Examination Of The Effect Of Prospective Preschool Teachers' Epistemological Beliefs On Their Views On Teaching Philosophy With Children

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study is to determine how preschool teacher candidates' epistemological beliefs affect their views and conceptualizations about teaching philosophy to children. The secondary aim is to determine the epistemological belief levels of preschool teacher candidates. A mixed method, which combines qualitative and quantitative research methods, was used to achieve these goals. The research was conducted with 52 participants studying pre-school education at a foundation university affiliated with YÖK in Istanbul. First, the Epistemological Belief Scale for Learning was applied to the participants to reach quantitative data, and the results were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Three subgroups of persons (lower, middle, and upper epistemological profiles) were formed within the framework of the epistemological belief scores reached. Opinion form for learning philosophy with children was applied to the sub-samples. An inductive content analysis was carried out through the continuous comparison method to analyze the qualitative data obtained. Within the scope of the analysis results, it is seen that the average epistemological belief scores of preschool teacher candidates are higher than the general average of the scale. At the same time, it is seen that preschool teacher candidates with high epistemological beliefs emphasize the vision of science literacy within the scope of teaching philosophy with children, thinking skills, a sense of curiosity, and child-centered approaches. The results were discussed within the framework of the relevant literature, and suggestions were made in this context.