An analysis of the 2013 pre-school education curriculum in terms of character education

The pre-school period is a critical period when a major part of a child's character is shaped and the foundations of their future personality are formed. For this reason, character education and the quality of the education to be given to the child during this period is of great importance. The overall aim of this study is to analyze character education in the context of preschool education. In the first phase of this three-phase study, the 2013 Pre-School Education Curriculum, the 2013 Pre-School Education Curriculum Activity Book, and the 2018 Pre-School Activity Book were analyzed in terms of character education. In the second phase, teachers' views on the realization and importance of character traits obtained from the analysis of the 2013 Pre-School Education Curriculum were determined. In the third phase, the researchers tried to determine the opinions of pre-school teachers regarding character education through a semi-structured interview format. In this study, a mixed research method employing a combination of qualitative and quantitative data methods and an explanatory sequential design were applied. The research was carried out during the 2018-2019 academic year on teachers working at the official, independent kindergartens in the Şahinbey district of Gaziantep province. The 2013 Pre-School Education Curriculum, the 2013 Pre-School Education Curriculum Activity Book, and the 2018 Pre-School Activity Book, as well as a questionnaire and semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher were used in the research as data collection tools. The data obtained from the documents and the semi-structured interview form within the scope of the research was analyzed using a descriptive analysis method. The data obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed by determining descriptive statistics with the SPSS package software. According to the results of the research, it has the most careful, talented, creative and independent character traits in the 2013 Pre-School Education Curriculum. Again, it has been observed that the 2013 Pre-School Education Curriculum, the 2013 Pre-School Education Curriculum Activity Book and 2018 Pre-School Activity Book are consistent in terms of character education. According to pre-school teachers, the level of importance of 46 of the 47 character traits derived from the program were found to be considered very important; likewise, the realization levels of these character traits were found to be high, except for two. In the results obtained from the semi-structured interview questions, it was determined that preschool teachers frequently mistook character education with value education, that respect, love and honesty were considered to be the top character traits that should be instilled in pre-school children, and that the most important factor that affects character education was family followed by the school environment. Another result obtained from the interview questions is the inclusion of character education in the existing pre-school education curriculum through additional gains. The conclusion, that teachers should be informed about character education by various in-service training programs, was found to be a further result obtained from the interview data. In conclusion, suggestions have been made to researchers, practitioners and policy makers on the importance of character education practices during the pre-school period and proposals for what should be done. Keywords: Character Education in Pre-School Education Curriculum, Pre-School Character Education, Character, Character Education