Education In Turkey

03/02/2004

"One friend, one person who is truly understanding, who takes the trouble to listen to us as we consider our problem, can change our whole outlook on the world." - Dr. Elton Mayo

STUDY ON IMPACT OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN TURKEY

In 1988 public pre-school education was not available to the majority of children in Turkey, especially so for disadvantaged children. To assist the government's efforts to expand pre-school programs and to create suitable teaching materials for this level of education, a study was conducted on the difference in development of children who are exposed to pre-school programs compared with those who are kept at home or put in day care.

The study noted the effect of three types of environments on a sample of 255 children: educationally-oriented nursery schools, custodial nursery schools, and the home setting. Researchers also noted the effects of a two-year training program provided for mothers of half the children in each group to teach their children cognitive and social skills. Data analysis showed that an educational preschool environment was superior to the other arrangements. As well, based on test results, children of program-trained mothers were superior to those of nontrained mothers. It was concluded that both the educational preschool program and the mothers' training program had strong effects on children's cognitive and social development.

For more information about this study, go to:

http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-35871-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

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