Prospective Teachers' Self-Efficacy Regarding Early Literacy Instruction and Their Views on the Teaching Process: A Proposal for Early Literacy Instruction Using Technological Tools

Early literacy instruction plays an important role in teaching profession. Primary school teachers offer early literacy instruction to elementary school students at different developmental stages, starting from 69 months of age. One of the second-year courses in the education faculty curriculum, Early Literacy Instruction, provides pre-service primary school teachers with knowledge on how to teach literacy. Although the knowledge and skills related to the early literacy process, which requires dedication and planning, are presented to students in undergraduate courses, it is known that pre-service teachers experience professional anxiety regarding this course. The purpose of this study is to analyze self-efficacy of pre-service teachers studying at primary school teaching departments for early reading and writing instruction and to examine the problems they face and potential solutions. In this study, which is based on a convergent parallel mixed design, a self-efficacy scale for early literacy teaching has been applied to 216 second, third, and fourth-year students at the primary school teaching department within quantitative context. On the other hand, within a qualitative framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 pre-service teachers. The findings of the study reveal that, regarding total scores, pre-service teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy are at a moderate level and that there is no significant difference between pre-service teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy and the gender variable. However, it also shows that there is a significant difference between pre-service teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy regarding class level and passing grades variables. Furthermore, based on the views of the pre-service teachers, the present study purports some recommendations regarding the use of technological tools in early literacy education.