The prediction of the teaching readiness level of pre-service teachers in terms of curriculum literacy

Curriculum literacy is in the forefront to increase the professional competence of teachers. Based on this, the study focuses on the extent of pre-service teachers’ curriculum literacy level on their teacher readiness. The study is designed in a predictive correlation model. Thus, it is focused on whether pre-service teachers’ curriculum literacy is a meaningful predictor of the level of readiness for the teaching profession or not. 708 pre-service teachers participated in the research who studies in Primary Teacher Training, Pre-school Teacher Training, Turkish Teacher Training, English Teacher Training, Psychological Counselling and Guidance Training, Computer Teaching and Technology Education Training and Science Teacher Training Department. The findings indicate that the pre-service teacher curriculum literacy and readiness for teaching profession are at the level of “Agree”. Finally, it is shown that pre-service teachers’ curriculum literacy level predicts their teacher readiness level for teaching profession.


Introduction
Teachers play an important role in reaching the output of educational programs (Büyükkaragöz, Muşta, Yılmaz & Pilten, 1998;Kaptan, 1999). Therefore, it is necessary that pre-service teachers should be ready for the profession as qualified and equipped as possible (Güven-Yıldırım & Köklükaya, 2017). This is more about the fact that teachers' professional competence affects the quality of education (Başal & Taner, 2003). Accordingly, teacher training programs offer diverse experiences in preparing pre-service teacher for the teaching profession (Tatto, Lerman & Novotta, 2009). However, it is seen that most of the pre-service teachers have various concerns about to be ready for the teaching profession (Akgün & Özgür, 2014;Doğan & Çoban, 2009;Karakaya, Avgın, Gömlek & Balık, 2017;Saracaloğlu, Kumral & Kanma, 2009).
Responding appropriately to the needs of their students, classroom management, dealing with other problems of the profession, overcoming the daily problems caused by school life are basically teachers` main concerns during their initial years of their teaching due to limited exposure to professional experience at their teacher training (Arslan & Özpınar, 2008;Stanulis, Fallona & Pearson, 2002;Thomas & Kiley, 1994). This seems to be the reason for pre-service teachers leaving teaching in the first years of their careers (Thomas & Kiley, 1994). It is thought that this tendency is related to whether pre-service teachers and teachers are ready for the teaching profession or not. Researchers describe the teacher education graduate as ready to teach professionally equipped with the professional qualifications to deal with the professional difficulties (Black, 2003;Mehmetlioğlu & Haser, 2013) and explains the readiness for pre-service teachers by the concept of feeling ready to work (Mehmetlioğlu & Haser, 2013). Readiness for teaching profession plays an important role in the quality of teaching (Housego, 1990) and pre-service teachers ready for the teaching profession are faced with fewer problems in classroom management (Li, 1999).
One of the main aims of teacher education is to equip pre-service teachers with the necessary skills which are general culture, field of knowledge and teaching professing knowledge (Demirel, 2012) oriented for effective teaching in different settings (Flores, 2018). However, curriculum literacy is in the forefront to increase the professional competence of teachers (Bolat, 2017). While some researchers define the literacy program as the capacity to have knowledge about the curriculum, to interpret the program, to develop a critical point of view and to implement the curriculum in accordance with the learning environment (Keskin & Korkmaz, 2017), some of them define it as the ability of teachers to fulfil educational program literacy by themselves (Erdem & Eğmir, 2018). Unlike these definitions, it is seen that some researchers define the literacy program as the capacity of the teacher to adapt the program to new situations (Nsibande & Modiba, 2012). In sum, it is considered that a teacher who is able to define the curriculum effectively in the fields of output, content, learning-teaching processes and measurement and evaluation is more successful in teaching is ready for teaching. Based on this information regarding teacher competencies, it is thought that pre-service teachers who are highly curriculum literate are more positive for the teaching profession. It is thought that this situation will contribute positively to the quality of learning-teaching process.
In the literature, there are various studies about both teacher readiness (Şahin & Küçüksüleymanoğlu, 2015) and curriculum literacy (Beck, 2013;Bolat, 2017;Karseth & Sivesind, 2010). It is seen that a significant part of those studies on teacher readiness are related to pre-service teachers' readiness for self-management learning (Karataş, 2017;Karataş & Başbay, 2014;Şahin, 2010;Şahin & Küçüksüleymanoğlu, 2015) or for teaching on their own (Özbek, Eroğlu & Donmuş, 2017;Salaş, 2010) or for technology teaching (Hung, 2016;Instefjord & Munthe, 2016;Msila, 2015;Oliver, 2010;Singh & Chan, 2014) or for mathematics and science teaching (Alkan & Erdem, 2013;Ng, 2013;Steele, Brew, Rees & Ibrahim-Khan, 2013). To the best of these researchers` knowledge, there are not any studies focusing on the relationship between teacher readiness and their curriculum literacy. Research has drawn attention to the fact that teachers who are ready for teaching recognize and effectively implement the curriculum (Ingvarson, Beavis & Kleinhenz, 2007). Accordingly, it is considered that a teacher who is able to identify and effectively implement the curriculum is ready for the teaching profession. Based on this information, this study focuses on the role pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy level in predicting their readiness for the teaching profession. In this respect, the research questions are as follows: 1. What is the level of pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy and their teacher readiness? 2. Is there a significant difference in terms of teacher's readiness for pre-service teachers' department, grade level and gender?
3. Is there a significant difference in terms of curriculum literacy for pre-service teachers' department, grade level and gender? 4. Is there a relationship between pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy and readiness for the teaching profession? 5. Are the levels of pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy a meaningful predictor of the level of readiness for the teaching profession?

Method
This predictive correlation model study focuses on the relationship between pre-service teachers' readiness levels for the teaching profession and curriculum literacy levels (Büyüköztürk, Çakmak, Akgün, Karadeniz & Demirel, 2012). In this respect, this study examines whether pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy levels significantly predict their readiness for the teaching profession

Sample
Population consisted of pre-service teachers at a university located in the Marmara Region in Turkey. Stratified sampling technique was used to identify the participants (Büyüköztürk et al., 2012). A 95% confidence interval was accepted for the sample to represent the population, and the formula suggested by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) for determining sample size was used. The study was conducted in the Faculty of Education in which approximately 3800 pre-service teachers were studying. However, the total number of teacher candidates studying in the third and fourth grades was 1524. According to the aforementioned formula, a sample of 310 people was proposed for the population size of 1600 people. However, 708 pre-service teachers participated in the study because of the fact that the class level was also examined in the study and that the number of some of the departments was higher than the others. In addition, after briefly explaining the aim of the research, it was ensured that those who volunteered to participate in the study completed the scales. Participants' percentage values and number according to the department they were studying are as in Table 1: In total, 708 pre-service teachers participated in the research who studied in several departments as indicated in Table 1. 423 of the pre-service teachers were female while 285 were male. In addition, 364 of the pre-service teachers who participated in the study were studying in the fourth grade, while 344 were studying in the third grade.

Data Collecting Tools and Procedure
Curriculum Literacy Scale (Bolat, 2017) and Teacher Readiness for Teaching Profession Scale (Güven-Yıldırım & Köklükaya, 2017) were employed to collect data. These scales were administered to volunteered participants of this study at their during the spring semester of 2017-2018 academic year.
Curriculum Literacy Scale (CLS). This scale which was developed to determine the curriculum literacy of teacher candidates. The scale is consists of 29 items. Explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to ensure the validity of the measurement tool. As a result of the tests performed, it was seen that the scale was collected in two factor set above the factor load of .40. These factors are called Reading and Writing. The confirmatory factor analysis was applied to test the construct validity of the scale indicates that the fit indices were good (X 2 =657.80; p <.05; sd = .38; RMSEA = .06; SRMR = .05; NFI = .94; NNFI = .97; CFI = .97; IFI = .97; GFI = .83; AGFI = .80). As a result of the reliability analysis conducted to test the internal consistency of the scale, the Cronbach Alpha coefficient was calculated as .88 for the reading factor, .90 for the writing factor and .94 for the whole scale. Participants responded by using expressions such as 'I completely agree', 'Very agree', 'I agree at a moderate level', 'I agree a lot', 'I do not agree with the items', in a 5-Likert type measure. The scale can be pointed as 1.00-1.80= Strongly disagree; 1.81-2.60= Disagree; 2.61-3.40= Undecided; 3.41-4.20= Agree; 4.21-5.00= Strongly Agree.
Teacher Readiness for Teaching Profession Scale (TRTPS). This scale, which was developed in order to determine the readiness levels of the pre-service teacher towards the teaching profession, consists of 30 items. In order to ensure the validity of the measurement tool, basic components have been used in factor analysis. Thus, items with a factor load greater than .45 were found to be collected in two sub-factors. As a result of the reliability analysis, Cronbach Alpha coefficient was calculated as .95 for the first factor, .78 for the second factor and .93 for the whole scale as a result of testing the internal consistency of the scale. This indicates that the instrument is valid and reliable in determining the level of readiness for teaching profession. The measuring tool is a 5-Likert type. In this direction, the participant responds to the items through strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree statements. Scale can be pointed as 1.00-1.80: Strongly Disagree; Very Low; 1.81-2.60: Disagree; Low; 2.61-3.40: Undecided; Mid; 3.41-4.20: Agree; High; 4.21-5.00: Strongly Agree; Very High.

Data Analysis
In the analysis of the research data, the suitability of the normal distribution of the data set was examined first. Findings related to the normality of the data set are as in Table 2. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied because the number of pre-service teachers participating in the research was greater than 29 (Kalaycı, 2010). As a result of the analysis, it was understood that the data set had normal distribution, p> .05 (Field, 2007;Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007). Thus, it was decided that the use of parametric tests was appropriate. T-test was used in the analysis of the data related to gender and class level, and variance analysis was used in the analysis of the data related to the department. Pearson Correlation coefficient was calculated when the relation of teacher readiness and curriculum literacy was examined. In order to explore whether pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy levels predict their readiness for the teaching profession or not, a simple regression model was employed.

Results
Pre-service teachers' levels for the curriculum literacy and teaching profession are as shown in Table 3. The answers of the pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy level was at the level of Agree (x̅ = 3.93) and their teacher readiness level for teaching profession was at the level of Agree (x̅ = 3.96). The analysis of the responses of the pre-service teachers to the scales were analysed according to the gender variable are presented in Table 4. When Table 4 is examined, it is understood that pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy level was t(708)= 2.18, p< .05 and the teacher readiness level was significantly different in favour of the female teacher candidates t(708)= 3.92, p< .05. .08), F(708)= 3.70, p<.05] of primary pre-service teachers were significantly different than the others.Findings based on the grades pre-service teachers' responses to the scales are in Table 6. When Table 6 is examined, it is understood that the curriculum literacy level of the fourth grade students (x̅ = 4.06) was significantly different from that of the third grade students (x̅ = 3.81), t(706)= 6.23, p< .05. Similarly, it is understood that the teacher readiness of the fourth grade students to the teaching profession (x̅ = 4.07) is significantly different from that the third grade students (x̅ = 3.86), t(706)= 5.46, p< .05. Table 7 presents findings related to the relationship between curriculum literacy and teacher readiness for the teaching profession. .000 . N 708 708 When Table 7 is examined, the relationship of the pre-service teachers' responses about the curriculum literacy and teacher readiness for the teaching profession is seen. Findings indicated that there was a high positive correlation between the pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy level and the level of teacher readiness for the teaching profession, r= .738 (Field, 2013). Table 8 shows the findings of how the curriculum literacy levels of the pre-service teachers predicted the teacher readiness for the teaching profession. The results of a simple linear regression analysis of the predictability of curriculum literacy as a teaching profession appear to be significant, (F= 615.97), p> .05. This finding, as a result of the variance analysis, indicates that the relationship between the curriculum literacy and teacher readiness for the teaching profession is linear, R= .680, R 2 = .462, p< .05. It can also be said that the level of curriculum literacy is significantly important in terms of predicting the level of teacher readiness for the teaching profession in the positive direction. In other words, the curriculum literacy level accounts for 46% of the total variance in being ready for the teaching profession.

Discussion, Conclusion and Implications
The findings indicate that the pre-service teachers' level of curriculum literacy and their teacher readiness for the teaching profession was not high but at a good level. It is understood that this finding is compatible with the findings of similar studies in the literature both in terms of educational program literacy (Erdem & Eğmir, 2018;Sural & Dedebali, 2018) and teacher profession readiness (Mehmetlioğlu & Haser, 2013;Şahin & Küçüksüleymanoğlu, 2015). This is considered as positive in terms of the professional development of preservice teachers.
When the findings were examined considering the gender variables, it was understood that the female preservice teachers had higher levels of curriculum literacy and teacher readiness for the teaching profession than the male pre-service teachers. It is believed that this finding is related to the attitudes towards the teaching profession. When the research regarding the attitudes of the prospective teachers about the profession are examined, the female teacher candidates likened the teaching profession to motherhood, that their attitudes towards the profession were, therefore, more positive than the male candidates and that they preferred the teaching profession more consciously than the male candidates (Bozdoğan, Aydın & Yıldırım, 2007;Budak & Kula, 2017;Çapri & Çelikkaleli, 2008;Çermik, Doğan & Şahin, 2010;Çocuk, Yokuş & Tanrıseven, 2015;Koç, 2014;Özsoy, Özsoy, Özkara & Memiş, 2010;Terzi & Tezci, 2007). In addition, it is known that pre-service teachers with positive attitudes towards the profession are more successful in their professional knowledge courses (Ekici, 2008). Based on this information, it could be said that the female pre-service teachers are more willing to become teachers and, that their awareness about vocational and field knowledge courses is, for that reason, higher than the male pre-service teachers.
When the findings were examined department based it was understood that the level of curriculum literacy and readiness of the pre-service teachers, who studied in the Department of Primary Teacher Training, are significantly department than the others. When Primary Teacher Training Programme is examined, it is seen that it includes Reading and Writing Teaching, Turkish Language Teaching, Maths Teaching, Life Science Teaching, Science and Technology Teaching, Social Science Teaching, Religion Culture and Moral Knowledge Teaching courses. These courses contribute to the pre-service teachers' curriculum knowledge and skills (Council of Higher Education, 2006). When looking at other teacher training programs, Pre-school Teacher Training, Turkish Teacher Training and Computer Teaching and Technology Education Training programmes contain a Special Teaching Methods course. In addition, English Teacher Training contains Approaches in Teaching English, Science Teacher Training program contains Science-Technology Program and Planning, Psychological Counselling and Guidance Training contains Curriculum Development in Guidance in addition to Special Teaching Methods course. The pre-service teachers examine specific instructional programs in these courses (Council of Higher Education, 2006). Primary pre-service teachers' teacher readiness level is higher than the other pre-service teachers. This is thought to be due to their intense exposure to field-specific and curriculum literacy opportunity of the primary pre-service teachers helps them feel ready for the teaching profession. It is noteworthy that the pre-service teachers who are successful in field education courses have more positive teaching competence perception (Çaycı, 2011;Ekici, 2008). Therefore, it is understood that the obtained result is compatible with similar studies.
Another finding in this study was that the readiness and curriculum literacy levels of the pre-service teachers in the fourth grade were significantly different from those of the third graders. It is understood that the result obtained is in parallel with the results of similar studies (Housego, 1992;Mehmetlioğlu & Haser, 2013). This is thought to be due to the positive contributions of the Teaching Practice courses. In teaching practice course, the pre-service teachers restructure their knowledge in many aspects of the teaching profession throughout their undergraduate studies and in their practice schools (Karadüz, Eser, Şahin & İlbay, 2009). As a result, the pre-service teachers both plan the practice lessons and implement it by using the knowledge they acquire about curriculum in field education courses. Therefore, it is thought that the levels of high curriculum literacy and high teacher readiness of the pre-service teachers in the fourth grade are related to this situation.
In this research, the relationship between curriculum literacy and teacher readiness for the teaching profession was examined. It is noteworthy that there is a high positive correlation between curriculum literacy and readiness for the teaching profession and that curriculum literacy predicts teacher readiness for the teaching profession. As stated earlier, the teacher, who is ready for work, defines himself/herself as having the professional qualifications (Mehmetlioğlu & Haser, 2013). In addition, when the General Competencies of Teacher Profession were examined, teachers with professional knowledge and professional skills described teacher as a person "who had curriculum and pedagogical knowledge regarding their field", "who effectively planned education and training processes", "who prepared appropriate learning materials with healthy and safe learning environments for effective learning for all students", "who effectively executed the learning and teaching process" and "who suitably use[s] teacher measurement and evaluation methods, techniques and tools" (General Directorate of Teacher Training and Development, 2017). Based on this, it is thought that the defined teacher competencies are related to curriculum literacy. Because curriculum program literacy is one of the dimensions of the adequacy of the teacher (Bolat, 2017).
As a result, when the findings obtained from the research were evaluated in general, it was seen that the readiness and curriculum literacy levels of pre-service teachers increased when they focused on curricular study more. In addition, fieldwork, like teaching practice, played a role in the pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy and teacher readiness levels. Accordingly, pre-service teachers' curriculum literacy levels were predicated on being ready for the teaching profession. Namely, pre-service teachers who were highly knowledgeable and skilled in the field-specific curriculum felt ready to work.
When the literature is examined, it is noteworthy that studies mainly geared to explore the relation between professional competences and teacher readiness. It is thought that this study, which focuses on teacher readiness and curriculum literacy, is original and will contribute to the field. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended to examine the readiness of field-specific curriculum literacy on the role of teacher readiness.