Özet:

Early childhood years are critical in transferring culture to children. Early childhood education institutions have a paramount responsibility in transferring cultural codes to children in this critical period. This study aimed to examine the practices of transferring cultural codes to children in early childhood education institutions and teachers' views regarding this phenomenon. The esearch was carried out by the qualitative research method and case study design. The study group was formed by the purposeful sampling method and homogeneous sampling technique. 20 preschool teachers working in different early childhood education institutions (nursery class, kindergarten) formed the working group. In addition, the educational environments of four different early childhood education institutions were examined in terms of cultural elements. The research data were collected through an interview form consisting of structured and semi-structured questions prepared by the researcher in line with the relevant literature and expert opinion, and through the educational environment review form. The content analysis method was applied in the analysis of the research data. At the end of the study, it was found that teachers care about the transfer of cultural codes, do not consider themselves competent to teach these codes, do drama activities mostly to teach them, define them as traditions and values, mostly set national heroes as the example in the transmission of cultural codes. In addition, it was revealed that the teachers thought that cultural ducation positively affects children's personality development and provides cultural sustainability. As for educational environments, they were found to be insufficient in terms of contributing to the teaching of cultural elements.

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