Editorial

Feyyat Gökçe

Dear Teacher Educators, Educational Scientists and Educationalists,

A total of six articles have been published in the first issue of April, 2017 of the Journal of Teacher Education and Educators.

In the article entitled “Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction of Teacher Educators: Empirical Evidence from the Universities of Sindh Province of Pakistan”, Zafarullah Sahito and Pertti Vaisanen examine the factors affecting the job satisfaction of teacher educators of the universities of Sindh. In their study, the researchers found that the main factor affecting an increasing job dissatisfaction is an autocratic and vertical style of management. Additional factors included a poor administration system; mistrust; job insecurity; weak social interaction and lack of appreciation for work done can lead teacher educators to face psychosocial issues in their professional and personal life.

Şule Korkmaz examines the strengths and weaknesses of performing cooperative group work tasks within the context of “Teaching English to Young Learners” in the second article entitled “Classroom Research: What do ELT Teacher Trainees Experience When Performing Collaborative Group-Work Tasks?”. Şule Korkmaz conducted the study with 75 teacher trainees enrolled in Uludag University Faculty of Education ELT Department in Turkey. The results revealed that the problems about teaching English to young learners were mostly related to equal work sharing, and conflict among group members.

In the third article entitled “Effects of Mathematics Content Knowledge (MCK) on Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge”, Müjgan Baki and Selahattin Arslan aimed to reveal how primary teachers’ Mathematics Content Knowledge affects their Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge within the context of Teaching Practice course. According to the research results, pre-service teachers’ lack of Mathematics Content Knowledge has some negative effects  on their Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Moreover, the results show that, although the pre-service teachers’ Mathematics Content Knowledge is good, their Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge is insufficient.

With his article entitled “School Constituents’ Ratings of The Performance Dimensions of Male and Female High-Performing Principals”, Disraeli M. Hutton analyses the ratings of the performance of male and female principals. According to the findings of the research relating the ratings of high-performing principals, there was significant difference  on three of the four dimensions of performance which are philosophy and abilities, leadership and management, student support systems, and community support and relationships. There were no differences in male respondents’ ratings of male and female principals while there was significant difference in the ratings of females of three of the four dimensions.

In the fifth article entitled “Teachers in E-Libraries: Research and Application”, Erdinç Alaca and Hatice İnci Önal reveales the efficiency of volunteer teachers who undertake responsibilities related to the services of Enriched Libraries (ELs) by determining their effectiveness in librarianship. The data in the research is conducted through the views of 79 teachers working in primary, secondary and high schools in Ankara. The results indicate that there are deficiencies in general approach to ELs, use of library, quality of services, management of library, collection, activities, professional knowledge about librarianship and budget. Based on the results of the research, it is suggested that qualified librarians should be appointed to ELs; and lasting, quality services will be achieved with librarians alone.

In the last article entitled “The Predictor Roles of Speaking Anxiety and English Self Efficacy on Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety?”, Enisa Mede and Ozlem Karairmak aim to find out the relationships between foreign language speaking anxiety and demographic factors among undergraduate students, and to predict the roles of speaking anxiety and English self-efficacy on foreign language speaking anxiety. Through the research that includes 205 participants enrolled in a Turkish private university, it is revealed that foreign language speaking anxiety was negatively correlated with two variables related to prior foreign language experience as well as having a foreign friend. Finally, although there are no significant differences regarding spending a week or longer abroad and foreign language speaking anxiety, the results indicate that there is a strong correlation between speaking anxiety and English self-efficacy on foreign language speaking anxiety.

I would like to thank all the authors who have contributed with their articles, the reviewers who have spared their efforts in the evaluation of those articles and the members of the science board, section editors and the technical support team for all their valuable efforts in the first issue of April, 2017 of the Journal of Teacher Education and Educators.

In the hope of reuniting with you in the following issues of the Journal of Teacher Education and Educators…