The professional-social concern levels of the secondary school mathematics teachers in their first-year in-service and their opinions related to the pre-service education

Abstract

This research aimed to determine the challenges that the secondary school mathematics teachers experienced in their first-year in-service during the orientation process and their opinions related to the pre-service education. In the study, in which a longitudinal survey method was employed, the data were obtained from two measurements carried out six years apart. The data were obtained with a novice teacher questionnaire from 141 participants in total consisting of 61 in the first application and 80 in the second. The descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, correlation analysis, Mann Whitney U or Kruskal Wallis tests were used in the analysis of the obtained data. It was found that the professional concerns and social concerns of the mathematics teachers did not differ in years; however, their professional concerns were higher than their social concerns in general. A moderate level significant relationship was found between social and professional concerns experienced by the mathematics teachers. Workload and class management were the significant factors underlying their professional concerns; on the other hand, social status-identity confusion, and problems in dealing with principals or supervisors were the underlying their social concerns. While the place of duty and the situation of selecting the profession were effective on concerns, the variables of gender and cooperation with guidance teachers were not effective on teachers' professional and social concerns. The rate of finding the pre-service education by the pre-service teachers who were in their first year was low.