The Use of Literature Circle Technique in Teachers’ Professional Development

Supporting teachers for their professional development is important. Literature circle technique has a potential to create and support professional learning communities. The purpose of this research was to examine how the literature circle can be used between teachers in order to enhance their professional development. In this qualitative study the action research approach was employed. The participants of the study were seven teachers working in a vocational high school in İstanbul. The duration of the study was one year. The teachers of different subject areas read nine books using the literature circle technique. They decided which books they were going to read together, read the same book and parts, organized 2-hour discussions weekly and attended the discussions after they had delivered the technical tasks. The research data was collected with focus group interviews, questionnaire form and field notes. The research findings showed that literature circle is suitable for teachers and can be used in professional learning communities. The teachers liked it very much as it provided retentive learning, allowed for learning from each other and made literature more effective. The teachers emphasized that they noticed the individual differences among the students and started to use suitable methods thanks to the technique. The literature circle technique provided teachers with an opportunity to better know each other, share experiences and opinions about day to day teaching practices

A validity and reliability study for a new scale of teachers’ stereotypes in educational context

Kalıpyargı, aralarındaki farklılıkları göz önüne almaksızın, bir grubun hemen hemen bütün üyelerine aynı karakteristik özellikleri atfederek bir grup insan hakkında genelleme yapmak şeklinde tanımlanır. Normal şartlarda her insanda bulunan ve zararsız olan kalıpyargıların, eğitim ortamında öğrenciler üzerinde akademik başarıyı düşürme, devamsızlığı ve okul terkini artırma gibi çeşitli olumsuzluklar oluşturma ihtimali bulunur. Bu nedenle eğitimde kalıpyargı tehdidi öğretmenlerin farkına varması gereken bir olgudur. Öğretmenlerin farkındalığını artırmaya yönelik çalışmalara kanıt sunma amacıyla kalıpyargı tehdidinin etkisini ortaya koyma açısından geliştirilecek ölçme araçlarına ihtiyaç bulunmaktadır. Yukarıda belirtilen ihtiyacı karşılamaya yönelik, bu araştırma ile öğretmenlerin eğitim ortamında sahip oldukları kalıpyargıları belirlemeye yönelik olarak \"eğitimde kalıpyargılar ölçeğinin\" geliştirilerek, geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışmalarının yapılması amaçlandı. Araştırmanın örneklemini 2013-2014 eğitim öğretim yılı bahar yarıyılında İstanbul’un 25 farklı İlçesinde, ilkokul, ortaokul ve lise düzeylerinde görev yapan 442 öğretmen oluşturmuştur. 73 aday madde ile başlanan çalışmada uygulanan açımlayıcı faktör analizi sonucu 35 maddenin elenmesiyle sekiz faktörden oluşan 38 maddelik bir ölçek elde edildi. Sekiz faktörün Eigen değerleri 1.61 ile 4.92 arasında, yük değerleri ise 4.35 ile 13.29 arasında değişiyor olup toplam yük değeri 55.98’dir. Ölçeğin bütünün Cronbach alfa ile tespit edilen iç güvenirlik değeri .866 olarak tespit edildi. Ölçeğin faktörlerine ilişkin Cronbach alfa ile tespit edilen iç güvenirlik değerleri ise .886 ile .740 arasında değişiyor. Ölçeğin sekiz faktörü arasında .338 ile .004 arasında değişen ilişki tespit edildi. Ayrıca yapılan doğrulayıcı faktör analiziyle elde edilen yapının uygunluğu desteklendi. Yukarıda yer alan bulgulardan hareketle geliştirilen 38 maddelik ölçeğin öğretmenlerin kalıpyargılarını belirlemek amacıyla kullanılabileceği söylenebilir. Kalıpyargı, aralarındaki farklılıkları göz önüne almaksızın, bir grubun hemen hemen bütün üyelerine aynı karakteristik özellikleri atfederekbir grup insan hakkında genelleme yapmak şeklinde tanımlanır. Normal şartlarda her insanda bulunan ve zararsız olan kalıpyargıların,eğitim ortamında öğrenciler üzerinde akademik başarıyı düşürme, devamsızlığı ve okul terkini artırma gibi çeşitli olumsuzluklar oluşturmaihtimali bulunur. Bu nedenle eğitimde kalıpyargı tehdidi öğretmenlerin farkına varması gereken bir olgudur. Öğretmenlerin farkındalığınıartırmaya yönelik çalışmalara kanıt sunma amacıyla kalıpyargı tehdidinin etkisini ortaya koyma açısından geliştirilecek ölçme araçlarınaihtiyaç bulunmaktadır. Yukarıda belirtilen ihtiyacı karşılamaya yönelik, bu araştırma ile öğretmenlerin eğitim ortamında sahip olduklarıkalıpyargıları belirlemeye yönelik olarak \"eğitimde kalıpyargılar ölçeğinin\" geliştirilerek, geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışmalarının yapılmasıamaçlandı. Araştırmanın örneklemini 2013-2014 eğitim öğretim yılı bahar yarıyılında İstanbul’un 25 farklı İlçesinde, ilkokul, ortaokulve lise düzeylerinde görev yapan 442 öğretmen oluşturmuştur. 73 aday madde ile başlanan çalışmada uygulanan açımlayıcı faktör analizisonucu 35 maddenin elenmesiyle sekiz faktörden oluşan 38 maddelik bir ölçek elde edildi. Sekiz faktörün Eigen değerleri 1.61 ile 4.92arasında, yük değerleri ise 4.35 ile 13.29 arasında değişiyor olup toplam yük değeri 55.98’dir. Ölçeğin bütünün Cronbach alfa ile tespitedilen iç güvenirlik değeri .866 olarak tespit edildi. Ölçeğin faktörlerine ilişkin Cronbach alfa ile tespit edilen iç güvenirlik değerleri ise.886 ile .740 arasında değişiyor. Ölçeğin sekiz faktörü arasında .338 ile .004 arasında değişen ilişki tespit edildi. Ayrıca yapılan doğrulayıcıfaktör analiziyle elde edilen yapının uygunluğu desteklendi. Yukarıda yer alan bulgulardan hareketle geliştirilen 38 maddelik ölçeğinöğretmenlerin kalıpyargılarını belirlemek amacıyla kullanılabileceği söylenebilir.Stereotyping is defined as making overgeneralizations about a group of people by attributing same characteristics to almost all members ofthat group without considering their differences. Stereotyping which is typical of every person and is harmless under normal conditions hasthe potential to have harmful consequences such as lowering academic achievement and increasing absence and dropout rate. Therefore, thestereotyping threat in education is a phenomenon of which teachers should be cognizant. There is also a need for developing instrumentsthat will measure the influence of stereotyping threat which will help to present evidence for those studies aiming to increase teachers’awareness. In order to address the above-mentioned need, this study aimed to develop a scale of \"Teachers’ Stereotypes in EducationalContext\" and report validity and reliability analyses with an aim to determine the stereotypes possessed by teachers in educationalcontexts. The sample of the study comprised 442 teachers from 25 districts in İstanbul who worked at primary, secondary or high schoollevel in the spring term of 2013-2014 academic year. The first form of the scale had 73 items but with the exclusion of 35 items as a result ofexploratory factor analysis, a 38-item scale was obtained. Eigen values of eight factors were between 1.61 and 4.92 and factor loadings werebetween 4.35 and 13.29 whereas total loadings value was 55.98. Internal consistency of the scale which was calculated with Cronbach alfawas found to be 0.87. Cronbach alfa values for factors ranged between 0.89 and 0.74. Correlations between 8 factors ranged between 0.34and 0.004. Additionally, the 8-factor structure was also supported by confirmatory factor analysis. In accordance with the findings of thestudy, we conclude that the developed scale with 38 items can be used to determine teachers’ stereotyping in educational environments

The Use of Literature Circle Technique in Teachers' Professional Development

Supporting teachers for their professional development is important. Literature circle technique has a potential to create and support professional learning communities. The purpose of this research was to examine how the literature circle can be used between teachers in order to enhance their professional development. In this qualitative study the action research approach was employed. The participants of the study were seven teachers working in a vocational high school in İstanbul. The duration of the study was one year. The teachers of different subject areas read nine books using the literature circle technique. They decided which books they were going to read together, read the same book and parts, organized 2-hour discussions weekly and attended the discussions after they had delivered the technical tasks. The research data was collected with focus group interviews, questionnaire form and field notes. The research findings showed that literature circle is suitable for teachers and can be used in professional learning communities. The teachers liked it very much as it provided retentive learning, allowed for learning from each other and made literature more effective. The teachers emphasized that they noticed the individual differences among the students and started to use suitable methods thanks to the technique. The literature circle technique provided teachers with an opportunity to better know each other, share experiences and opinions about day to day teaching practices

Cognitive and affective contributions of the literature circles method on the acquisition of reading habits and comprehension skills in primary level students

This study aimed to examine the effect of literature circles on fourth grade primary students\" reading habits and comprehension skills and collected the opinions of students and teachers about the method. In this study, quantitative (pre-test and post-test designs) and qualitative (case study) methods were employed together. The study was conducted on 72 students in the fourth grade of a private school in Istanbul. The data were collected through focus group interviews conducted with teachers and students using \"Semi-structured interview forms\" and a \"reading comprehension scale\". The reading comprehension scale was administered as pre-test and post-test. A dependent group\"s t test was employed for the analysis of the scale scores, and a structured reporting technique was used for the analysis of interview data. The findings of the study showed that the literature circles method improved the reading comprehension skills of students who had low level reading comprehension. It was also found out that students liked reading books by performing different tasks, discussing and cooperating with their friends over a period of time. Students stated that they remembered the book they had read with all the details even two weeks later. The book presentation projects were found beneficial by the students who had prepared them and their audience

The Effect of Literature Circles on Reading Comprehension Skills

This study aims at investigating the effect of literature circles on reading comprehension skills of fifth graders. Pre-test – post-test control group design was used in this study conducted with two fifth grade classrooms in a primary school in Maltepe, Istanbul. There were 34 students in the experimental group and 33 students in the control group. Data were collected through the “Reading Comprehension Scale”. Results indicated that post-test scores of the experimental group increased more than those of the control group. The level of this increase was higher in the group with poor reading comprehension skills.Bu araştırmanın amacı, okuma çemberinin ilköğretim beşinci sınıf öğrencilerinin okuduğunu anlama becerilerine etkisini belirlemektir. Araştırmada ön-test – son-test kontrol gruplu deneysel desen kullanılmıştır. Araştırma İstanbul ili Maltepe ilçesinde bir ilköğretim okulunun 67 beşinci sınıf öğrencisi ile yürütülmüştür. Bu öğrencilerin 34’ü deney, 33’ü ise kontrol grubundadır. Veriler, “Okuduğunu Anlama Ölçeği” kullanılarak elde edilmiştir. Ön-test ve son-test uygulama sonuçlarına göre deney grubunda okuduğunu anlama becerisi, kontrol grubuna göre, anlamlı düzeyde daha fazla artış göstermiştir. Bu artış, deney öncesi okuduğunu anlama becerisi düşük olanlarda, yüksek olanlara göre daha fazla gerçekleşmiştir

A Validity and Reliability Study for a New Scale of Teachers’ Stereotypes in Educational Context

Stereotyping is defined as making overgeneralizations about a group of people by attributing same characteristics to almost all members of that group without considering their differences. Stereotyping which is typical of every person and is harmless under normal conditions has the potential to have harmful consequences such as lowering academic achievement and increasing absence and dropout rate. Therefore, the stereotyping threat in education is a phenomenon of which teachers should be cognizant. There is also a need for developing instruments that will measure the influence of stereotyping threat which will help to present evidence for those studies aiming to increase teachers’ awareness. In order to address the above-mentioned need, this study aimed to develop a scale of “Teachers’ Stereotypes in Educational Context” and report validity and reliability analyses with an aim to determine the stereotypes possessed by teachers in educational contexts. The sample of the study comprised 442 teachers from 25 districts in İstanbul who worked at primary, secondary or high school level in the spring term of 2013-2014 academic year. The first form of the scale had 73 items but with the exclusion of 35 items as a result of exploratory factor analysis, a 38-item scale was obtained. Eigen values of eight factors were between 1.61 and 4.92 and factor loadings were between 4.35 and 13.29 whereas total loadings value was 55.98. Internal consistency of the scale which was calculated with Cronbach alfa was found to be 0.87. Cronbach alfa values for factors ranged between 0.89 and 0.74. Correlations between 8 factors ranged between 0.34 and 0.004. Additionally, the 8-factor structure was also supported by confirmatory factor analysis. In accordance with the findings of the study, we conclude that the developed scale with 38 items can be used to determine teachers’ stereotyping in educational environments