Views of the kindergarten teachers on science and nature activities and classroom practices

Early childhood education, which has a critical importance in the life of the individual, is the first stage of recognizing and making sense of life for children. Science education is of great importance for children in order to be able to make sense of the life they live in. Developing scientific thinking skills of children in early childhood education is possible with a well-designed science education programs. In this context, early childhood teachers have critical responsibilities. Since children's attitudes towards science education is shaped in line with their teachers' attitudes towards science, teachers' positive attitude will positively influence children's attitudes. This study examined early childhood teachers' attitudes towards science education, the methods and techniques they use during science activities, and their science activities in terms of constructivist approach. The study was designed based on a mixed research method. The participants consisted of 118 early childhood teachers serving in 20 schools in Elazığ, Turkey. The study consisted of two stages. In the first stage, a demographic information form and a scale measuring teachers' attitudes towards science were administered. Also, teachers' daily plans were collected. In the second stage, seven teachers were selected among 118 teachers based on their daily plans. These seven teachers were selected since they reported that they conducted at the highest number of science activities during a school year based on their daily plans. Those teachers' classrooms were visited three times in the spring semester. During those visits, teachers conducted science activities and they were video-recorded. Also, the researcher took field notes during the activities. These recordings were examined according to the Llewellyn's constructivist research cycle. The findings revealed that although the teachers had positive attitudes towards science, their activities were teacher-centered activities. During the science activities, children were mainly asked to only observe, which caused children to be passive. Based on the findings, recommendations were discussed.