Abstract

The general aim of the present study is to identify to what extent the professional values of prospective teachers are predicted by the variables of critical thinking, metacognition, epistemological beliefs. The study also aims to determine which variables provide a better prediction of the professional values of prospective teachers than the others. The research study was configured in line with the predictive model through the correlational study methodology. The study sample consisted of 557 prospective teachers attending the relevant departments as identified through the non-probabilistic cluster sampling method. The multiple linear regression analysis was employed in the analysis of the collected data through the use of the “Professional Values Scale for Elementary School Teachers” (TPVS), “Metacognition Scale”, “Critical Thinking Scale”, “Epistemological Beliefs Scale”. The research findings indicate that the totality of all variables explain 55% of the variance in the total score in TPVS, 51% of the variance in the score for respecting differences in TPVS, %39 of the variance in the score for personal, societal responsibility in TPVS, 24% of the variance in the score for opposing violence in TPVS to a significant extent. A review into the t-test scores pertaining to the significance of standardized coefficients leads to the observation that all variables except for the sub-scales of hypothesising, problem identification of the scales of assessing cognitive differences, critical thinking are able to predict the total scores for the professional values of teachers at a significant level.

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