Social Studies Teacher Candidates' Awareness About Middle East Geography

One of the earliest known settlements in human history is the Middle East where humanity is born. American Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan was the first to define this geography in 1902, which was the beginning of history, where the silk and spice paths that connect the east and west were bound by the name '' East East '' in the Middle East, and used to express the region between Arabia and India (Cel？k and Gurtuna, 2005: s, 17). The Middle East is one of the exceptional geographies where believers in celestial religions and also societies that live local beliefs live together. The imperial powers' interest in this ancient civilization basin, where people of different breeds and languages live, began in the late 19th century and officially the occupation process began in the early 20th century. In the Middle East geography where people of different religions, languages and races live together in peace and tranquility in the administration of Muslim Turks for centuries, new states were established after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The most recently established state in the Middle East was Israel. The aim of this study is to reveal the knowledge levels and awareness of prospective social studies teachers about the Middle East, to make suggestions if there is insufficiency, to have accurate information about Middle East geography, to show the importance of our country for the future of our country. In this study, a questionnaire including questions requiring direct knowledge was prepared. The study included 36 boys and 64 girls from Amasya University, Faculty of Education, Department of Turkish and Social Studies. The study used content analysis method is the best known of the Middle East countries of Iraq, but is about one quarter of the participants in the Middle East countries neighboring Turkey, Iran and Syria were seen they are not mentioned