The impact of the philosophy program for children on the 21st century skills of preschool children

This study aimed to examine the effect of the Philosophy for Children Program on the 21st-century skills of preschool children. This study, conducted using a quantitative research method with a quasi-experimental design with control groups, was carried out with a total of 35 preschool children, 17 in the experimental group and 18 in the control group. Within the scope of the study, a total of 24 activities lasting 12 weeks were implemented in the experimental group. No activities were implemented for the children in the control group. A pre-test was administered to both the experimental and control groups before the intervention, and a post-test was administered to both groups after the intervention. A follow-up test was administered to the experimental group children 19 weeks later. Descriptive statistics were first used to determine the characteristics and socio-demographic information of the groups. Pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test score data from the 21st Century Skills for 5-6 Year Olds (DAY 2) Scale were analyzed using the SPSS software package. An independent samples t-test was applied to determine whether there were significant differences between the groups. This test compared the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental and control groups. To evaluate the changes over time in each group, a dependent samples t-test was used to compare the pre-test and post-test scores in the control group, while a repeated measures one-way ANOVA test was used to compare the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up measurements in the experimental group. Where significant differences were found, Cohen's d effect size was calculated for practical significance. The results showed that the experimental group had a significant increase in post-test scores compared to the control group. Furthermore, as a result of the philosophy program for children, the experimental group's post-test and follow-up test scores were found to be significantly higher than those of the control group. The results were discussed in line with studies in the literature, and recommendations were made for practitioners and researchers.