PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS: THE CASE OF PEDAGOGICAL FORMATION STUDENTS

Abstract

In addition to the undergraduate programs provided by faculties of education, in Turkey, Pedagogical Formation Education Certificate Programs are also provided by these faculties. Graduates of such programs are positioned as teachers in Turkey, the same as the graduates of faculties of education. Individual differences of teachers are of great importance in terms of closeness and determination toward students. In addition to personality, psychological features are also closely related to their professional competence and success, quality of education in general, and –maybe more importantly- the safety of the students. In this study, it was aimed to provide insight about the individual differences of students who attend pedagogical formation training by investigating the psychological status of those students through the analysis of the relationship between depression, anxiety, stress, coping by humor levels, humor types and their type of personality. It was observed that 40.2% of participants were in mild depression while 25.9% of them were in moderate to severe levels. Associations were investigated by point bi-serial correlation technique and it was found that those participants with Type A personality had higher levels of depression, stress, anxiety, and self-defeating humor style.