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European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │Issue 10 │2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1011868 THE PROBLEMS THAT PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTER Mehmet Fatih Karacabeyi Harran University, Turkey Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify problems such as administration, program and parental issues that pre-school teachers encounter. The other purpose is to investigate whether the teacher perceptions on problems that pre-school teachers encounter differ statistically significantly depending on the presence of a helper in the class, school building type and the economic status of the neighborhood in which the school located. This is a survey study, and the Problems of Pre-School Teachers Scale was developed as the data collection tool of the study. The population of this study is composed of 329 teachers who work in the center of Şanlıurfa, Turkey during -2013 fall semesters. The study is conducted with the participation of 220 teachers selected via simple random sampling method. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, t test and one-way analysis of variance methods were used. The findings indicate that there are significant differences in the perceptions of pre-school teachers related to administration, program and parents. These were discussed along with literature support and recommendations to school administrators were generated. Keywords: pre-school teacher, administration, parent, program 1. Introduction Pre-school education refers to the education process that children- from birth to the beginning of primary school- are provided appropriate to their individual characteristics and developmental level in a rich stimulating environment with opportunities to help them develop in accordance with the community's cultural values and properties (Poyraz & Dere, 2003, p. 21). Early childhood education is a critical Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 310 Mehmet Fatih Karacabey THE PROBLEMS THAT PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTER period for the development of the brain. Studies show that the most important part of brain development occurs in the first six years. 3-6 years is the period in which the connections between neurons occur at the highest level. When an infant reaches the age of three, the physical growth of the brain is 90% completed. Childhood experiences determine which brain cells are used in brain’s working circuits. It has been proved that life and environmental conditions of the childhood affect brain function in a positive or negative way, and the brain development of the children who don’t play games or were touched very few is 20-30% less than their peers (Nash, 1997). For this reason, providing children with opportunities for complex detection and physical experience affects the development of learning skills in a positive way for years to come. Even the provision of such facilities can compensate for the lack of early nutritional deficiencies or at least may resolve to some extent (Bekman, 1999). The importance of early childhood education on educational process, adult life, the development of family and community is appreciated better than in the past by everyone Yapıcı & Ulu, . Therefore, early childhood education has become a priority in the agenda of nations as well as international organizations. Many international organizations such as World Bank, UNICEF, the United Nations, the World Health Organization produce policies regarding early childhood education, provide financial resources and work on the implementation of them. International organizations dealing with early childhood education, while adopting institutional and home-based models, support the models that are more flexible and cost efficient especially for children and families in poor areas who need more educational support. The teacher is the central element of the learning process (Akgün, Yarar & Dinçer, 2011). There is a significant relationship between the quality of the educators and the school itself Uşun & Cömert, . For the sake of the quality and affectivity of an education system, teachers should be encouraged to continually renew and enrich their knowledge. Teachers are expected to adopt new roles and become friends who play, sings, shares joy and sorrow of their students. During pre-school period, the inborn features of the child’s, shaped by the influence of his environment, makes up his personality and It is generally accepted that children in their process of the formation of their personalities, constantly need a model to copy the behaviors and personal features and identify themselves with. Therefore, as a role model for the children, teachers need to pay attention to their appearance, behaviors and thoughts and accept the children as an individual Aral, Kandır, Yaşar, . This model for children in pre-school education is the teacher (Öztürk & Deniz, 2008). The pre-school teacher who is in interaction with the child all day long makes a personality model for the child. Therefore, the qualifications of a preschool teacher are very important for the child European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 10 │ 2017 311 Mehmet Fatih Karacabey THE PROBLEMS THAT PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTER Üst(noğlu, 99 . However, the preschool teacher's job is complex and demanding (Alison & Berthelsen, 1995). Considering above-mentioned and expected qualifications of pre-school teachers, it is clear how great and how difficult their jobs are. Also, because of the social change and other stressors such as school administration, workload, parental pressure and etc., teachers come face to face with increased paternal and community expectations for the outcomes and standards of education (Alison & Berthelsen, 1995). Preschool teachers are crucial for teaching moral and other values (Prochner, Cleghorn, Kirova & Massing, 2014) but as stated above their professional life could be filled with plenty of stressors. The stressors for teachers in the preschool environment could be time pressures, children's needs, non-teaching tasks, maintaining early childhood philosophy and practice, personal needs, issues with parents of the children, interpersonal relationships, attitudes and perceptions about early childhood programs (Alison & Berthelsen, 1995). They are also responsible for the health, safety, education and the development of the children in his group as well as the child’s attending school happily. In addition to all these, a pre-school teacher is to respond to the needs and expectations of the parents of children; to establish an effective communication between school administration and other staff; to prepare and follow proper training programs with all details; and to attend in-service training for self-improvement. They are believed to play a critical role in promoting socially accepted behaviors and reducing unwanted behaviors in their students (Anderson, 2013). Thus, it is a must to provide a pre-school teacher with all the support and conditions in work place as well as understating, psychological support (Budunç, 2007, p. 4). It is generally agreed that the wellbeing of preschool teachers is important for promoting a positive academic and psycho-social development of the children (Allenworth & Kolbe, 1987). Well educated preschool teachers are essential to provide high quality early childhood education in preschools (OECD, 2012). The quality of the education that a pre-school teacher offers to a child is also considered to be strictly connected with the experience of teacher, the working environment and living conditions Gömleksiz & Serhatlıoğlu, 2013). The quality of the education may be affected by working environment in a positive or negative way depending upon satisfaction or stress at workplace. Especially, various needs of the children and families, challenges of the work, lack of time to take care of each child individually are some of the important factors affecting the quality of work done by the preschool teachers (Helsing, 2007; Sheridan 2007). Besides, preschool teachers are both classroom instructors and in-home child care providers. Such a status may make them more sensible to the problems of the children under the teacher’s care Jeon, Buettner & Snyder, 2014). Furthermore, spending more time in low quality classrooms leads to European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 10 │ 2017 312 Mehmet Fatih Karacabey THE PROBLEMS THAT PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ENCOUNTER increased behavioral problems among children in preschools (McCartney et al., 2010; Zhai, Raver & Li-Grining, 2011). Apart from the issues related to technical core in the kindergarten social system, there is another difference which makes kindergarten has a unique nature. It is the organizational structure of kindergarten which is very simple and loosely coupled when compared to the higher level of educational institutions. Simple and loosely coupled organizations are expected to have cozy interactions among personnel, and open climate. Hence, the characteristics of the work environment of the kindergarten may provide different opportunities or create different problems for teachers. Concerning the different organizational structure of kindergarten, the teacher’s interaction with the parents and school administration may work differently. And this may create different problems in kindergarten when compared to the higher level of educational institutions. Thus, it can be determined what factors in the working environment may affect the education that the pre-school teacher gives to the children. In literature, there seems to be enough study regarding the pre-school applications, this study will focus on the administrative, program and parental problems that a preschool teacher may encounter. In Turkey, preschool education is considered to have many problems. Previous research investigated these problems like classroom management (Akgün, Yarar & Dinçer, 2011), work environment (Budunç, 2007), self-efficacy beliefs (Gömleksiz & Serhatlıoğlu, development , work satisfaction and burnout (Öztürk & Deniz, 2008), professional Uşun & Cömert, and quality Üst(noğlu, 99 . However, problems regarding to administration, program and parental issues had never been investigated. Therefore, the characteristics of the work environment must be determined. Thus, it can be determined what factors in the working environment may affect the education that the pre-school teacher gives to the children. Besides, the teacher’s interaction with the parents and school administration may affect the performance of the teacher. In literature, there seems to be enough study regarding the pre-school applications, this study will focus on the administrative, program and parental problems that a preschool teacher may encounter. For viewing / downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1100 European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 10 │ 2017 313