Programme-based experiences of preschool teachers regarding support of children’s social skills

ABSTRACT

Providing social skills to children through an appropriate educational programme positively affects their overall development. The aim of this study was to examine the views and experiences of 13 Turkish preschool teachers working with 5–6-year-old children regarding support of children's social skills. An interview protocol was used to gather the views and self-reported practices of teachers, as well as a document review codebook was used to analyze the content of teachers' educational plans. The teachers were found to place importance on their educational programmes and regularly include social skills activities within their plans, while considering programme-based factors like gains and indicators and materials. However, the content of teachers' plans was considerably different from their self-reported practices regarding organization of the learning environment, interval of social skills activities, family involvement, and assessment. Finally, participating teachers were found to be deficient in effective planning of educational plans for promoting children's social skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood education
• social skills
• educational programme
• educational plan
• preschool teacher
• self-reported practices

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zeliha Demirci Ünal

Zeliha Demirci Ünal is a doctoral student and research assistant in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at Middle East Technical University. Her research interests include social development, curriculum and multicultural early childhood education.

Feyza Tantekin Erden

Feyza Tantekin Erden is a professor in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at Middle East Technical University. She earned her doctoral degree in Early Childhood Education from the Florida State University in 2002. Her work focuses on teacher education, social and emotional development, and gender equity in education.