Body language using skills of teacher candidates from Departments of Mathematics Education and Social Studies Education

Abstract

This study aimed to examine if there was a difference between elementary education mathematics teacher candidates and social studies teacher candidates in their use of body language. The study was carried out in the 2012-2013 academic year with 82 teacher candidates studying at the Departments of Mathematics Education and Social Studies Education of the Education Faculty, Uludag University. With the aim of collecting data, the "Body Language Questionnaire (BLQ)" developed by benefiting from the questionnaire developed by Bagci (2008) with the aim of collecting data from students about their teachers' using body language was used. The developed questionnaire was composed of 21 items. In the statistical analyses of the data obtained through administering the BLQ to the participants, independent samples t-test was used. It was found that the teachers' use of body language did not differ according to their gender. However, a significant difference was found between the mathematics education teacher candidates' and the social studies education teacher candidates' use of body language. This difference was in favor of the social studies teacher candidates. While they thought using body language was necessary, the mathematics education teacher candidates felt doubtful about using body language.