Abstract:

This study was intended to determine prospective primary school teachers' self-efficacy beliefs related to their pre-service learning based on various factors such as gender, university, education type, orders and reasons of preference the program that enrolled and their attitudes towards teaching profession. In the present study, survey method was used and data were gathered through an instrument developed by the researcher. The sample consisted of 223 senior prospective primary teachers who enrolled in three different teacher education institutions including Hacettepe, Gazi and Kirikkale Universities in spring 2006. Participants rated their level of self-efficacy beliefs on a 5-Likert type scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The results of the study revealed that these pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs differed with respect to their gender, their orders and reasons of preference the program that enrolled and their attitudes towards teaching profession as well. On the other hand, their universities, the education types (day time/night time) that they attended and type of high school they graduated from had no significant effect over these prospective primary teachers' self-efficacy beliefs.

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