What Do Preschool Teachers Know about Phonological Awareness Education, What Are They Doing at Practice and What Do They Need?

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine what preschool teachers know about phonological awareness, what they do at the practice, their self-sufficiency status and their needs. 396 preschool teachers participated in survey research by taking into account the 12 Regional Classifications determined by TURKSTAT, with the appropriate sampling method. As the data collection tool, Identification of Preschool Teachers' Opinion on Phonological Awareness Education Survey consisting of open-ended and multiple-choice questions was prepared by researchers. As a result, it was found that most of the preschool teachers do not know the development, scope, processes and tasks of phonological awareness. They had problems on organizing learning environments and difficulties in the planning, implementation and evaluation processes of activities. They consider themselves mostly partly adequate and insufficient in these processes of activities. In addition, the educational needs of teachers and their expectations related to phonological awareness education were revealed.