Climate change training action research in the context of climate literacy with thematic teaching approach in preschool education

Children today face environmental conditions such as poisoning, destruction, leakage, drought, pollution, forest fires and non-seasonal extreme weather events. It is important to inform children about such situations, to include them in environmental decisions or to get their opinions. The development of a deep understanding of climate change in the society is only possible by starting education and awareness-raising activities in individuals from pre-school ages. In this context, the aim of the study is to develop climate literacy and climate change awareness in preschool children. This research was carried out for ten weeks between 28th February 2022 and 12th May 2022 in an independent kindergarten located in the city center of Artvin in the 2021-2022 academic year. As a method, action research, one of the qualitative research models, was adopted. The study group consists of 12 girls and 10 boys. Within the scope of the research, a ten-week action research was designed according to the thematic teaching approach and the activities planned within this framework were included. After the application, semi-structured interviews with the children were implemented. The data were analyzed by descriptive analysis, and the findings were presented by categorizing. According to the results obtained from the research, it was found that the children who received preschool education established a cause-effect relationship about climate change and learned what kind of precautions they should take against climate change. In line with the findings obtained from the research, it can be suggested that the preschool education program be updated in terms of learning objectives aimed at raising children's climate literacy and climate change awareness. Researchers can conduct studies that focus on the long-term effects of climate change programs delivered at an early age. Key Words:Climate change, climate literacy, preschool education, thematic teaching approach.