The views of candidate teachers attending to pedagogical formation certificate program about “the ethical values of teaching profession”

In order to carry out educational activities in a healthy and safe environment, administrators, teachers and students should not only be familiar with the principles of ethical conduct, but they should also adopt, apply and monitor the application of these principles. Individuals employed within the field of education are expected to consort with the national andinternational professional ethical values as they are regarded as role models in the society. For this reason, the values and manners of prospective teachers regarding the ethical values of their profession is very significant in the realm of teacher training and education. Within this context, as the prospective students in the faculties of science and letters will be the potential teachers in the foreseeable future, researching the professional ethical values that they obtained with a short term certification program is crucial. The objective of this study is to determine the ethical values of candidate teachers attending to the pedagogical formation certificate program.The study was carried out with 270 candidate teachers who are attending to Pedagogical Formation Certificate Program in Çankırı Karatekin University. Maximum variation sampling method was used when forming the participant groups. This study was conducted by using qualitative method. Phenomenological design which is one of the qualitative research designs was used in the study. Thus experiences of individuals about a case their perceptions and the meanings attached to these perceptions could be revealed easily. Data of the study was obtained by semi-structured interview technique. Open endedquestions were asked to the participants in the interviews. Before asking the questions to the participants, ideas of an area expert, a language expert and a procedural expert (for technical support) were taken and questions were edited by them. To analyse the gathered data in depth Nvivo program was used. Research questions of our study is determined as follows:What are the ideas, attitudes and point of views of candidate teachers about their profession?What are the ideas of candidate teachers about theethical priciples that teachers should demonstrate in student-teacher relations? What are the ideas of candidate teachers about ethical principles related to teaching profession in a society?The results of the study was categorized as follows: Ethical principles in relations with students, ethical principles about teaching profession, ethical principles in relation with educators, ethical principles in relation with society, ethical principles between school administration and teachers, ethical principles in using the resources of the institution and ethical principles about time management. Ethical conducts are the core values that should be inherent in the nature of education. In order to provide an awareness in candidate teachers and pave the way for them to professional maturity, ethical principles should be included as a course in the Pedagogical Formation Certificate Program