Preschool Teachers' Practices to Support Children's Social Development

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine practices of teachers to support the social relations of children with their families, peers, teachers and institution personnel in the preschool period. This research was conducted with a phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods. The participants of the study were 24 pre-school teachers working in public schools. The study group of the study was determined by the criterion sampling method, one of the purposeful sampling methods. The research was carried out by interview method and the data were collected using a semi-structured interview form consisting of two parts. In the first part of the interview form, there are questions about the participants' age, professional experience, educational level and type of institution they work in, and the second part includes questions about the practices of the participants to support children's social relations with their families, peers, teachers and institution staff. The data collected in the study were analyzed using the content analysis method. As a result of the research, it was revealed that the family was involved in educational activities to support children's relationships with their families, various activities were carried out in and out of the classroom to support children's peer relationships, and practices were made to increase teacher-child interaction to support children's relationships with their teachers. It was determined that in order to support the relations of the children with the staff, practices for communicating with them are also carried out.