Social Studies pre-service teachers views on the EU membership process: A multidimensional evaluation

Abstract

One of the general purposes of Social Studies is to integrate individuals with the social life by providing accurate knowledge and skills about their environment and society. As well as the role of Social Studies in raising consciousness on EU relations, Social Studies teachers' views about EU membership and the sources of these views are important. By sharing their views, teachers can lead students to have similar views. In this study, it was aimed to identify pre-service Social Studies teachers' views about the EU, Turkey's EU membership process and the effects of this process on Turkey. In the research, descriptive scanning method was used. A hundred freshmen and 100 seniors, totally 200 students, studying at KTU Fatih Faculty of Education, Social Studies Teaching Department were randomly chosen for the study. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool. The analysis of the interviews was made according to the categories that emerged from the answers. The data, obtained from the research, indicated that most of the Social Studies pre-service teachers have inadequate information about Turkey's EU membership process. The most common information source is television and 60% of the pre-service teachers are not interested in this topic. Besides, it was found that most of the social studies pre-service teachers do not support Turkey's EU membership with the thought that EU will cause cultural erosion.