Abstract
Children's learning and development is shaped by their early experiences and environments. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is a set of programs and services provided to children from birth to school years that supports their learning and development. Availability of quality ECCE programs is vital for the development of not only children and families but also communities and countries. High quality ECCE programs have certain structural and process characteristics. One of the most important determinants of quality in ECCE programs is the quality of professional workforce serving children and families. In order to increase quality, there should be systems and supports for the training and development of high quality ECCE professionals. This chapter takes a look into Turkey, outlines its preservice education for ECCE teachers, presents a national in-service training project, and offers implications for practice. There need to be effective policies and strategies to cultivate a high-quality workforce in early childhood education and development across the world.
TopEarly Childhood Care And Education In Turkey
Turkey is a demographically young and economically developing country located between Europe and Asia with a population of more than 83 million at the end of 2020. Children between the ages of 0 and 17 make up the 27% of the total population, which is higher than all European Union countries (Turkish Statistical Institute, 2021). More than 12.5 million children, which is 56% of the child population, were between the ages of zero and nine. As an emerging market economy and a newly industrialized country, Turkey stands as the world’s 20th largest economy in terms of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Since 2010s, the country is going through an economic stagnation known as the middle income trap. A high equity and quality education system is needed to train skilled human capital and move the country out of this trap (Yılmaz, 2014).
Turkey has a centralized national education system with 12 years of compulsory education free of charge in public schools for children 6 to 18. Even though the country made improvements in the system over the past years, there are many problems in the system in terms of financing, administration, access, equity, and quality. Turkey has increased its education spending relative to GDP in past years but still has a lower level of per-student spending and higher level of private spending in comparison to countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2020a). The national education system of Turkey is a large and highly centralized system in terms of administration and testing where teachers and schools report to have little autonomy. Turkey has low but increasing levels of participation in early childhood care and education among 0-6 population but there are wide regional differences in enrollment rates. The expansion of private schools and high-stakes placement exams seems to increase the inequity in access to quality education.
Early childhood care and education programs in Turkey essentially serve children under 6 years of age. Children 0-3 are served by care programs in crèches or day-care centers. Children 3-6 can attend education programs in preschools, practice classrooms, and nursery classrooms. There is no compulsory preschool education and ECCE programs are run by both public and private organizations. Different type of ECCE programs are also funded and supervised by various organizations such as Ministry of National Education (MoNE), Ministry of Family and Social Services, Directorate of Religious Affairs, municipalities, and nongovernmental organizations (Gol-Guven, 2017).
Participation in ECCE is increasing over the years in Turkey but there is still room for growth and concerns for equity. Rates of enrollment in ECCE programs increase by age but they are lower than many countries. Enrollment rates in 2017 were less than 5% for children 0-3 and 73% for 5-year-olds in comparison to OECD average of 26% and 95%, respectively (OECD, 2020a). There are also within country differences in enrollment rates. In 2016, enrollment for 3-5 year-olds was around 30% for children in İstanbul and Southeast Anatolia in comparison to up to 45% in the Mediterranean West and South Aegean (OECD, 2020a). Enrollment rates in pre-primary education for 3-5 year olds increased from 27% in 2009 to 42% in 2019 (MoNE, 2020). As shown in Table 1, 82% of 1.6 million students attend and 73% of 98 thousand teachers work in public pre-primary education programs as of 2020. Pre-primary education programs in Turkey have higher child-staff ratios and lower expenditure per child. In 2017, ratio of children to full-time teachers was 18 in Turkey and 14 in OECD countries, and annual total expenditure was $5,250 per child in Turkey and $9,079 across OECD countries (OECD, 2020b).
Table 1. Number and percentages of students, teachers, classrooms, and schools in pre-primary education in Turkey in 2019-2020
| Student | Teacher | Classroom | School |
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % |
| Public MoNE | 1,218,747 | 75% | 62,004 | 63% | 43,929 | 51% | 22,582 | 69% |
| Public non-MoNE | 121,760 | 7% | 10,215 | 10% | 7,886 | 9% | 3,058 | 9% |
| Public total | 1,340,507 | 82% | 72,219 | 73% | 51,815 | 60% | 25,640 | 78% |
| Private MoNE | 225,202 | 14% | 17,704 | 18% | 25,306 | 30% | 5,141 | 16% |
| Private non-MoNE | 64,011 | 4% | 8,902 | 9% | 8,407 | 10% | 1,773 | 5% |
| Private total | 289,213 | 18% | 26,606 | 27% | 33,713 | 40% | 6,914 | 22% |
| Grand total | 1,629,720 | 100% | 98,825 | 100% | 85,528 | 100% | 32,554 | 100% |
Source: (MoNE, 2020)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Early Childhood Care and Education: Care and education provided in settings where children are cared for and taught by individuals other than their parents or primary caregivers with whom they live.
Early Childhood Program Quality: The characteristics of early childhood programs that promote the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development of children. High quality programs typically go beyond the minimum requirements, utilize Developmentally Appropriate Practice, and prioritize sufficient teacher and administrative qualifications, among others qualities.
Preservice Education: The education, training and/or professional experiences that an educator may undergo before they assume a particular role or position within an education program.
Early Childhood Workforce: The wide range of individuals engaged in the care and education of young children including caregiving, teaching, and administrative staff, as well as consultants, learning specialists, and others.
In-Service Education: Refers to professional development activities that working educators participate to enhance their skills and remain up to date about knowledge and practices in the field.