A Comparison of Turkish and South Korean Mothers’ Views About Preschool Education and Their Expectations From Preschools

Abstract

The preschool period which comprises the years from birth to age of six, is one of the most critic periods of life because of its future effect on the formation and shaping of the personality, moulding the social and emotional life, views about preschool education show that mothers from both countries consider preschool education as an important issue; they do not consider preschools as a caring institution; they think rather than themselves, preschools affect their children, and they try to learn about preschool education and children in this period. According to the mothers' answers to seven questions about their expectations from preschools, both Turkish mothers and South Korean mothers sent their children to preschools and were against strict discipline. While most South Korean mothers supported that their children go out and play in summer and winter, and learn how to read and write in preschools, few Turkish mothers agreed with this view. Both Turkish mothers and South Korean mothers supported teaching simple add-subtract operations, foreign languages, and computer, but this rate was higher in the latter.