An investigation Of The Views Of Preschool Teachers Participating In The 'Forest Teaches, I Discover' Project Carried Out Within The Scope Of Tübitak 4004 On Nature Education

Abstract

The aim of the study is to reveal the expressions of the preschool teacher, who participated in the teacher nature workshops in the 'Forest Teaches, I Discover' project carried out within the scope of TÜBİTAK 4004 Nature Education and Science Schools Support Program, about the awareness, views and skills of transferring the experiences gained in the workshops to the learning processes of the students. In the project, the presentation of the theoretical framework on the subject, wood production and various nature activities were carried out in teacher nature workshops. The participants are 10 pre-school teachers selected by convenient sampling method, working in Kocaeli. Phenomenology (phenomenology) research design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the project. Data were collected through semi-structured interview questions and analyzed by content analysis method. As a result of the analysis of the data, Views on Nature Education in terms of Professional and Personal Development, Views on the Effect of Children's Science Process Skills in Nature Education, Teachers' Emotions and Thoughts on Nature Education, Views on Nature Education in terms of Values Education, Views on the In-Class Adaptation of the Achievements Acquired by Nature Education Teachers and Six themes were identified: Project Satisfaction, Creation of Similar Events, and Views on Recommending to Others. They stated that teachers have gained gains such as implementing nature-based activities in the classroom, creating a naturebased activity plan, using natural materials in the classroom, planning field trips, creating activity examples, creating awareness of nature in children, and enabling children to connect with living things. In addition, it was determined that they experienced a workshop process that exceeded their expectations, that they demanded the continuity of the project, and that they were motivated in terms of nature-based activity practices. According to the research findings, it is seen that teachers stated that many values can be gained to children in nature-based learning processes and that values education is a part of nature education. Finally, teachers; It has been revealed that nature-based learning processes contribute to the development of children's basic scientific skills such as observation, classification, measurement, implementation, communication, evaluation and problem solving.

Keywords

• TUBITAK 4004
• Nature Education
• Teacher Opinions
• Preschool Education

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