Comparison of psychological resilience of children in the classrooms of preschool teachers with democratic and authoritarian attitude

This study aims to compare the psychological resilience of children in the classrooms of preschool teachers with democratic and authoritarian attitudes. For this purpose, a comparative relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The study group of this research consists of 5 teachers with authoritarian attitudes and 6 teachers with democratic attitudes, selected based on the scores they obtained on the sub-dimensions of the "Preschool Teachers' Teaching Attitudes Scale" (Bilgin, 1996), applied to all teachers (118 teachers) working in official preschool institutions affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in the center of Sivas province during the 2023-2024 academic year. Additionally, the study group includes the 167 children taught by these teachers. All the children in the study group are 5 years old. The "Preschool Teachers' Teaching Attitudes Scale" (Bilgin, 1996) was used to determine the teachers who would form the study group. Data related to children were obtained through the "Personal Information Form for Children and Families" and the "Social Emotional Well-Being and Psychological Resilience Scale for Preschool Children," adapted by Özbey (2019) and filled out by the teachers. Parametric methods were used in the analysis of the data, as all the data showed a normal distribution according to the comparison groups. Differences between groups were analyzed using the t-test for independent groups. According to the results of the study, significant differences were found in favor of children in the classrooms of democratic teachers in the sub-dimensions of Communication/Social Performance, Self-Control/Thoughtfulness, Assertiveness, and Enjoyment of Exploration on the "Social Emotional Well-Being and Psychological Resilience Scale for Preschool Children" based on teacher attitudes. However, no significant differences were observed in the sub-dimensions of Emotional Stability/Stress Management and Task Orientation based on teacher attitudes. Additionally, no significant differences were found between the psychological resilience of girls or boys in the classrooms of both democratic and authoritarian teachers.