The views of pre-service primary school teachers regarding the concept of 'basic life skills' of life science course

Abstract

The teaching of life skills has an important place in primary school programs which are the first step in gaining basic knowledge and skills about life. Since 2004-2005, life science teaching has been established to provide basic life skills. In this context, it is important that classroom teachers who will gain these skills should be informed about these skills. This study examined what pre-service teachers understood from the concept of “basic life skills”, how they dealt with the concept and what they associated the concept with. For this purpose an open-ended questionnaire was administered to 132 pre-service primary school teachers studying at Gazi University and Ankara University in the 2017-2018 academic year. The screening model was used in the study and the data were gathered by descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, it can be said that even if the majority of the class teacher candidates hear "basic life skills", the rates of hearing the concept of “basic life skills” in the life science course are low. In addition, basic life skills are often defined as “maintaining daily life” and “meeting their own needs without needing anyone else”. However, it has been observed that the class teacher candidates perceive the concept of “basic life skills” as “self-care skills” in general. In addition, pre-service primary school teachers pointed out that the teaching of life skills could be done by using different methods and techniques that are effective by the student, and they also emphasized the context of family, school and environment.