A comparative study on early childhood teachers' views on children's rights in the digital world: Examples from Turkey and England

The aim of this research is to comparatively examine the views of preschool teachers in Turkey and England regarding children's rights in the digital world. The study group of this research, in which a comparative case study, one of the qualitative research methods, was carried out, consists of 6 teachers working in three independent kindergartens affiliated with Afyonkarahisar Provincial Directorate of National Education, where children aged 36-72 months attend, and 6 teachers working in three separate kindergartens, where children aged 36-72 months attend, in England. A total of 12 teachers volunteered to participate in the research, including 6 teachers working in three different state kindergartens affiliated with the Ministry of Education. The data of the research were collected through interview forms and document review. In line with the stages of the comparative case study, comparisons were made between the views of teachers in Turkey and England regarding children's rights in the digital world. Similar and different aspects between the two situations were revealed in line with common and different themes and sub-themes. It was concluded that preschool teachers in Turkey and England think that the necessary conditions are not provided for children to express their opinions in digital environments. It has been determined that teachers have a common opinion that digital environments such as applications, games and websites are not prepared safely for children and that adults have insufficient and limited knowledge about online security measures to be taken to protect children in the digital environment. In addition, teachers are of the common opinion that adults have insufficient knowledge and limited knowledge about online security measures to be taken to protect children in the digital environment. It has been observed that teachers in Turkey and England define children's rights in the digital world differently and implement different practices regarding children's rights in digital environments. While teachers in Turkey stated that they played the role of guiding and modeling, teachers in England stated that they carried out processes such as parent training, observation, follow-up and informing children. As a result of the document analysis carried out within the scope of the research, it was concluded that there are legal regulations in both countries to protect the digital rights of children, and that guides with different contents have been prepared by the relevant institutions and organizations in both countries in order to ensure the digital safety of children.