Exami̇nati̇on of story books used i̇n preschool i̇n terms of soci̇al ski̇lls

The aim of this study is to examine the story books used in preschool period in terms of social skills. Sequential explanatory design, one of the mixed method approaches, was used in the study. Survey (descriptive research) model was used in the quantitative stage of the research and basic qualitative research design was used in the qualitative stage. In this research, questionnaires were first collected and evaluated and then document analysis was conducted according to the results. The criterion sampling strategy was used to determine the books to be sampled. In this context, four criteria were identified to select books that are directly related to research and provide rich data. These criteria are as follows: (i) The selected books should be among the books suggested by the teachers according to the data obtained from the quantitative stage of the research. (ii) Selected books should be appropriate to the age level of preschool children. (iii) Selected books should focus on teaching a social skill. (iv) Selected books must be in series. As it meets these criteria, the Tali Series story books have been identified as data sources. In the research, document analysis was used since it was aimed to examine the story books in the Tali series in terms of their suitability for teaching social skills and 18 story books in the Tali Series were analyzed as documents. Qualitative content analysis technique was used to analyze the research data. In the study, a coding system was created by the researcher and the codes were grouped according to their relations with each other and three categories were formed. These categories were then combined under the theme of 'Direct Teaching Method'. Finally, the data obtained were explained with an interpretive approach under the relevant categories to be consistent with the theme. In the story books examined in the study, it was determined that social skills teaching was given in three stages as defining the problem situation, detecting inappropriate behavior results and acting appropriately.