IN-CLASS SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITIES OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS: A SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY BASED STUDY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY JALE ULAŞ MARBOUTİ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES JUNE 2015 i Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences ___________________ Prof. Dr. Meliha ALTUNIŞIK Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ___________________ Prof. Dr. Ayhan DEMİR Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ___________________ Prof. Dr. Meral AKSU Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Ali YILDIRIM (METU, EDS) ___________________ Prof. Dr. Meral AKSU (METU, EDS) ___________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayşe BAŞ COLLINS (BILKENT, THM) ___________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Saniye Tuğba TOKEL (METU, CEIT) ___________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Gülçin TAN ŞİŞMAN (HACETTEPE, EDS) ___________________ ii PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Jale ULAŞ MARBOUTİ Signature : iii ABSTRACT IN-CLASS SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITIES OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS: A SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY BASED STUDY ULAŞ MARBOUTİ, Jale Ph.D., Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Meral AKSU June 2015, 182 pages The purpose of the current study was to investigate how well perceived teacher autonomy, teacher self-efficacy, and vocational social support predict in-class social problem solving ability of classroom teachers. In order for this investigation, a structural model was constructed based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and tested throughout the study. Data were collected via In-Class Social Problem Solving Inventory Scale (ICSPSI), Teacher Autonomy Scale-Turkish Teachers (TAST), Vocational Social Support Scale: Teacher (VSSST), and Turkish Version of Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TTSES) from 728 classroom teachers working in state elementary schools located in three main districts of Adana, Turkey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data. The results of the study revealed that all of the independent variables, teacher autonomy, teacher self-efficacy, and vocational social support, significantly predicted the in-class social problem solving abilities of classroom teachers. Among all of the independent variables, teacher self-efficacy was found to be the best predictor. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that the higher the teachers’ perceived autonomy, self-efficacy, and vocational social support received were, the better their performance in solving the problems that they encounter in their classrooms was. The conclusion implicate that educators should take the necessary actions to increase teachers’ iv perceived autonomy, self-efficacy, and vocational social support received so that the teachers can solve the problems that they encounter in their classrooms more effectively. Key words: In-class social problem solving, self-determination theory, teacher autonomy, teacher self-efficacy, vocational social support v ÖZ SINIF ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN SINIF-İÇİ SOSYAL SORUN ÇÖZME BECERİLERİ: BENLİK-BELİRLEME KURAMI TEMELLİ BİR ÇALIŞMA ULAŞ MARBOUTİ, Jale Doktora, Eğitim Bilimleri Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Meral AKSU Haziran 2015, 182 sayfa Bu çalışmanın amacı sınıf öğretmenlerinin algıladıkları özerklik, öz-yeterlik ve mesleki sosyal destek düzeylerinin onların sınıf-içi sorun çözme becerilerini ne kadar iyi yordadığını araştırmaktır. Bu araştırma kapsamında Benlik-Belirleme Kuramına (BBK) dayalı yapısal bir model oluşturulmuş ve test edilmiştir. Veriler Sınıf-İçi Sosyal Sorun Çözme Ölçeği (SİSSÇE), Öğretmen Özerklik Ölçeği-Türkçe (ÖÖÖT), Mesleki Sosyal Destek Ölçeği: Öğretmen (MSDÖÖ) ve Öğretmen Öz-yeterlik Algısı Ölçeği (ÖÖAÖ) kullanılarak Adana ilinin üç merkez ilçesinde bulunan devlet okullarında görev yapan 728 sınıf öğretmeninden toplanmıştır. Toplanan veriler Yapısal Eşitlik Modellemesi (YEM) tekniği ile analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonuçları bütün bağımsız değişkenlerin (öğretmen özerkliği, öğretmen öz- yeterliği ve mesleki sosyal destek) öğretmenlerin sınıf-içi sosyal sorun çözme becerilerini anlamlı bir şekilde yordadığını göstermiştir. Bu bağımsız değişkenler arasında, öğretmen öz- yeterliği değişkeninin sınıf-içi sorun çözme becerisini diğerlerinden daha iyi yordadığı bulunmuştur. vi Çalışma sonuçlarına bağlı olarak, öğretmenlerin algıladıkları özerklik, öz-yeterlik ve sosyal destek düzeyleri arttıkça sınıf içinde karşılaştıkları sorunları çözme konusundaki performanslarının da artacağı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Bunun için de eğitim ile ilgili taraflara öğretmenlerin algıladıkları özerklik, öz-yeterlik ve mesleki sosyal destek düzeylerinin artırılması için gerekli adımların atılması yönünde önerilerde bulunulmuştur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Sınıf-içi sosyal sorun çözme, benlik-belirleme kuramı, öğretmen özerkliği, öğretmen öz-yeterliği, mesleki sosyal destek vii DEDICATION to my family and to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Meral AKSU viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should sincerely state that I feel so lucky to work with my supervisor Prof. Dr. Meral Aksu. She turned this long, tiring and challenging PhD process into a fruitful one for me. I wouldn’t be able to complete this dissertation without her invaluable guidance, endless support, encouragement, and care. I feel words are not enough to express my gratitude. I hope to be an educator and researcher like her, every time positive, understanding, enthusiastic, helpful, and joyful. I would like to express my gratitude to my committee members Prof. Dr. Ali Yıldırım, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Baş Collins, Assist. Prof. Dr. Tuğba Tokel, and Assist. Prof. Dr. Gülçin Tan Şişman for their enlightening ideas and contributions to my study. I would like to express my special thanks to Prof. Dr. Ali Yıldırım for his invaluable support whenever I needed. I am also grateful to Assist. Prof. Dr. Yeşim Çapa Aydın for her guidance about the statistics. Moreover, I would like to express my pleasure and thanks to all in Department of Educational Sciences. The time I spent here with them contributed a lot to my development both academically and personally. I am indebted to Higher Education Council for financially support me to be a visiting scholar in the US. I would also like to express my special thanks to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Johannes Strobel and Prof. Dr. Charles Peck for hosting me during my visits to Purdue University and University of Washington. I want to express my thanks to Prof. Dr. Cennet Engin Demir, Prof. Dr. Oya Yerin Güneri, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Erdur-Baker, Assist. Prof. Dr. Yeliz Temli Durmuş, Assist. Prof. Dr. Gökçe Gökalp, Assist. Prof. Dr. Esma Emmioğlu, Assit. Prof. Dr. Özgür Önen, Dr. İbrahim Tanrıkulu, Res. Assist. Elanur Yılmaz, Nurhan Tanrıkulu, Ali Yıldırım, Mehmet Dağtoros, Esra Güven Özyiğit, and Selami Büyükdeveci for their support during the instrument development process. ix I would like to express my special thanks to my earlier colleague and dear friend Assist. Prof. Dr. Sevinç Gelmez Burakgazi. I am more than lucky and happy to have a friend like you in my life. Every moment I spent with you is priceless to me. I am grateful to my earlier colleague and one of my dearest friends Assist. Prof. Dr. Esma Emmioğlu for both her priceless friendship and endless support. I would also like to give my special thanks to my dear friend Şule Alıcı. Thanks for all your support, and being with me all the time in this process. Your friendship is precious to me. I should appreciate my dear friend Hale Uysal who is always supportive and helpful for whatever I need. Thanks for all cups of coffee that you offered me with sincere talks. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my colleague Dr. İbrahim Tanrıkulu. It was a great pleasure for me to share and discuss everything with you. Thanks for all your support. I would like to acknowledge and thank to my dear friend Mehmet Dağtoros. Thanks for your patience, endless support, understanding, care and love. Thanks for being here with me whenever and wherever I need you. I am thankful to my dear friends Ezgi Beşikçi, Esra Güven Özyiğit for their irreplaceable emotional support, love, and help, my dear cousins Nigar Doğan, Ali Eren Doğan, and his wife Makbule Küçüksözen Doğan for their support and intimacy. I would like to indicate my deepest appreciation to my family, the sources of love and happiness to me. Thanks for your endless love and support my lovely parents Hüseyin & Tülay Ulaş, my sister and her husband Gülay & Tolga Eser, my other sister and her husband Tülin & Salih Bozkurt, my sister-in-law Sibel Ulaş, my little princess Ezgi and princes Umut, Levent, Ege, and Toprak. I am blessed with borning into such a family. Finally, I would like to thank to my soul mate Farshid Marbouti. Thank you by heart for your patience, wisdom, care, encouragement, inspiration, and unconditional love from beyond the ocean. Thanks for rising into my life like a sun. I ♥ u! As a final note, I am indebted to The Scientific and Technological