Exploring Early Childhood Teachers' Beliefs and Practice on Sexual Education

Abstract

It is known how important sexual education is in the preschool period. Teachers play a key role in this process. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the views and practices of pre-school teachers about sexual education. The participants of the study, which was designed as a qualitative case study, consisted of 8 female preschool teachers working with pre-school children for 36-72 months. Observation and interview techniques were used to collect data. The data obtained were analyzed in depth with descriptive analysis and evaluated under 7 themes. As a result of the research, it was determined that preschool teachers were partially sufficient in terms of their knowledge about sexual education, the aims of sexual education, and the skills aimed to be gained. It was determined that they applied sexual education in daily life skills rather than the scope of the course. However, it was determined that the teachers of the 3-year-old group had little knowledge about sexual education. In line with these results, suggestions were made that pre-school teachers and our country's parents should be trained in childhood sexual education and that sexual education teacher activity booklets should be created to include more activities related to sexual education.