Political Socialization in the Contemporary Greek Kindergarten Views of Kindergarten Teachers and the Readiness of Preschoolers

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study preschool children's readiness to political socialization and to investigate kindergarten teachers' views regarding citizenship education. It is appreciated that teachers' views constitute strong evidence of plans, instructive choices and teaching practices, determining sometimes even their instructive effectiveness, i.e. the degree they consider themselves to be able to influence students' performance. Children's readiness is considered to be related to their ability for direct reaction in their political socialization. Two questionnaires were used as a data collection method. The readiness in early childhood for political socialization is investigated through fourteen proposals which are analyzed into the frequencies of "always", "sometimes" and "never". The views of kindergarten teachers in connection to citizenship education are investigated through five open questions. The collected data were coded, entered in SPSS and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings confirmed mostly the inquiring affairs and gave interesting information in the frame of inquiring questions as well.

Political socialization in kindergartens: Observations of ceremonies of the Israeli Jewish holidays and memorial days

“…There is evidence that political socialization takes place in kindergartens in other societies as well. However, it seems that the political contents transmitted by teachers in societies without conflict are different, for example, content regarding politicians, parties, democracy (in Germany; Abendschön & Tausendpfund, ), citizenship education, human rights values, social and moral responsibility, and celebration of national holidays (in Greece; Michalelis et al, ; Nalbantoglou et al, ; Tsioumis et al, ). Most of these contents are taught less often, if ever, in Israeli kindergartens.…”

“…Political socialization in the educational system takes place by different means, such as textbooks, teachers’ instruction, field trips, informal activities, and more. Studies of political socialization in schools and pre‐schools have usually analyzed textbooks about transmitted political contents (Adwan, Bar‐Tal, & Wexler, ; Bar‐Tal, ; Papadakis, ; Psaltis, Carretero, & Čehajić‐Clancy, ) or questioned students (Miljević‐Ridjički & Lugomer‐Armano, ) and teachers (Golden, ; Nalbantoglou, Kyridis, & Tsioumis, ; Tsioumis, Kyridis, Papageridou, & Sotiropoulou, ) about their views, but have very rarely directly observed teachers’ instruction—how they actually convey the transmission of political contents (Michalelis, Tsioumis, Kyridis Papageridou, & Sotiropoulou, ).…”

“…Nalbantoglou et al, 2015;Tsioumis et al, 2015). Most of these contents are taught less often, if ever, in Israeli kindergartens.…”

Εκπαίδευση Για Την Ιδιότητα Του Πολίτη Στην Προσχολική Και Πρώτη Σχολική Ηλικία

“…Μπότσογλου & Κακανά, 2012. Schneider et al, 2010 Eccles & Roeser, 2011 . Nalbantoglou, Kyridis & Tsioumis, 2015).…”

“…Τέτοιες δραστηριότητες σχετίζονται με την ενθάρρυνση των μαθητών/τριών για: ελεύθερη έκφραση, υποστήριξη των επιχειρημάτων τους για ένα ζήτημα, συμμετοχή στην αναζήτηση λύσεων για τα προβλήματα της τάξης ή του σχολείου, συμμετοχή στη δημοκρατική λήψη αποφάσεων, εκλογή αντιπροσώπων και γενικότερα την εκπαίδευση με όρους συνεργατικής μάθησης (Οικονομίδης & Ελευθεράκης, 2011. Nalbantoglou, Kyridis & Tsioumis, 2015.…”