Investigation of the effectiveness of the guided play teacher support program developed for pre-school teachers

Play is an important tool for children to understand, interpret and express the world with its components such as curiosity, choice, freedom and exploration. Guided play, which effectively combines play, which children experience from birth, with learning, offers a fun intermediate path. The main purpose of this study is to examine teachers' views and experiences regarding the Guided Play Teacher Support Program (RODEP) developed for preschool teachers. For this purpose, the model of this study is a case study. In the study, holistic single case design, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was used. The study group of the research consists of 6 preschool teachers working in a preschool education institution affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Kepez district of Antalya province and determined by purposeful sampling method. The data were collected through interviews, direct observations and field notes. In the study, interviews were collected with "Play Interview Form", "Short Stories for Guided Play" and "Program Evaluation Interview Form". Direct observations were collected with the "Observation Form". Field notes were collected with the "Researcher Diary". The data of the study were analyzed by content analysis method. According to the results of the analysis, there have been improvements in teachers' discourses and practices regarding the use of play as a teaching tool and guided play practices. Before the program, teachers stated that they mostly used practices belonging to traditional approaches, while after the program, it was seen that their statements about child-centered, learning through play and guided play increased. Through observations, it was determined that teachers applied the strategies for guided play in the program, that there was progress and that it was reflected in teachers' play practices. Regarding RODEP, teachers stated that they found the program and implementation processes successful, that they reflected them to their practices and that the program was applicable.