Turkish teachers' beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education

Abstract

This study examines the self-reported beliefs of Turkish in-service early childhood education teachers living in Turkey in order to develop an understanding of the beliefs held by Turkish teachers about appropriate early childhood education practices, to get a sense of the perceived barriers to effective practice.Twelve teachers participated in in-depth interviews from early childhood centers serving children ages 3to 6-years located in Ankara and Istanbul.Results revealed that Turkish teachers beliefs were closer to the developmentally appropriate side of the developmentally appropriate versus developmentally inappropriate continuum considering the main points of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) curriculum such as active, hands on learning, dramatic play and activities related to children's needs and interests.Teachers' perceived barriers to effective practice include physical conditions and resources (class size, materials etc.), lack of teacher-parent partnership, and low status of teaching profession in Turkey.