Children’s Perspective: Male and Female Preschool Teachers

Year 2015, Issue: 29, 142 - 162, 25.04.2015

Ramazan Sak , Güven Kızılkaya Yakup Yılmaz Muhammet Dereli

Abstract

The majority of preschool teachers are female, in Turkey and all over the world. Recently, however, the number of male teachers in this historically female-dominated occupation has increased. This qualitative study is a comparative examination of the perspectives about their teachers that are held by two groups of preschool children: one being educated by male teachers (n=21), and the other by female ones (n=24). These children were drawn from the classrooms of two male and two female teachers. A semi-structured interview protocol developed by the researchers was used as a data collection tool. Four main themes were determined based on data analysis: (1) children's awareness related to the teacher's gender, (2) their preferences related to their teachers' gender (3) their emotions about the teacher, (4) the relationships between their parents and the teacher. The findings indicate that preschool children were aware of the gender of their male teachers, and that male teachers elicited a sense of fear and threat in the children's minds but children embraced their teachers. The parents of these children also developed good relationships with the male teachers. Lastly, regardless of teachers' gender, children adapted to their own teachers, and developed positive feelings about them that were linked to particular classroom activities.

Keywords

preschool education, male preschool teachers, female preschool teachers, children

Çocukların Bakış Açısıyla Erkek ve Kadın Okul Öncesi Öğretmenleri

Abstract

Türkiye’de ve dünyada okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin büyük çoğunluğunu kadın öğretmenler oluşturmaktadır. Ancak kadınlarin baskın olduğu bu alanda erkek öğretmenlerin sayısında son yıllarda bir artış gözlenmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, erkek ve kadın okul öncesi öğretmenlerinden eğitim alan çocukların öğretmenlerine ilişkin görüşlerinin belirlenmesidir. İki erkek okul öncesi öğretmeninden eğitim alan 21 çocuk ve iki kadın okul öncesi öğretmeninden eğitim alan 24 çocuk olmak üzere toplamda 45 çocuk bu çalışmanın katilimcilarini oluşturmuştur. Temel nitel araştırma yönteminin kullanıldığı bu çalışmada veri toplama aracı olarak araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen yarı yapılandırılmış bir görüşme formu kullanılmıştır. Veri analizi sonucunda dört ana tema belirlenmiştir:  (1) Öğretmenin cinsiyetine ilişkin farkındalık, (2) Çocukların öğretmen tercihleri, (3) Öğretmene karşı beslenen duygular, (4) Öğretmen ve aile ilişkileri. Çalışmanın bulguları, çocukların, erkek okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin cinsiyetleri ile ilgili bir farkındalıklarının olduğunu göstermektedir. Ayrıca erkek öğretmenlerin öğrencilerinde korku ve tehdit çağrışımı yapmalarına rağmen, çocuklar tarafından benimsendikleri ve bu öğretmenlerin çocukların aileleri ile de iyi ilişkiler geliştirdikleri ifade edilmiştir. Buna ilaveten hem erkek hem de kadın öğretmenlerden eğitim alan çocukların, çoğunlukla kendi öğretmenlerini benimsedikleri görülürken, çocuklar öğretmenleri ile ilgili en sevdikleri yön olarak etkinlik yaptırmalarını dile getirmişlerdir.

Keywords

Okul öncesi eğitim, erkek okul öncesi öğretmenleri, kadın okul öncesi öğretmenleri, çocukların bakış açısı

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