Analysis of the klowledge about preschool education of mothers who attended, and who did not attend in-class activities in preschool institutions

Ill ABSTRACT Analysis of the Knowledge about Preschool Education of Mothers who attended, and who did not attend in-class activities in Preschool Institutions. This study is designed to analyze the impact of "Program of Involvement in Class Activities" on the mothers' knowledge on preschool education. The sample of the study includes the mothers of preschool age children attending to public preschools in Gölbaşı district of Ankara (Baldudak Basic Education School, Gündüzalp Basic Education School, İnönü Basic Education School). A total of 50 mothers involved in the study. Mothers were classified into two groups = control group (n = 25) and experiment group (n = 25). The study design is consisted of pre-test, post-test and control group techniques. The program of involvement in in-class activities was developed by the author. The involvement program includes three phases and lasts for eight weeks. Furthermore, the program is supported by the following activities: home visits, in-class library for parents, news board and outside activities. These activities were all directed towards the experimental group. Any treatment was realized for control group. "Preschool Education Information Form" was developed by the author in order to determine the knowledge of mothers on preschool education. Another form, namely "Personal Information Form" was also developed to find out the personal background information of mothers. The first form was used as pre-test and post-test for experiment group mothers. The same form was also administered to control group mothers. The data obtained were analysed using the following techniques: Kruskal Wallis Test, Mann-Whitney U Test, Test of the Significance of the Variance between two means, and One- Way Variance Analysis (ANOVA).iv in accordance with the results of post-tests of both groups, there is a statistically significant difference for experimental group regarding knowledge level on preschool education (p < 0.05). Post-test results also indicate statistically significant diference for control group, but this value is very low (p < 0.05). The findings indicate that there is no statistically significant correlation between the mothers' knowledge on preschool education and such factors as age, educational background, the number of children, occupational status and income. It is also found that mothers in experimental group knowledge on preschool education is statistically significant in pre-test in relation to their other children's having preschool education (p < 0.05). However it is found to be statistically insignificant in post test (p > 0.05). Key terms: Preschool Education, Parent - Child Relationship, Parent Involvement, Parent Involvement Programs.