Determining the Competence of Primary School Teachers in Identifying the Problems Experienced by Students

Teachers’ knowledge of' their students is an important part of monitoring the progress made in education. Timely identification of problems and deficiencies keeps the guidance to be given to the student up to date. However, teachers should be able to evaluate and follow their students academically and as a whole. He/she should not only be the teacher of the lesson, but also the teacher of the student. Most of the students’ time is spent in schools and with their teachers. The primary school teacher is the first to have the opportunity to identify any problems experienced by the student at an early stage. This research aims to determine the role of primary school teachers in identifying the problems experienced by students. The research focuses on primary school teachers getting to know their students from all angles and prioritizing their perceptions and approaches to their students with differences. The research study group consists of 19 primary school teachers working in public institutions affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Şanlıurfa/Siverek district center in the 2023-2024 academic year. The study group was determined using the convenience sampling method. In this study, phenomenology design, a qualitative research techniques, was used to determine teacher experiences. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview form and evaluated using descriptive analysis. According to the research findings, primary school teachers could identify problematic behaviors in students according to academic, physical, and developmental-behavioral indicators that they directly observed and that they were aware of social and psychological indicators that they could not directly observe but perceived as a problem. According to the results of the research, it is recommended that teachers should be well aware of the academic, social, psychological, physical, developmental, etc. indicators in students, have an idea about the meanings of these indicators, and gain the necessary competencies in this regard.