- Early Childhood Education / Aims
of Preschool Education Mialaret understands that early childhood education has three universal purposes. - To provide care for the children of working mothers,
- To provide children with a social environment to interact with outside the family environment,
- Preparing children socially for further education levels,
To support the holistic development of children in parallel with the needs of the changing world.
← Educational purposes
To provide sensory education to support children’s interactions with the social and physical world,
To develop the skills and creativity of children to express themselves through the support of channels of interaction with their social worlds (voice, body, emotion, etc.).
← Developmental purposes
Developmental monitoring of children and, where normal development is hindered, to reduce them through early intervention (MEB, 2011; Rifleman Akcan, 2018).
The Turkish National Education Basic Law No. 1739, published in 1973, is based on the objectives and principles of preschool education.
In line with this information, it is thought that it will be useful to present the general objectives of Turkish National Education before moving on to the objectives of preschool education.
The general purpose of Turkish National Education;
• All members of the Turkish nation adhere to the Principles and Principles of Ataturk and the Nationalism of Ataturk, which finds its expression in the Constitution; Adopting, protecting and developing the national, moral, human, spiritual and cultural values of the Turkish nation; who loves his family, his homeland, his nation and always tries to glorify it; to raise them as citizens who know their duties and responsibilities towards the Republic of Turkey, a democratic, secular and social rule of law that is committed to human rights and the basic principles at the beginning of the Constitution,
• Has a balanced and healthy developed personality and character, free and scientific thinking power, and a wide worldview in terms of body, mind, morality, spirit and emotion; respects human rights, values personality and enterprise and is responsible towards society; to raise them as constructive, creative and productive people,
• To prepare them for life by developing their interests, needs and abilities and gaining the necessary knowledge, skills, behaviors and habits of working together and to ensure that they have a profession that will make them happy and contribute to the happiness of the society,
• Thus, to increase the well-being and happiness of Turkish citizens and Turkish society on the one hand; on the other hand, in national unity and integrity, economic, social and cultural
to support and accelerate development and finally make the Turkish nation a constructive, creative, distinguished partner of modern civilization (MEB, 2013).
The objectives of preschool education in the 2013 preschool education program are as follows (MEB, 2013):
- • Supporting the development of children,
- ← To give good habits to children,
- • Preparing children for the next educational step,
- • To create a common upbringing for disadvantaged children,
- ← To ensure that children speak Turkish correctly and beautifully.
- Benefits of Early Childhood Education/Preschool Education Benefits of early childhood education and care;
- ← Individual development,
- • Social contributions,
- • Social justice and equality will be examined. Individual ingimationThe contribution of education and care given in early childhood to the individual development of the child has started to be presented primarily by focusing on the cognitive development of the child. First, information about brain development in early childhood was given. Scientists have made the rapid brain development of young children, the formation of synapses that occur around the age of 3 years, and subsequent synaptic pruning more concrete using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques (Turhan and Özbay, 2016). In order to better understand the subject, sections and nerve cell connections that make up the nerve cell are given in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The parts/ neural cell connections and synaptic cavity that make up a nerve cell (Turhan and Özbay, 2016)
The process given in Figure 1 can be explained as follows. Neurals take stimuli from other cells from the ends of dendrites and transmit them from the ends of the axons to other cells. Dendrites receive inputs from other axons. Axons only connect with dendrites; dendrites do not connect with others. The task of the axon is to transmit and carry information through electrical and chemical processes. Synapses are the connecting points between the nervous building blocks, where information is passed from cell to cell. Synapse is the dendrite or body of one cell and the space or range in the part where the axon of the other cell is faced.
According to John Bruer, author of The Magic Years (0-3 years), synaptic intensity peaks in the human brain from birth to the age of three. Much more than synapses are formed during this time. In early childhood, synaptic density increases to exceed that of adults. With adolescence, this number is reduced to the normal adult level.
The concept of magic years; It has been used to emphasize that children learn easily and effectively during this period of high synaptic intensity, that experiences lead to largely irreversible neural changes, in other words, a critical period for brain development. During this time, enriched environments cause the formation of more synapses, thereby preserving more synapses after synaptic pruning occurs in adolescence. In contrast, deprivation, neglect or abuse during this period leads to fewer synapses and therefore a smaller number of synaptic connections are maintained in adulthood.
Early childhood, defined as the period from birth to the age of eight, is a period of rapid brain development. During this period, children are affected by the environment and people that surround them. They are the experiences that shape the brain. Early education provides experiences and stimuli to support the child’s brain development. Especially the opportunity for diversity in experiences makes a difference in brain development (Bekman and Gürlesel, 2005; Oral, Yasar and Charter, 2016; UNESCO, nd).
According to Bloom (1964), 50% of mental development is completed between the ages of 0-4, 30% between the ages of 4 and 8, and 20% between the ages of 8 and 17 (Akt.Tabuk, Inan and Tabuk, 2018).
From this point on, the following national (TEOG sample) and international (PISA and TIMMS samples) exam results are shown as evidence of the positive relationship between academic achievement and preschool education. (Motherless, Ekinci and Motherless, 2018; Anil, Özer Özkan and Demir, 2015; Aktan and Akkutay, 2014; Holer and Guler, 2017; Büyüközturk, Çakan, Tan and Atar, 2014; Education Reform Initiative (ERG), 2015; Oral, Yasar and Charter, 2016; Özer, Erdaş Kartal, Dogan, Çakmakci, Irez and Yalaki, 2018; Smurf and Patriot, 2014; Stone, Beekeeper, Ozarkan and Freedom, 2016; Wall, Litjens, & Taguma, 2015; Yildirim, Yildirim, Yetişir and Ceylan, 2013; Lightning, Freedom, Bright, Gönen and Polat, 2016).
Every three years, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducts an exam called the International Student Assessment Programme (PISA), which mainly assesses the science, maths and reading skills of 15-year-olds in different countries. When the evaluation reports of PISA exam results are examined on a country-by-country basis, it is seen that preschool education contributes to exam success.
In 2014, the UK analyzed the International Student Assessment Programme (PISA). The report on the analysis highlighted that 15-year-olds who received at least one year of preschool education performed better in PISA exams than students who did not participate in early childhood education and care services. However, when the socioeconomic background of the students is taken into account, it has been reported that those who attended preschool education for at least one year scored above 40 points in the 2012 PISA math test. According to these results, it is underlined that early experiences are important for children’s knowledge and skills development.
Turkey has been taking PISA exams since 2003. In this section, turkey’s exam results in 2012 and 2015 will be discussed. In addition, the 2012 and 2015 PISA exam results were evaluated in terms of preschool education.
According to pisa 2012 evaluation results, it is seen that the results of the students taking the exam in the fields of mathematics, science and reading skills are related to their pre-school education status. In addition, compared to other countries participating in the PISA 2012 exam, it was observed that the pre-school education rates of children taking the exam from Turkey were low. When the pre-school education rates of the children who took the 2012 PISA exam were examined, 70.1% of the children who took the exam received no preschool education and 8.6% received preschool education for more than a year. When these rates were evaluated according to the 65 countries taking the exam, it was found that Turkey had the highest level with the rate of never receiving preschool education and the lowest level with more than one year of preschool education.
The following provides detailed information on the differences between the math scores of students who receive and do not receive preschool education:
← Children who have never received a preschool education have a PISA score of 433, while those who receive a year score 480 and those who have not received a year score 495.
• Continuing preschool education for one year increased by 47 points and continuing for more than a year increased by 62 points.
← There is a 60-point difference between students who receive preschool education in other countries and students who receive preschool education in our country. Although 40 points of the 60 point difference originate from socioeconomic background, 20 points are all about preschool education.
• As preschooling time increased, so did the number of children at maths top proficiency levels.
According to the results of the 2015 PISA assessment, detailed information is provided on the differences between the science scores of students who receive and do not receive preschool education.
- • 46.3% of children have never continued pre-school education.
- ← Children with preschool education have higher science scores.
- ← Students who receive 1-2 years of preschool education have 17puan more science scores than those who do not.
Another test that demonstrates the importance of preschool education is the 4th Test, a project of the International Educational Success Assessment Organization (IEA). And 8. Is an International Mathematics and Science Trends survey (TIMSS) for the evaluation of mathematics and science skills applied at four-year intervals attended by children at the class level. TIMSS was first held in 1995 with the participation of 46 countries. It was first implemented in Turkey in 1999. The following are the points where the results of the 2011, 2015 Turkey TIMSS exams are evaluated in terms of preschool education. According to TIMSS 2011, it has been observed that the situation of students starting school with pre-numerical skills in Turkey has positively affected their mathematical achievements.
According to TIMSS 2015, it was determined that math success decreased as preschool education duration decreased, and students with the highest math score average were students who received at least 2 years of preschool education.
The results of the research, which is centrally conducted by the General Directorate of Measurement, Evaluation and Examination Services at the national level, are similar to the results of the international exams, in which the results of the Basic Education to Secondary Education Examination (TEOG) are evaluated in terms of preschool education.
In a study on teog exam, it was tried to determine whether participation in preschool education affects children’s academic achievements through teog scores of students. In the study, the 8th district participating in preschool education. TEOG scores of the students were found to be higher than those who did not participate in preschool education. In other words, participation in preschool education positively and meaningfully affects children’s academic success. The average score difference between both groups was 72.93. This difference shows how much participation in preschool education affects student performance in later years. In this respect, it is very important.
It has been revealed in the literature scans that the care and education given in early childhood contributes positively to the child’s cognitive development as well as other areas of development.
Accordingly, children receiving early childhood education and care:
• It is more successful in other educational levels and adult life, especially in the next education step.
- ← It is involved in fewer crimes.
- ← Is conscious of fundamental rights.
- ← Learns both the mother tongue and a foreign language better.
- ← Solves problems successfully.
- ← Interacts very easily with his family and surroundings.
- ← His social skills have improved.
- ← Knowledgeable about healthy care and nutrition.
- ← Gained emotional skills (MEB, 2011).
Social contributions
Early education, which meets high quality standards, has both short- and long-term economic benefits for society and employers when available to all children, especially disadvantaged children. These are classified as short- and long-term benefits.
The short-term benefits of early education include:
- • Provides jobs: Employs many people across the country,
- ← Employees pay wages and taxes,
- ← Centers buy goods and services,
- • Enables employers to attract, retain, and increase productivity.
The long-term benefits of early education are:- • Reduces costs related to special education and repetition,
- • Reduces the rate of children leaving school and gives them more skills,
- • Meets the workforce needs of the future and also contributes to the upbringing of individuals with higher incomes,
- ← Increases production by country,
- ← Tax payments are high and regular,
- • Prison costs are reduced as criminal and criminal sanctions will decrease,
- • Welfare payments decrease (Motherless, Ekinci and Anasiz, 2018; Calman andTarr-Whelan, 2005). In recent years, research examining the effects of early childhood education has attracted the attention not only of educators but also of economists. In an international study, James Heckman, who won the Nobel Prize in economics, found that $1 invested in disadvantaged groups in early childhood returned $13 to the country’s economy (Arkan and Ozturk, 2018). According to the Benefit-Cost Analysis of Preschool Education in Turkey, every 1 lira investment in early childhood education means a gain for 7 liras to the economy. In other words, early childhood education is a lucrative public policy (Kaytaz, 2005).Social justice and equality
Many studies show that early childhood education and care contribute more to children from disadvantaged families (immigrants and low incomes). Early childhood education and care is the most important step for children to start school with equal opportunities.
Recently, awareness of early childhood education and quality has been increasing rapidly with factors such as early intervention and determination that the effects of disadvantaged situations (poverty, culture and language differences, low socio-economic level, special educational needs) of children are decreasing. This training also provides opportunities for disadvantaged children to reduce inequality with their peers (Bespinar and Aybars, 2013; Kaymak Eren, Çakmak Teloglu and İlhan, 2017).
According to the TEDMEM education evaluation report, the differences between students due to opportunity inequalities can be reduced with the increase of schooling in preschool education (TEDMEM, 2018).
In addition to the benefits of early childhood care and education services, many things are gained for women who care for the child. For example, it enables women to participate in all areas of social life such as employment, social and political life. In this way, it contributes to gender equality. In other words, thanks to early childhood education and care, women can participate more in education and the workforce. It can both increase family incomes and support children’s physical, social and mental development.
Girls who have to take care of their younger siblings can also continue their education. The institutionalization of these services is the most important step towards achieving gender equality in the public and private spheres