Proceedings of The World Conference on Teaching and Education
Year: 2019
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/worldcte.2019.09.568
Men in Preschool Classrooms: Views and Experiences of Male Preschool Teachers in Turkey
Betül Demiray
ABSTRACT:
Gender equity within society and working life is one of the most discussed issues all around the world. Improvements concerning this issue can be seen in a variety of spheres. However, it is hard to see the reflection of these positive changes in preschool classrooms. Being an early childhood educator is still considered as an occupation for women, which causes a gender unbalanced teaching and learning environment. Even though they are still few in number, starting from 2000s, male preschool teachers have become more visible in early childhood education institutions. The purpose of this study is to investigate views and experiences of male preschool teachers on the issue of being a male in a female-dominated work environment in Turkey. For this purpose, semistructured in-depth interviews are conducted with male preschool teachers. Face-to-face and online interviews are done with participants who have been reached through snowball sampling method. Participants are asked questions about their university education, work life and occupation-related views and experiences. Since male preschool teachers mostly are not preferred in private schools in Turkey, all participants are employed in public schools. This study is significant for being one of the few studies on this issue in Turkey and involving participants from different parts of Turkey.
Keywords: Male preschool teachers, gender equity, Turkey.