Examination of a "minik tema" project implemented in a kindergarten from the perspective of teachers

In order to leave a more livable world to future generations, it is very important to gain environmental awareness at a young age. Within the scope of this research, it has been aimed to reveal the changes in the awareness and attitudes of teachers, during the Minik Tema project implemented by Tema Foundation in order to improve environmental education in preschool education. In this study, the experiences of teachers in the process of environmental education and the change-developments of the teachers' perception toward environmental issues are examined. This research was carried out to explore how the Minik Tema project was implemented and what happened during the process. Eight teachers in the kindergarten where the application was made constitute the participants of the study. They volunteered to participate in the research. Activities were carried out in line with the application calendar prepared with the teachers. The data were analyzed through qualitative descriptive analysis. According to the data obtained from the interviews and observations, it was observed that teachers do not have a child-based practice perspective and perform activities in the form of verbal expression in general. Throughout the process, with the guidance of the Mini Theme application booklet, they have gained many professional and individual gains and have had enjoyable educational processes. In the process, learning processes in which students took an active role were realized. Teachers have realized their shortcomings in terms of what environmental education should be like after the practices and they have gained in many areas. Especially in the process of classroom management and the use of different methods-techniques have made significant gains.