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In this study, it is aimed to determine the opinions of secondary school students about educational robotics applications. The case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The research was carried out with 7th grade students of two different secondary schools in the Battalgazi district of Malatya province in the 2021-2022 academic year. The study group of the research consisted of 18 students, who were determined according to the purposive sampling method. In the study group, science lesson teaching was carried out with educational robotic applications for about two months. The data of the study were obtained with a semi-structured interview form consisting of seven questions developed by the researchers. Descriptive analysis method was used in the analysis of the obtained data. As a result of the research, most of the students stated that they liked the activities, associated the applications with daily life, their interest in the science lesson increased, they worked in collaborative groups, the lessons were fun, and they wanted robotics training sets to be used in their lessons in the future. In addition, some of the students stated that they found the applications confusing at the beginning of the studies, that they had difficulties in the coding part and that there were in-group discussions. In line with the findings, suggestions were made regarding the use of robotic applications in teaching science courses.

New strategies come along all the time, but these strategies matter little if educators are not sure why they are using them or what the desired outcome is. Quality literacy instruction should be rooted in effective foundational practices. Text-dependent questions offer a foundation for literacy practices that support students' comprehension, understanding, and discussion of complex texts. These questions can be asked at different cognitive levels -- literal, structural, and inferential. Strategic use of these text-dependent questions can also be used to scaffold student deeper reading and inference making. The questions can also be integrated into a variety of literacy activities and help ensure that the text remains central to the after-reading literacy activities. These activities can be used throughout a literacy curriculum.

This study aims to reveal the opinions of teacher candidates on unemployment, which has been observed more seriously among the young in the society recently, the provision of employment to the individuals in the society, and the links between unemployment and the Turkish education system. In this study, which was designed as qualitative research, it was tried to put forward the anxiety, opinions and solution suggestions of the candidate teachers who are fourth-year students in Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University and Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Education Faculties about unemployment. In the study, in the approaches of teacher candidates to the concept of unemployment, they perceived unemployment as not being able to find a job or being sentenced to a job that was not suitable for its quality; the candidate teachers were observed to explain unemployment through definitions such as disrepute, seeing no respect in society, living in need of others, being left behind in the struggle for survival. It is seen that participants find the vocational guidance in the education system insufficient and unplanned, and they focus on solutions to increase the quality of education, not to increase the duration of education and the number of educational institutions as a suggestion to create employment. It has been stated that the Turkish education system should be saved from its competitive and rote structure that does not respond to the subjective needs of individuals, that teacher training institutions should be removed from their theoretical, multiple-choice examination-oriented structure, and a qualified teacher training system that gives more space to practise should be established.

The implications of how teacher development courses (TDCs) should be designed for integrated STEM education are essential for in-class STEM education practices. This study compares the three TDCs accomplished to support teachers' professional development (PD) for integrated STEM education in terms of pedagogical knowledge, technological knowledge, and strategy. A holistic multiple-case study design was used in this study. Each TDC was considered a case study, and case-specific analyses were made. The findings obtained for each case were then compared. The first TDC included only computer science teachers and showed us the necessity of interdisciplinary work to enhance integrated STEM education. The second TDC demonstrated that this work could be accomplished by combining the content knowledge of teachers from various disciplines; however, the second TDC's drawbacks included identifying real-world problems, a lack of response to the engineering approach for science and mathematics teachers, and the rigidity of the collaborative working strategy. Then, we focused on the role and purpose of "T"echnology. Finally, we gave the teachers learning tasks to work collaboratively with teachers in their disciplines first and teachers from other disciplines later. This study shows how a TDC should be designed effectively to support teachers' PD for integrated STEM education.

With this study we aimed at determining the service-learning experiences of pre-service Turkish language teachers in teaching Turkish to Syrian refugee students. The Community Service Practices course plays an important role in the integration of pre-service teachers in the society. A phenomenological design was used in the study in which we investigated the opinions of pre-service teachers about the service-learning processes. The study was conducted with 23 pre-service Turkish language teachers in Kilis 7 Aralik University. The community service practice was realised in a state school where Syrian secondary school students receive education. Interviews were conducted to collect data from the participants, and the content analysis method was used to analyse the data obtained from the interviews. Themes were formed by classifying and interpreting the data. In the study, the experiences of pre-service teachers with students, the teaching process, teaching environment, students, and service-based learning process were analysed. The results indicate that pre-service teachers developed their awareness, took social responsibility, attained occupational experience, and improved their communication with the refugees during the Community Service Practices course. Considering the results obtained it could be argued that service-learning practices have significant benefits for pre-service teachers and students.

Classrooms are a learning environment for teachers as well as students. Teachers can improve their teaching practices by monitoring and reviewing their practices. An important tool of this development is the reflective thinking of teachers. For teachers, reflection is an opportunity to look into the classroom from the outside, to examine the learning process, and to make inferences for pedagogical development. Video recordings of teachers' lessons can be used to stimulate self-reflection by capturing the details of the teaching process and by examining the classroom atmosphere. This study aims to investigate teachers' opinions about using video-based self-reflection for their pedagogical development. Seven teachers participated in the research. Data were collected through a Pre-interview Protocol, Teachers' Reflection Reports written for twelve weeks about one recorded lesson per week, and a Post-interview Protocol after the 12-week video-based self-reflection period. The main findings show that the teachers' video-based self-reflections constitute nine categories and two weeks video-based self-reflection process resulted in changes in teachers' opinions in terms of reflection on video recording, professional development and teaching and learning process.

Novice teachers' teaching practices have been studied widely, however, perspectives of expert teachers are missing from these studies. This study explores expert teachers' opinions on novice teachers' teaching practice by analysing three main components (problem, solution, and reasoning) of expert teachers' feedback. The thematic analysis was used to analyse 29 feedback sessions between novice and expert teachers. After a bottom-up categorization, we generated 4 problem themes, 7 solution themes, and 4 reasoning themes. The most commonly mentioned problem, solution, and reasoning themes were, respectively, "teaching performance", "include more variety of activities and materials", and "students' characteristics". The connections between problem, solution and reasoning show that problem themes "teaching performance" and "materials and assignments", solution theme "improve teachers' knowledge or ability", and reasoning theme "students' characteristics" are most commonly connected to other feedback components. It indicates the importance of these themes in improving teachers' teaching practices. Finally, suggestions were provided for policymakers, school leaders, and the TPD programmes.

This document presents the changes belonging to the published article. The study aimed to examine the opinions of the instructors who work at GUHEM (Gökmen Space and Aviation Training Center) on the exhibition's content, how the exhibition spaces contribute to science education, especially astronomy and aviation, and the types of visitors who frequently visit the center. Nine instructors from GUHEM's science centers participated in the study. Data were gathered using the "Instructor Opinion Form," with nine open-ended questions. The data elicited from these questions were subjected to content analysis. The findings showed that children aged 6 to 11 made up the majority of visitors; the fascinating exhibition areas focused on the Solar System and planets and interactive workshops with space and aviation themes, like those involving paper airplane construction and rocket competition, were very popular. In terms of the contribution of this center to science education, it was found that the GUHEM exhibitions played an active role in teaching the solar system, planets, and pressure. Although astronomy is the discipline with which the exhibition areas are most closely associated, it can also be linked to other disciplines like astrobiology, mathematics, and aviation. Instructors shared their worries that they won't be able to meet visitors' expectations and occasionally struggle to understand the subject during activities held at GUHEM. These findings led to the opinion that GUHEM and other science centers will function more effectively if schools and science centers collaborate more, the curriculum and exhibition content are improved, and the instructors receive professional assistance from academicians who are subject-matter experts.

This study investigates how American and Iraqi writers utilize the evaluative resources in newspaper opinion articles (henceforth, op-eds) from a critical discourse analysis perspective. It explores how American and Iraqi writers of op-ed pieces draw on the evaluative resources to establish their attitudes, create rhetorical effects, and serve their ideologies in influencing readers' and addressees' feelings and attitudes towards certain subject matters. This study hopes to enhance the critical thinking of readers of an increasingly important journalistic genre in democratic societies. The main questions this study raises are: On which categories of attitude markers do American and Iraqi op-ed writers base their evaluation? Which types of referencing external voices are the most recurrent? And why? The researcher adopts Martin and White's (2005) appraisal theory and Van Dijk's (2006) ideology perspective to achieve the study's goals. After applying qualitative and quantitative analysis methods, the study finds that the significant ideological strategy of positive-self presentation and negative other-presentation significantly motivates the evaluative resources used by American and Iraqi op-ed writers. Both American and Iraqi op-ed writers use similar evaluative techniques in terms of distribution. The analysis also finds that there are variations concerning the overall frequencies and the frequencies of the sub-types of evaluative resources under examination across the corpus.

In this teaching case, we describe an experiential learning project that allows students to perform sentiment analysis on a set of tweets (posts made on the social media platform, Twitter) by collecting and analyzing posts that include key words selected by the students. Sentiment analysis refers to the process of identifying and categorizing opinions expressed in a piece of text. The project requires students to make edits to an R script, execute the script to save a collection of tweets that contain specific keywords, then open the file and paste the results into a macro-enabled Excel file that is provided. Students then edit the dataset to cleanse the data and write a report to interpret the findings. The assignment requires only a cursory knowledge of programming and Excel. We assign the project to students taking an introductory information systems course but the project could be suitable for courses in business analytics, marketing, social media, computer science, and other subjects.

This study aims to shed light on what students like and dislike in coding bootcamps. A qualitative content analysis of student reviews for coding bootcamps was conducted, resulting in a research model and survey instrument consisting of fourteen factors that are proposed to affect coding bootcamp satisfaction. The proposed satisfaction factors include quality of instructors, value of mentors, availability of TAs, access to support staff, provision of career services, rigor of curriculum, appropriateness of pedagogy, development of peer connections, conduciveness of atmosphere, use of appropriate technology, affordability, openness of communication, quality of prep course, and level of post-bootcamp support. Each of the proposed satisfaction factors is measured with three to ten Likert-style variables. The proposed research model and survey instrument can be used by administrators and educators in coding bootcamps and traditional universities alike to better understand and ultimately improve student satisfaction in computing education.

The study aims to determine possible relationships between the opinions of teacher candidates regarding distance education, and their attitudes toward the technology used in distance education courses. A quantitative research approach structured in a descriptive and relational survey model was used in the research. 81 teacher candidates studying in three different departments participated in the study. Non-parametric statistics were used to analyze the data, and Descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman-Brown correlation analysis were employed. The results revealed that there is a positive and moderately significant relationship between the attitudes of pre-service teachers towards technology and their opinions of the distance education process. It has also been determined that there is a positive and moderate relationship between the opinions of teacher candidates in regard to the sub-dimensions of the scale of the distance education process evaluation (levels of accessibility, usability, attitude, technological facilities, and self-efficacy) and their attitudes towards technology. These findings implicate that educators teaching online learners should consider the characteristics of their learners and make decisions regarding the teaching and learning process to create the optimal learning environment.

This research examines how Turkish undergraduates construct "campus" metaphors to represent their opinions about campus phenomenon in the context of a Turkish university. The present study adopted a phenomenological approach. The participants of this study were 92 students in the 2020-2021 academic year from different faculties and departments at a university in Turkey. For data collection, a short interview form was used to reveal the perspectives of undergraduates on the phenomenon they have created in their minds for the campus. The form contained a statement with blanks for students to produce a simile and justification. The metaphors generated by the undergraduates are gathered under sixteen conceptual categories after the analysis of metaphors. Among the sixteen conceptual categories, there was no prominent difference in conceptualizations of campus between the groups in terms of study years as regards campus as "Involving diversities", Provider", "Designing/manufacturing", "Source of experience", "Improver", "Socializing force", "Friendship", "Belonging", "Source of life", "Source of different emotions". On the other hand, differences in terms of study year were marked concerning campus as "Dynamic", "Undesired", "Trust", "Valuable", "Full of nature", and "Having borders". While Freshmen/Sophomores perceived campus as "Trust", "Full of nature" but "Having borders", Juniors/Seniors considered campus as "Dynamic", valuable but "Undesired". Among the sixteen conceptual categories, there was no difference in conceptualizations of campus between the two groups in terms of gender as regards campus as "Provider", "Designing/manufacturing", "Source of experience", "Improver", "Friendship", "Belonging", "Source of life", "Source of different emotions". Nevertheless, differences in terms of gender were marked concerning campus as "Socializing force", "Dynamic", "Undesired", "Trust", "Valuable", "Full of nature", and "Having borders". Female students perceived campus as a "Socializing force", "Dynamic", "Trust", "Valuable", and "Full of nature" whereas a male student considered it as "Having borders" like a country.

Digitalization has many implications for the development of equality in societies and is also reflected in education. In a digitalized world, literacy is an essential skill for both individual and societal development. This study explores Finnish student teachers' perceptions of the connection between literacy, equality, and digitalization. The research material consists of professional opinion pieces written by student teachers (N=37). The qualitative study examined student teachers' perceptions of literacy, equality, and digitalization. Student teachers' perceptions concerned pupils' polarizing backgrounds for learning, literacy instruction and the challenge of differentiating classes, deterioration of literacy and other learning, and positive aspects of literacy learning. The results show that student teachers recognize the connection between literacy and digitalization and their broad impact on societal development and equity. As future teachers, they perceived the impact of the development of inequalities on everyday school life and on opportunities to learn key skills as a challenge. The results show that the polarizing starting points for pupils is a worrying trend and challenges the future teacher in a digitalizing world. The results of the study underline that teacher training and teachers are important societal actors and reformers.

The present study was carried out to examine the impact of the outdoor activity-based values education program on the effective citizenship values of sixth-grade secondary school students. In addition, the implementation process for the outdoor activity-based values education program was examined within the context of student, teacher, and parent opinions. The study was carried out within the scope of the exploratory sequential mixed pattern from among the mixed design patterns utilizing both the qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The quantitative data were obtained from the implementations using the "effective citizenship values scale". In contrast, the qualitative data were obtained from students, teachers, and parents via the semi-structured interview forms. It was concluded as a result of the study that the implemented values education program positively impacts the students' effective citizenship value levels. Furthermore, it was also reported that the study enabled learning through doing and living, resulted in permanent learning, positively impacted student behaviors, and improved students' values.

Teaching geometry in the early years emerges along with maths activities but might be neglected sometimes. This research aims to identify preschool teachers' opinions on geometry teaching via using semi-structured interviews, and collected data analysed using content analysis. Seven female and three male preschool teachers were participated in the study, who has BA and MA degrees. The data collected data were analysed by separately with each research as considering the aims of content analysis and had common findings. While the participating teachers considered themselves to have self-efficacy to teach geometry, their sufficiency to teach depends on various factors. In terms of shaped included in preschool education programmes, there is some common knowledge around it. In the case of teaching, some difficulties in teaching various shapes, and teaching in various activities are found, and this is related to used materials in teaching. The prominent finding is the participating teachers' opinions on children's geometric thinking levels, and some participants have inadequate knowledge about it, which might be the result of their insufficient undergraduate degree. This is also underlined by teachers as having ineffective modules in their undergraduate in terms of being only theoretical and fundamental information. Thus, it is important to provide some ongoing support for teachers to enhance their knowledge to support teaching geometry.

This quantitative study used an existing dataset with responses from 1,848 public middle school students' opinions on the benefits of wearing a school uniform. Efforts in favor of and against school uniforms are noted, and the analyses used to examine demographic variables (i.e., gender, grade-level, and race/ethnicity) reveals that students in the 7th grade and Hispanic/Latino students benefited from the uniforms as compared to their peers. These insights can help school leaders identify practices that promote positive responses to the factors measured by the Student School Uniform Survey. Positive increases in students' perceptions of the constructs identified in the Student School Uniform Survey could support efforts toward increased learning experiences for all students. This is especially important with the understanding that, when students' social-emotional needs are met within a school culture of learning, positive learning outcomes can transpire. A discussion of these findings is shared, along with a conclusion.

The purpose of this research is to determine the technological pedagogical content knowledge competencies related to the development of the readiness of future teachers of preschool organisations for innovative activities. This study was carried out in accordance with the phenomenology pattern, one of the qualitative research methods. The study group of the research consists of 25 students studying in the departments of preschool teaching at various universities in Kazakhstan in the 2021-2022 academic year. Research data were collected with a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. As a result of the research, the vast majority of preschool teacher candidates stated that they found technology knowledge sufficient to improve their readiness for innovative activities. The majority of preschool teacher candidates participating in the research stated that they found their content knowledge sufficient to improve their readiness for innovative activities. The majority of preschool teacher candidates participating in the research stated that they found their pedagogical knowledge and technological pedagogical content knowledge partially sufficient in improving their readiness for innovative activities. As a result of the research, the necessity of expanding the education curriculum and giving educational conferences in universities in order to increase the technological pedagogical content knowledge of preschool teacher candidates has arisen.

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of guided inquiry learning approach-based laboratory applications on the scientific reasoning skills of pre-service science teachers with different cognitive styles. Additionally, the opinions of pre-service science teachers with different cognitive styles about the effects of the application carried out in the study on the improvement of their scientific reasoning skills were also examined. The sample consisted of five pre-service science teachers studying at a state university in the west of Turkey. In the study, the partially mixed sequential dominant status design, which is a mixed-method research design, was used. The scientific reasoning skills of the participants were determined by using the Classroom Test of Formal Reasoning, and their cognitive styles were identified with the Group Embedded Figures Test. The opinions of the participants were taken through focus group interviews held after the application. As a result of the analysis, it was observed that the participants with field-dependent and field-intermediate cognitive styles achieved more targeted outcomes compared to those with field-independent cognitive styles. The potential relationship of this finding to the use of the guided inquiry learning approach and the hypothetico-deductive reasoning cycle during the applications was analyzed in terms of the concept of information processing, and recommendations were made for researchers. [The appendices included in this article are not numbered.]

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted education in Saudi Arabia. During this crisis, in 2020-2021, public schools in Saudi Arabia began to fully exploit the possibilities of e-learning for the first time by launching the Madrasati Platform. This study aims to investigate the attitudes of Saudi public-school teachers towards e-learning and their views concerning its advantages and disadvantages. A quantitative method involving the use of a Google Form questionnaire was employed. The study collected responses from 202 public-school English teachers from different regions in Saudi Arabia. The results show that the teachers generally had neutral attitudes towards e-learning, positive views of its advantages, and neutral opinions about its disadvantages. The researcher recommends that more studies explore teachers' attitudes in different fields and the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning in each region of Saudi Arabia. The results of this research are important for both teachers and educational stakeholders in Saudi Arabia in terms of further developing the e-learning process in the future.

This study used the 2017 National Financial Well-Being Survey to investigate the relationship between cognitive ability and seeking financial advice. Three aspects of cognitive ability were examined: memory, objective numeracy, and subjective numeracy. The results showed that in general, the three were not associated with seeking financial advice. However, after decomposing the sources of the advice, we found that among financial advice-seekers, memory and objective numeracy were positively associated with seeking financial advice from family. When adding the interactions between cognitive ability factors and age, older individuals with good memories were less likely to seek advice from family, while older individuals with higher objective numeracy were less likely to use social networks to seek financial advice. The study's findings suggest future development in policies and practices to benefit those with low cognitive abilities to seek better financial advice using multiple advice sources.

In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the positive or negative effects of the communication model applied in primary school classrooms on the academic success of Syrian immigrant students from the perspective of teachers and students. Therefore, the case study method, which is a qualitative research method, was preferred. The study group of the research is Syrian immigrant students enrolled at primary schools in the cities of Gaziantep and Hatay of Turkey and teachers working in schools where these students receive education. The perspectives of 22 students who immigrated from Syria and 15 teachers were collected using a semi-structured interview form. The data obtained from the semi-structured interview form were analyzed with the NVivo R1 Program. As a result of the research, it was concluded that especially the academic achievements of the students were negatively affected due to the fact that they did not know the Turkish Language. It has been revealed that school stakeholders must first solve the communication problem of immigrant students by acting in cooperation. The communication skills of the teachers and the fact that they are equipped in terms of immigrant students enable them to find solutions more easily when faced with any problem in the educational institutions where they work. This will have a positive reflection on the success of both teachers and students.

This study aimed to examine the opinions of the instructors who work at GUHEM (Gökmen Space and Aviation Training Center) on the exhibition's content, how the exhibition spaces contribute to science education, especially astronomy and aviation, and the types of visitors who frequently visit the center. Nine instructors from GUHEM's science centers participated in the study. Data were gathered using the "Instructor Opinion Form," with nine open-ended questions. The data elicited from these questions were subjected to content analysis. The findings showed that children aged 6 to 11 made up the majority of visitors; the fascinating exhibition areas focused on the Solar System and planets and interactive workshops with space and aviation themes, like those involving paper airplane construction and rocket competition, were very popular. In terms of the contribution of this center to science education, it was found that the GUHEM exhibitions played an active role in teaching the solar system, planets, and pressure. Although astronomy is the discipline with which the exhibition areas are most closely associated, it can also be linked to other disciplines like astrobiology, mathematics, and aviation. Instructors shared their worries that they won't be able to meet visitors' expectations and occasionally struggle to understand the subject during activities held at GUHEM. These findings led to the opinion that GUHEM and other science centers will function more effectively if schools and science centers collaborate more, the curriculum and exhibition content are improved, and the instructors receive professional assistance from academicians who are subject-matter experts.

Higher-order thinking skills are of great importance for the welfare and development of a particular society since it depends on the quality of the decisions taken by individuals. Apart from families, teachers play a crucial role in equipping pupils with these skills such as critical, analytical, reflective or creative, but to do this, they should initially possess them, which requires a special training tailored for teaching these skills. This study focused on the effectiveness of "Critical and Analytical Thinking" course (CATC) taught at a bachelor of education program based on teacher candidates' opinions regarding course design, materials, delivery and strengths and weaknesses of the course. CATC was delivered online due to COVID-19 pandemic conditions; however, provided invaluable insights for future implementations regarding its delivery, activity types and evaluation system. The study was conducted as an analytical study by incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data were collected through Critical and Analytical Thinking Survey and written interview forms developed by the researcher. The participants were 78 teacher candidates who took the course and volunteered to participate in the study. The results revealed that CATC was highly influential on their individual and professional development and not only the theoretical but the practical elements of the course were beneficial for the teacher candidates. Based on the research results, this study concluded with a lesson proposal to be implemented both face-to-face and/or online with similar teacher candidates at education faculties. [This manuscript was orally presented in the Ninth International Conference on Curriculum and Instruction: The Effects of the Pandemic on Curriculum in 2021 and was published in the abstract book. This article includes an extended summary in Turkish.]

Current study aimed examining preparatory school students' cyber-loafing levels and opinions about distance education English curriculum. Exploratory sequential pattern of mixed research methods is employed. The sample is consisted of 201 preparatory students who study at the preparatory school at Cag University. The quantitative data of the research was obtained through Cyber-Loafing Scale and Assessment Scale. Qualitative data was gathered by open-ended questions form developed by the researcher. It was concluded that students' cyber-loafing levels are at a medium level and the students' opinions about the distance education English curriculum are also at a medium level. In addition, gender, devices and lessons affect neither students' cyber-loafing levels nor views on distance education curriculum while the daily internet use and frequency showed a significant effect on these variables. Another finding of the study, social media is also a significant factor for cyber-loafing. Furthermore, it is revealed that there is no correlation between cyber-loafing and students' views on distance education English curriculum.

Although there is a growing recognition of the importance of pre-service teachers' experiences abroad, scant research attention has been paid to the lived study-abroad experiences of pre-service language teachers of English in non-Western countries. It is vital to shed light on the experiences of this particular group of teachers because their linguistic and cultural particularities (i.e., non-native speakers of English from the non-Western world) and the characteristics of their future students (i.e., largely monolingual and monocultural) differ notably from those of their counterparts in Western countries. This study examines, through the use of narrative interviews, the transformative learning of a preservice language teacher of English at a Japanese university who participated in a study-abroad program in Sweden. Findings suggested that the participant experienced interrelated, but successive, phases of transformation processes: from having increased confidence to experiencing a disorienting dilemma, and from engaging in critical reflection to performing new roles. Practical implications and research recommendations associated with study-abroad programs for pre-service teachers are also included.

Well-defined teacher competencies can serve as a reference resource for teacher candidates and a road map for teachers who need to equip themselves with new competencies to meet the rapidly changing demands of children and society. This study, which grounded on mixed methods research, aimed to develop a measurable and observable generic teacher competency framework. The study was conducted in three phases. The initial phase was comprised of the literature review on teacher competencies, interviews with teacher candidates, teacher trainers, and education experts on the current teacher competency framework developed by the Turkish Ministry of Education in 2017. The analyses revealed the need for a new framework since the current competency framework does not allow self-evaluation and cannot be used as a road map for teachers and teacher candidates due to the way it is structured. Based on the initial findings, the researchers prepared a draft competency framework, which was evaluated by 397 teachers through information forms and 52 teacher trainers representing all disciplines of educational sciences at a workshop organized by the researchers. The analyses resulted in a framework consisting of six competency domains, 31 sub-competencies and their performance indicators at four competency levels. The core competencies developed seem to be congruent with international frameworks; however, it is also a unique framework with its content, structure and approach. The generic teacher competency framework developed as a result of this study can be utilized for professional development of teachers and teacher candidates as a reference guide and be utilized for evaluation purposes with its measurable and observable performance indicators specified under sub-competencies. It can also be used for the assessment and accreditation of teacher education programmes.

There is a growing consensus that existing arrangements for policy making in education are far from optimal. This paper is about policy making and the roles of--and relationships between--elected officials, civil servants and academics in the making of policy. It aims to open up a conversation about new ways of making education policy that make better use of academic expertise by shedding light on policy making from the perspective of a former policy broker. With specific reference to England, experiences of the world of policy are drawn on to provide an account of the following: the disconnect between academic research and policy; what good policy advice looks like; and, most significantly, what an expert policy advice mechanism in education could look like. The mechanism put forward is one possibility for further discussion within the academic community in the first instance: an independent group of diverse academic experts to provide trustworthy and transparent policy advice to the education ministry. It is envisaged that by bringing a set of insights together here, understandings of the world of policy making will be enhanced and further thinking and conversations about mechanisms for expert policy advice in education will be induced, starting with this flagship journal's readership. The subsequent accumulation of these discussions may then, in time, lead us towards better policy making.

Purpose: This study draws on genre theory to analyze the linguistic and discursive presentation of the self in successful US college application essays. Research Methods: We used qualitative discourse analysis informed by the systemic functional linguistic concepts of field, tenor, and mode to analyze 20 sample application essays identified as exemplary by college admissions staff from 4 US colleges, along with essay-writing advice obtained from websites of 12 US universities. Our analysis aimed to specify (1) the characteristics of the self that are represented in successful essays and (2) how the writers linguistically and discursively construct these characteristics. Findings: Successful essays portrayed a unique and authentic self through distinctive, patterned features that spanned the three categories of field, tenor, and mode. Features related to "field" included extended metaphors representing insights gained from learning and experience, language representing niche interests, verbs suggesting learning or change, and appraisal language positioning the writer as charitable and optimistic; features related to "tenor" did not include direct address or questions but rather implicit persuasion through descriptive representation of the writer's character; and features related to "mode" included micronarratives, extended metaphors that supported cohesion, and syntactic structures that facilitated contrast of the writer's self before and after a significant moment of learning. Implications: As colleges move away from requiring standardized tests for admission, the importance of college application essays has increased. Our findings contribute to efforts to make successful performance of this high-stakes genre more attainable, particularly for first-generation and underrepresented students applying to college.

This article examines kindergarten children's experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to understand the children's thoughts, emotions, and coping strategies regarding the presence of the COVID-19 virus in their daily lives, using the salutogenic approach to study their sense of coherence and promote relevant professional instruction. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were held with 130 five- to six-year-old children with an equal number of boys and girls. All of the children were recruited from kindergartens affiliated with the state's secular education system. Data were structured into three themes: (1) the child's perception of the pandemic as "manageable" through significant accompanying and absent figures; (2) the child's "comprehension" of the virus as dangerous, age-differentiating, and contagious; and (3) the child's "emotional processing" of the pandemic as arousing fear of death and through images, such as "thorny" and "monster." The results demonstrate the young children's sense of coherence, characterized as extrapersonal perception, interpersonal coping, and intrapersonal emotional processing, and the need for greater acknowledgment of child-parent educators' informed interventions that could give children a partial feeling of the adult's awareness of their needs.

This study aimed to examine the views of parents of young children on their children's use of technology during COVID-19. The participants of this research, in which a case study was used, consisted of 10 mothers and 10 fathers living in a province in the inner Aegean region of Turkey. The interview form prepared by the researcher was used as a data collection tool. The data obtained from this research were analyzed using content analysis. The research data were gathered under the following four themes: family guidance, technology use in the family, effects on the development of the child, and technology education. The findings showed that parents had positive opinions about the use of technological tools and technology education during COVID-19. In addition, it was concluded that parents needed support on how to guide their children in this process. It was determined that while some parents tried to be positive models for their children, they showed different approaches with their spouses. To them, technology affected their children's behavior and attention/interest levels negatively.