Comparison of pre-school education system in Germany and Turkey

Preschool education is an important stage that plays a critical role in the development of children. Previous studies indicated that preschool education affects children's future academic achievement and social skills. Therefore, this study aimed at comparing the preschool education system in Germany and Turkey in terms of various statistics. In this comparative education study, document analysis method from qualitative research methods and case study from qualitative research designs were used. The data were analyzed using the descriptive analysis method. The research showed that while speaking in the mother tongue was emphasized in Turkey, teamwork and creative expression skills were emphasized in Germany for the purposes of preschool education. Structurally, Turkish and German education systems differ in terms of state and institution autonomy and central control. In terms of approaches adopted, differences were found between the two countries in terms of the adoption of the Waldorf approach in Germany and the implementation of the educational approach, which is a combination of different approaches prepared by the Ministry of National Education in Turkey. The research showed that Turkey lags behind Germany in the schooling rate, the number of personnel in pre-school education, and the amount of budget allocated to the pre-school education. The research has shown that the budget allocated to education affects the number of teachers, the quality, and success of education. The results revealed that there is a difference in the academic achievement of German and Turkish students attending pre-school education. In Germany, which has longer pre-school attendance, students' success in mathematics and science is higher at later education levels. Although Turkey's pre-school enrollment rate has increased compared to the past, it is still below OECD averages according to the PISA and TIMMS evaluations. In the study, various improvements have been proposed for pre-school education in Turkey in line with these main results. It is believed that the research will shed light on studies and practices in this area.