Awareness of social studies teacher candidates on refugees in Turkey

The aim of this study is to obtain information about the awareness of social studies teacher candidates about the refugee problem in Turkey. In this regard, a group of teacher candidates are asked their opinion on the subject of refugees in Turkey and as to how they perceive the problem. Interview method is used in the study for data collection. The obtained data is subjected to content analysis via Nvivo 8 software package. As a result of the study, it is observed that the participants residing in provinces with high refugee population have a more negative attitude towards refugees, whereas the ones in areas with no refugee population have a more positive attitude towards them. It is also observed that, in general, teacher candidates do not pay any special effort to acquire information about the subject.