Abstract:

In this study, it was aimed to determine the assertiveness levels of students studying at Early Childhood Education Department and to investigate whether there were significant differences among the findings according to some variables.Students of Afyon Kocatepe University Early Childhood Education Department during 2009-2010 academic year were included in the study. In order to find out the pre-service preschool teachers’ assertiveness levels, “Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS)” which was adapted to Turkish by Voltan (1980) and then restructured by Dinçyurek et al. (2010) was administered to the participants. The main reasons for selecting this schedule was that it was short and easy to evaluate while it was also adaptive to different cultures and the fact that its reliability and validity studies were conducted in Turkey after its adaptation. The schedule consisted of thirty items all of which were intended for adults. During the administration of the schedule, preservice preschool teachers who volunteered to participate responded to the schedule. Data were collected in a manner complying with the quantitative research method and survey design was utilized. The findings were then discussed and interpreted. According to the findings, significant differences were present between the scores and some variables which are as follows: gender, age, year of study, hometown, family type, educational level of father and economic status of the family. According to such a conclusion, the above mentioned variables should be born in mind when fostering the assertiveness of pre-service preschool teachers to help them in terms of effective teaching and personal development.

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