Sınıf Öğretmeni Adaylarına Göre Sosyal Bilgiler Dersinde Küresel Vatandaşlık

Introduction Globalization has brought the necessity of training global citizens who are aware of the world’s problems and who can produce solutions for these problems. Global citizenship consists of principles such as making decisions in social, economic, cultural and political areas at the national and international scale; promoting gender, racial, ethnic, national and religious equality; and making sacrifices for common interests. Oxfam (2006) defined global citizens as individuals who are aware of their own responsibilities as citizens of a broad world, value diversity and respect it, and react to social injustice. It is also stated that global citizens are individuals who take responsibility and act to make the world a fair and sustainable place. Training people who can take responsibility on a global scale and thus have a global perspective is only possible through effective global citizenship education. "Global citizenship education" requires training active and responsible individuals as world citizens. The Social Studies course plays an important role in training active citizens and is aimed at training individuals to be equipped with both national and global values (Kan, 2012). In this sense, revealing future teachers' perceptions related to global citizenship education is of great importance in terms of shaping the practices in the area. In particular, there is a need for revealing the views of elementary teachers who would teach at elementary schools as being a prominent part of improving the training of basic life skills. This study purposed to examine elementary teacher candidates' views on global citizenship in the Social Studies course. The following research questions were addressed based on this purpose: 1) What are elementary teacher candidates' views on global citizenship? 2) What are elementary teacher candidates' views on the function of the Social Studies course in global citizenship education? 3) What are elementary teacher candidates' suggestions related to global citizenship education in the Social Studies course? Method A qualitative approach was adopted in this descriptive study. The participants of the study consisted of 78 fourth-year students studying elementary education at the Anadolu University Education Faculty. The criteria for the selection of the participants included having taken social studies teaching, having school experience and teaching practicum courses, and having observed an elementary school environment as teacher candidates. The primary reason for these criteria was that the teacher candidates should have an idea of existing practices. The data were gathered through an open-ended survey developed by the researchers. The open-ended survey included two sections. The first section consisted of questions related to the students' gender, the state of having Internet connection at home, the websites that they regularly visit, and the state of being a member of a non-governmental organization. The second section included four questions towards identifying the students' views on global citizenship education. In the analysis of the qualitative data obtained from the open-ended survey, a descriptive analysis technique was employed. In this regard, the open-ended survey forms were firstly examined, and the empty forms were excluded. Then, the remaining survey forms were numbered. While the data were analyzed, the themes for the research questions were created. In this scope, the data obtained from each question were analyzed separately, and raw codes were revealed. As a result of relating the codes to each other, categories were formed. The researchers conducted the process of revealing the codes and themes in the form of discussion. The necessary revisions and relations were done together, and the themes were finalized. Findings and Conclusions The findings obtained in the study are presented under the headings of "global citizenship", "the characteristics of global citizenship", "the contribution of the Social Studies course to global citizenship education" and "suggestions for effective global citizenship education in the Social Studies course". The elementary teacher candidates' views on global citizenship were related to the conceptual, individual and national dimensions. The conceptual dimension of citizenship was regarded as the transformation of one's concept of citizenship and the reasons one gives for citizenship. The transformations in the concept of global citizenship were described as world citizenship and environmental citizenship. In the study, it was emphasized that in the scope of environmental citizenship, today's citizens should be conscious of the environment and be aware of their responsibilities. Related to this aspect, in Özdemir-Özden's study (2011), Science and Technology teachers, Social Studies teachers and 6th, 7th and 8th grade students pointed out that environmental citizenship put a set of responsibilities on individuals; thus, its education starts in the family. In that study, the findings related to environmental citizenship education at primary schools are in parallel with the current study. Another emphasis regarding the conceptual transformation in the concept of citizenship was on the concept of world citizenship. World citizenship is based on principles such as equality, justice, harmony and shared decision-making (Yaşar, 2008). Therefore, the teacher candidates thought the concept of citizenship should go beyond national borders, and individuals should see themselves as citizens of the world and take responsibility in this respect. It can be argued that this view is consistent with literature. The teacher candidates referred to immigration, change in life conditions and technological developments with regard to the transformations in the concept of citizenship, which was in parallel with what globalization has brought. In this regard, it can be argued that globalization has a directly positive or negative effect on the concept of citizenship. Similarly, in Gül's study (2008), teachers provided views such as the increase in technological developments, removal of borders and different life conditions as being familiar concepts. Bozkurt's study (2013) revealed that different views--including the removal of different borders as a part of globalization--and an increased level of awareness can be reached with technological developments. In this regard, the current study is consistent with Gül (2008) and Bozkurt (2013) regarding the results related to the effect of technological developments on human life and how conditions are changing compared to the past. With respect to the characteristics of global citizens, different characteristics such as knowledge and understanding, skills, values and attitudes towards being a global citizen were revealed based on the teacher candidates' views. Therefore, it was found that global citizens should have a high level of awareness, high-order thinking skills, openness to novelties, a high level of participation skill and a set of values. In Lee and Leung's study (2006), the teachers in Shanghai and Hong Kong had views related to global citizenship education in the dimensions of knowledge, skills and values. In their answers regarding the contribution of the Social Studies course in global citizenship education, some of the candidates perceived the course as sufficient, some thought it was insufficient, and a small number of students did not have any opinions in this respect. The teacher candidates who thought that the course was sufficient in terms of global citizenship education referred to course objectives, content and structure as competency dimensions. The teacher candidates regarding the competency dimension in terms of the course objectives stated that the course was sufficient in terms of teaching knowledge, skills, values and citizenship competencies that overlapped with the course objectives. This corresponds with Ersoy's study (2007), where the elementary teacher candidates stated that individuals gain a set of knowledge, skills and values regarding global citizenship in the Social Studies course. The teacher candidates' suggestions towards conducting global citizenship education were related to the course structure, objectives, and content and learning-teaching process. Some of the teacher candidates did not have any views in this regard. For effective global citizenship education, the teacher candidates’ views indicated that global issues should be included in the Social Studies course, different cultures should be introduced, the subdiscipline of global citizenship should be included, values education should be given and the scope of global citizenship should be introduced. This result is also consistent with the findings of Lee and Leung (2006) related to different religious and cultural beliefs, environmental issues, international relations and cooperation, conflicts, citizenship issues, global issues, international awareness, and economy. It can be argued that the teacher candidates who provided views on both the conceptual dimension of global citizenship and its education did not have sufficient knowledge, skills and awareness compared with those in Lee and Leung's study (2006). It was revealed that the results related to global citizenship and the contribution of the Social Studies course in global citizenship education are consistent with the results of the studies conducted in literature. However, it was also found that some revisions were needed in the Social Studies' teaching program and implementation for effective global citizenship education, and the stakeholders should work together in this respect. The following suggestions can be offered based on the findings revealed in the study: 1) Training on global citizenship can be given to the stakeholders. 2) Values education can be emphasized in the Social Studies course. 3) Teaching activities can be organized, considering technological developments. 5) Global problems can be pointed out in the Social Studies lessons. 5) Studies revealing elementary teachers' views on global citizenship can also be conducted.