Cognitive Fictions of Teacher Candidates About Instructors’ Qualifications: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

This study aims to define cognitive fictions of teacher candidates about the ideal qualifications of
instructors. The study was planned with phenomenological design which is one of the qualitative research designs.
Sampling group consisted of 40 (20+20) teacher candidates with different demographic qualifications and were
selected from Yuzuncu Yil University (YYU) and Mugla University (MU). Data were collected by „repertory grid‟
technique which is a constructed interview method. Findings showed that there were 399 (199+200) valid fictions
expressed by teacher candidates which consisted of 13 main fiction categories at YYU and 14 main fiction categories
at MU. Dominant fictions of teacher candidates were social sensitivity, compassion/geniality, academic competence,
humanistic/intimacy, teaching professional skills, approach to students and communication