Teacher views on the sources of students’ misbehaviours at primary schools

Abstract

This study investigated the teachers' views on the sources of primary school students’
misbehaviours. In this respect the following variables were considered: Teacher's gender, working experience,
working experience at present school, and whether she/he teaches at the primary level (1-5) of compulsory
education or secondary level (6-8) of compulsory education. 247 female and 256 male teachers from 18
different primary schools located in the center of Mersin participated in the study. The results indicated that the
teachers perceived “students’ family characteristics”, “students’ personal characteristics”, “migration,
urbanization”, and “socio-economic conditions of the country” as major sources of students’ misbehaviors
among the other sources. Furthermore, significant differences were found among teachers' views in terms of
gender, and whether they teach at the first five years or the last 3 years. While female teachers perceived
“students’ family characteristics” as the major source of misbehaviours, male teachers pointed to “teacher
characteristics” as the most significant source student misbehaviors. That teachers who teach at the first five
years of compulsory primary education indicated “students’ personal characteristics” as most significant source
of misbehaviors, whereas teachers who teach at the last three years of compulsory education perceived
“migration and urbanization” as the most significant cause of misbehaviours. No significant difference was
observed in the views of teachers in terms of working experience and working experience at the present school.