Early childhood education in neoliberal, religiously conservative times in Turkey

Abstract

This article provides an analysis and discussion of the impacts of neoliberal, religiously conservative educational policies on early childhood education (ECE) in Turkey. After an introduction, the article is presented in four sections. The first section provides an overview of neoliberal, religiously conservative policies in the Turkish educational system since the 1980s. The second section presents a brief history of ECE. The third section reports on the impact of neoliberal, religiously conservative education policies on ECE, especially focusing on the last decade. The fourth section concludes with a discussion of the way in which ECE in Turkey is being approached as an economic and ideological education institution troubled by inequalities, rather than as one with a firm basis of equal rights in education.

Shadow Education from Shadows to the Light: Case of Basic High Schools in Turkey

“…Hükümetin ekonomiyi iyileştirmek için aldığı önlemler faiz oranlarını düşürdü ve 2008'den sonra küresel ekonomik kriz Avrupa pazarını etkileyene kadar sorunsuz bir ekonomik ortam yarattı (Özden, Akça ve Bekmen , 2017). Parti, neoliberal ve neomuhafazakar politikaların uygulanmasını sağlayan siyasi stratejiler kullandı (Aksoy ve Eren Deniz, 2018). Sonuç olarak, özelleştirme son yirmi yılda ivme kazandı (İnal, 2012; Özden vd., 2017).…”

“…Neoliberal politikaların benimsenmesi, eğitimi sermaye sahiplerine hizmet eden bir metaya dönüştürerek Türkiye'deki eğitim sistemine de sızmıştır (Gök, 2004). Neoliberal politikalar, eğitime ayrılan kamu bütçesinin azalması ve özel öğretim kurumlarının sayısının artması gibi farklı şekillerde uygulanmaktadır (Aksoy ve Eren Deniz, 2018). Neoliberalizmin görünür uygulamalara ek olarak küresel ve yerel kurum ve kuruluşlar tarafından desteklenen tanıtım ve sponsorluk gibi gizli biçimleri, Türkiye'deki eğitim sisteminin bir gerçeği haline gelmiştir (Aksoy, 2011).…”

The Mediating Effects of Child Mastery Motivation on the Relationship Between Parenting and Children’s Readiness to Learn: A Structural Equation Analysis

“…Since the establishment of its republic in 1923, Turkey has been going through major and dramatic changes in its policies concerning national education with ministers serving their terms claiming that their major goal was to improve the quality of education. Within the overall framework of education, early childhood education, also referred to as preschool education in Turkey, which is not mandatory, there appears to be lack of standardized care, consistency and widespread quality, as well as access privileges currently, has been going through some major changes since 1960s (Aksoy & Eren Deniz, 2018;Özgünlü & Metindoğan, in press;Saklan, & Erginer, 2016). According to Aksoy and Eren Deniz (2018) the law, that was passed in 1973, laid out the foundation of national early childhood education policies including its target age group, purpose, and its goals to achieve for children.…”

“…Within the overall framework of education, early childhood education, also referred to as preschool education in Turkey, which is not mandatory, there appears to be lack of standardized care, consistency and widespread quality, as well as access privileges currently, has been going through some major changes since 1960s (Aksoy & Eren Deniz, 2018;Özgünlü & Metindoğan, in press;Saklan, & Erginer, 2016). According to Aksoy and Eren Deniz (2018) the law, that was passed in 1973, laid out the foundation of national early childhood education policies including its target age group, purpose, and its goals to achieve for children. Specifically speaking, the aims were highlighted as ensuring "children develop physically, mentally, and emotionally; that they acquire good habits; that they are prepared for primary education; that a common environment of upbringing is provided for children who come from…”

Negotiating local and glocal discourse in kindergarten: Stories from Indonesia

“…What happens in the Rainbow Kindergarten demonstrates the convenient marriage between religion and neoliberalism. As Aksoy and Eren Deniz (2018) and (Atasoy, 2009) argue neoliberalism is often celebrated by people as long as it does not directly challenge their imagined religious identity. The social justice issues remain overlooked, evident in the fact that the kindergarten is aimed at upper-class children and hence access may be limited for children from a lower socio-economic background.…”