perception. In addition, their perception levels increased according to the variables of mother's education level and frequency of watching historical movies. On the other hand, their perceptions did not change / differ according to the variables such as grade level, gender, father's education level, tendency to read history books, to follow historical publications and competence of the teachers. Considering the results of the research in general, it can be said that the preservice teachers benefited sufficiently from their university and pre-university education in terms of historical literacy skills.