Using the Web Sites of Kindergartens in Parenting Education and the Present Condition in Turkey

Abstract

Family is the elementary school for children in the process of acquiring knowledge and skills. Qualities of family affect children directly. Supporting families in terms of children’s education and increasing their efficiencies will also positively affect children. Thus, schools should consider not only children, but also their families while providing education. The objective of this study is to offer a suggestion for using the web sites of kindergartens as an instrument in parenting education and examine the web sites of kindergartens in Turkey from this aspect. The study was conducted by using case study pattern, which is among qualitative research methods. The study group consisted of 81 official kindergartens from 81 different provinces and 20 private kindergartens from 20 different metropolitans. Schools in the study group were determined by using typical case sampling method, which is among purposeful sampling methods. The first official and private kindergartens that were reached in the internet search engine by writing the name of province and kindergarten (for example, Tokat kindergarten) were included in the study group. The study data were acquired by examining the web sites of kindergartens in the study group in terms of their content and the acquired data were analyzed via content analysis method. As a result of the study; it was seen that information contents were involved under titles like; Our School (f=81/ 100%), Connections (f=81/ 100%), Announcements (f=81/ 100%), Statistics (f=81/ 100%), News (f=80/ 98,4%), Classes (f=62/ 76,2%), Photo Gallery (f=60/ 73,8%) and Counseling (f=47/ 57,8%) in the web sites of official kindergartens. On the other hand, the contents were involved under titles like; Our School (f=20/ 100%), Communication (f=19/ 95%), Counseling (f=14/ 70%) and Announcements (f=9/ 45%) in the web sites of private kindergartens. It was seen that schools involved information about parenting education generally under the title of counseling. It was also seen that topic titles like parental attitudes, children’s developmental features, children’s nourishment and school adaptation were prominent regarding parenting education.

Keywords: Preschool Period, Family, Parenting Education, Kindergarten, Web Site