Preschool Teachers' Understanding of Children and Childhood: Rights, Responsibilities and Working with Children

Müge Kunt; Neslihan Avcı

doi:10.51535/tell.1296676

EN

Preschool Teachers' Understanding of Children and Childhood: Rights, Responsibilities and Working with Children

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate preschool teachers' understanding of childhood. The study group of this qualitative case study consisted of 51 preschool teachers working in the central districts of Ankara, who were reached by using the convenient sampling technique from the purposeful sampling method. Semi-structured interview questions were used as data collection tools. The interview questions included preschool teachers' perspectives on children and childhood, what they think about children's rights and basic requirements, their views on the advantages and difficulties of working with children, and their responsibilities towards children. The interview questions were analyzed using a content analysis approach. As a result, it is thought that preschool teachers who participated in the study have a generally positive perspective towards children and childhood. According to preschool teachers' understanding of rights and requirements, it is seen that children requirement love the most, have the right to be protected and safe, and the most important right is the right to have a mother and father. Regarding the right to participation, it was determined that children's opinions should be consulted at home, at school and in society, that children's opinions were taken into consideration in the selection of activities at school and that children's opinions were more effective in the decisions taken. According to preschool teachers' understanding of working with children, the biggest advantage of working with children is that children are natural and innocent, and the most difficult aspect is the communication problem with parents. In addition, it was determined that preschool teachers' professional responsibilities towards children are to raise children as good individuals, they feel conscientious responsibility towards children and as an adult they feel the responsibility to help all children in requirement and in difficult situations.

Keywords

Child , Childhood , Understanding of Childhood , Child Participation , Preschool Teachers

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Other Fields of Education

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Müge Kunt ^*
0000-0002-4603-8210
Türkiye

Neslihan Avcı
0000-0001-7988-3923
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

October 26, 2023

Publication Date

December 28, 2023

Submission Date

May 13, 2023

Acceptance Date

October 16, 2023

Published in Issue

Year 2023 Volume: 5 Number: 2

DOI

https://doi.org/10.51535/tell.1296676

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA56WR63TB

APA

Kunt, M., & Avcı, N. (2023). Preschool Teachers’ Understanding of Children and Childhood: Rights, Responsibilities and Working with Children. Journal of Teacher Education and Lifelong Learning, 5(2), 477-500. https://doi.org/10.51535/tell.1296676

Cited By

Investigating the Effect of Preschool Teacher Candidates' Attitudes Towards Children's Rights on Their Pedagogical Views

Batı Anadolu Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi

https://doi.org/10.51460/baebd.1455470

26172 20107

Preschool Teachers' Understanding of Children and Childhood: Rights, Responsibilities and Working with Children

Abstract

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Details

Primary Language

Subjects

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Early Pub Date

Publication Date

Submission Date

Acceptance Date

Published in Issue

DOI

IZ

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Cited By

Investigating the Effect of Preschool Teacher Candidates' Attitudes Towards Children's Rights on Their Pedagogical Views