Philosophy related views and philosophy related metaphors of pre-school teacher candidates for children

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine the views and metaphorical perceptions of the pre-school teachers about the philosophy of children for preschool teachers. The study group of the research was composed of one hundred and thirty teacher candidates in total who are sixty-five first grade students and sixty-five fourth grade students in Uludag University Faculty of Education, Pre-school Teaching Department in the 2017 - 2018 academic year. This study is a mixed study in which qualitative and quantitative approaches are used together.In the study, looking at the metaphors that teacher candidates bring out, philosophy has mostly been stated as a source of chaos. It is referred that philosophy, which is mostly stated as a source of chaos, is also seen as a source of abstract thinking, a source of unhappiness, and a source of epistemology. Teacher candidates have often stated that philosophy has developed the ability for thinking and questioning, but, can be applied to children by adapting the philosophy to their developmental levels. It has been stated that most of the teacher candidates are not interested in philosophy but can participate if a seminar on philosophy is organized for children.