Children’s relationships with the opposite sex inside peer culture: the case of rural children in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the relationships that children living in rural regions in Turkey have with the opposite sex and the roles of boys and girls with respect to peer culture. Qualitative data collection methods such as observation, interview, and document analysis were used and the data were analysed through qualitative data analysis methods. During the data collection process, 6-year-old pre-school children were observed for six weeks in the researcher's own classroom and the data were recorded through detailed field notes. The cultural society in which the children live, their activities in the classroom and friendship relations established outside school were found to be important factors that influence the children’s relationships with the opposite sex. Relationships with the opposite sex were observed to differ according to the type of activity in the classroom. Furthermore, the function of the material used during games was found to vary according to relationships with the opposite sex.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood education
• preschool children
• gender
• peer culture
• friendship
• etnography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Betül Yanık is a assistant professor at the Department of Early Child Education, Sütçü İmam University. She worked as a preschool teacher in a village for ten years before she worked in the university. Her research and teaching focus on children's peer culture, communication, social relations, with expertise ethnographic approaches to study of children's peer culture.

ORCID

Betül Yanık http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7524-9159