Influences on Turkish early childhood teachers' science teaching practices and the science content covered in the early years

Olgan R.

EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND CARE, vol.185, pp.926-942, 2015 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 185
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/03004430.2014.967689
  • Journal Name: EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND CARE
  • Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.926-942
  • Keywords: early childhood education, teacher training, teachers' confidence, science teaching, resources, PRESCHOOL, ATTITUDES, BELIEFS, KINDERGARTEN, INQUIRY
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The first rationale of the study was not only to determine the topics taught in Turkish early childhood settings but also to define the frequency and time allocation for teaching science (n = 382). In the second phase, through semi-structured interview questions, the aim was to gain detailed information about Turkish early childhood teachers' (n = 14) thoughts concerning the effectiveness of teacher education programmes, their level of confidence in teaching science, the obstacles they face, and the support from colleagues and school administrators. The findings revealed that Turkish early childhood teachers do not feel confident in teaching science and do not believe that they received adequate teacher training. In addition to these two reasons, the scarcity of resources and training opportunities can also be considered as contributory factors that may be helpful in explaining why the science content is too narrow and time allocation for science teaching is limited in Turkish early childhood settings.