The Curriculum of Preschool and Primary School: Examination of Teacher Candidates’ Views*

Abstract

The current study conducted to investigate the opinions of pre-service preschool and primary school teachers about the preschool and primary school programs employed the embedded multiple-case study design, one of the qualitative research methods. The data of the study were collected from the interviews made by total 60 senior pre-service preschool and primary school teachers attending in Marmara University Atatürk Faculty of Education in 2015-2016 academic year by employing a multiple sampling method. As a data collection tool, a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers was used. In the determination and interpretation of the pre-service teachers' opinions related to each theme, frequencies were used. When the data of the study were analyzed, it was found that the pre-service teachers from these two departments think that they are not well informed about the preschool and elementary school programs but they are aware that they need to be knowledgeable about these two levels of schooling succeeding thus feeding each other. Moreover, when the pre-service teachers from these two departments were asked their opinions about developmental characteristics, skills and competencies to be possessed by a child to be able to start elementary education, they mostly emphasized physical/psycho-motor development, preparedness level, self-care and language skills.

Investigating the Locus of Control and Epistemological Beliefs of Social Studies Teacher Candidates in Turkey

“…Yeşilyaprak [64] found that there was no significant difference in terms of gender. Zembat et al [65] found that the scores obtained by teacher candidates from the LOC Scale and its sub-scales did not show significant differences based on gender. U gur [33] concluded that the students' levels of LOC were below average.…”

The Consistency Between the Acquisitions in Terms of Cognitive and Social-Emotio

“…Likewise, training of the classroom teachers about about early childhood could contribute to their success in working with children . The integrity of the programs applied at different education levels strengthens the quality of the education programs (Zembat et al, 2018). In addition, the previous education level should aim to make the student more ready for the next education level (Zembat et al, 2018).…”

“…The integrity of the programs applied at different education levels strengthens the quality of the education programs (Zembat et al, 2018). In addition, the previous education level should aim to make the student more ready for the next education level (Zembat et al, 2018). "Preparing children for primary school" is one of the aims of preschool education.…”

“…The author's contribution to this article is 100%. Zembat, R., Yavuz, E. A., Tunçeli, H. İ., & Yorulmaz, A. (2018).…”

“…The literature review relieved the following studies on preschool education programs: historical development of preschool education programs , teachers' views on the preschool education program Göle & Temel, 2015;, teachers' implementation of the preschool program , problems faced by teachers in applying the preschool education program , teachers' views on character and values education in preschool education program , the effect of the preschool program on the areas of child development , review of story books in terms of preschool education program , evaluation of students' achievements in terms of the pre-school program targets , evaluation of 2013 preschool education program (Tican-Başaran & Ulubey, 2018), sexual development and sex education in preschool education program , the needs analysis for the preschool education program , analysis of the preschool education program in terms of 21st century skills ,and review on the articles published in Dergipark about the preschool education program (Yerliyurt & Ersoy, 2012). When the literature on primary school Social Studies course is reviewed, the following studies are examined: Evaluation of the social studies curriculum , Teachers' views on the social studies curriculum Altun et.al., 2019;Türkeş, 2008;Zembat et al, 2018), Problems encountered in the implementation of the social studies curriculum , determining the level of realization of the achievements in the social studies program (Çakır, 2007) and the level of their compatibility (Özenç, 2020), teachers' views on sustainable development in the social studies curriculum, , examination of the social studies curriculum in the context of social skills , examination of primary school programs in terms of philosophical foundations , Evaluation of primary school curriculum , Examination of the spirality of the pre-school education program and the primary school social studies curriculum . It can be said that the studies have contributed to the literature in terms of the features and evaluation of the programs.…”