The aim of this study is to reveal classroom teachers perception level of their efficiency to
conduct social studies course. In this study both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. In quantitative
section a 36-item five-point Likert-type scale, developed by the researchers, was used. In qualitative section an
interview form including three semi-structured questions was used. Population of the study includes classroom
teachers working in Elazığ and Sivas cities during 2009-2010 academic year. Sample consisted of fourth and
fifth grade classroom teachers selected from 40 different primary schools selected from education regions of
Elazığ and Sivas cities. There are totally 249 classroom teachers in the study. Frequency, percentage, mean
score, standard deviation, one way Anova, and independent groups t test were used to analyze the data. Though
results revealed that classroom teachers found themselves quite adequate in conducting social studies course, it
was also determined that they sometimes had some problems during teaching social studies to the students. They
also argued that some courses should be conducted by subject-matter teachers.
Key words: Social studies, social studies education, classroom teacher, teacher competency
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