A qualitative study aimed at evaluating social studies education in the preschool period with teacher opinions

Social studies contains many issues that we may encounter in everyday life. It's kind of a part of life. Therefore, social information is of great importance in teaching many subjects such as interacting with the environment of an individual, knowing his civic duties and fulfilling his responsibilities, recognizing and protecting his national and religious values, knowing and maintaining his cultural values, recognizing and owning his country. When the relevant literature is examined, there are studies conducted on the importance of providing social studies education in the preschool period, but it is not considered sufficient. It was found that pre-school teacher candidates who received education in preschool teaching programs did not receive an education aimed at social studies education, and teachers acted with the principle of flexibility in applying social studies education in their classes. This study was conducted in order to reveal the thoughts of preschool teachers working in preschool educational institutions on social studies education. The difference from similar studies conducted in this field is the thoughts of preschool teachers about social studies education in the preschool period, the current state of education, concepts, skills and values that can be acquired through social studies education, the contribution of methods, techniques and materials to the lesson, the reception of teacher opinions in terms of course limitations. Research Phenomonology design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. It was made using easily accessible case sampling from the samples for study purposes. It was conducted with 18 preschool teachers working in private and public kindergartens. The data were collected using the interview technique. As for the interview type, the semi-structured interview type was preferred. The analysis process was carried out within the framework of descriptive analysis and content analysis. It has been seen that preschool teachers have a positive view on the implementation of activities for social studies lessons in the preschool period. At the same time, preschool teachers believe that it is essential to conduct social studies education in the preschool period, that social studies lessons are related to life, form the basis for their future lives, and that the education of effective and qualified individuals can be realized through social studies education. Keywords: Social studies, Preschool period