Abstract:

Individuals' liking for children may have an impact on their attitudes towards the teaching profession. This research was conducted to examine the effect of teacher candidates' demographic characteristics and their love of children on their attitudes towards the teaching profession. The research was conducted with 832 university students studying child development, classroom teaching, physical education teaching and pre-school teaching in different provinces across Turkey. The data were obtained using the "Barnett Child Liking Scale" and the "Attitude Scale Towards the Teaching Profession". In the analyses, frequencies and percentages of personal information were given, and descriptive analyzes of the scale scores were made. Independent sample t-Test was used for binary variables, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for three or more variables. CHAID analysis, one of the classification analyses, was used to determine the most important demographic variables affecting teacher candidates' liking for children and their attitudes towards the teaching profession. As a result, it was determined that as the teacher candidates' level of liking for children increased, their attitudes towards the teaching profession also increased, and their liking for children predicted their attitudes towards the teaching profession at a moderate level. The results were discussed in light of the literature and some suggestions were offered.

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