Preschool Education

Hello, I am Egi Akşin Yavuz. I am a lecturer at Trakya University, Faculty of Education, Department of Preschool Education. I love working with children and generating ideas, and I have been working for 11 years to bring thousands of our children together with hundreds of teachers, together with all our Department faculty members. Our department was established in 2004 and as of 2005/2006, we started to carry out our studies together with our students. We have many different practical courses such as game lessons, drama lessons, and creativity lessons, and through these, we strive to train the teacher candidates as qualified teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills. In this context, our studies, courses and operations, thanks to being an accredited department, are carried out within a standardized and qualified environment. The courses given in our department are divided into three parts as Vocational, field and general culture courses. In the field courses, we conduct studies in which the students of our department can take active roles by making applications, demonstrating their creativity, thinking skills, and producing scientific studies. Vocational knowledge courses consist of courses that contain general information for the introduction to the teaching profession. Field courses include applied courses such as Game, Drama, Creativity. General culture courses include various courses that aim to support the intellectual knowledge of students and support their development at the international and national levels. In our department, we have an early childhood education laboratory. This laboratory, which was created within a project carried out by Professor Doctor Emin Ahmetoğlu, was based on the Montessori education approach created by Maria Montessori. Here, students of our department get information about this method in their respectivecourses and can produce studies by using the materials here. In addition, we have a student community called the early childhood education community and we have a special library here, which this community brought to our university. This library contains early childhood books. We have many books in Turkish and English, and our students can obtain these books and use them in their studies. We have a drama workshop that students use in their drama lessons and a music education class that they use in music education courses. In addition, they can use open spaces in our gardens within the scope of their applications in various courses. In order to graduate from our department, students are required to do a compulsory internship. These internships, which are under the name of Teaching Practice 1 and 2 courses, are the practices that they carry out under the guidance of teachers by coming together with preschool children for 6 hours and 1 day a week during the academic year. They conduct scientific studies and present research in research project 1 and 2 courses. In addition to these, students can come together with preschool children at every opportunity in our applied lessons. I can list a few of the works we have done for this purpose, such as performing game leadership for the holiday celebrations of our children in disadvantaged schools, performing book reading activities, and doing various activities by getting together with children on April 23, National Sovereignty and Children's Day. In our department, we have two international exchange programs, namely Erasmus and Mevlana programs, and a national exchange program called Farabi exchange program. These exchange programs enrich the knowledge of our students. Students of our department, who can benefit from this program for almost all parts of our country, can also pursue international exchange programs in, 8 countries in Europe with the Erasmus program, and 4 countries with the Mevlana program. This numbers will increase in the upcoming years. Our university has a large number of students coming from abroad, and We have a large number of students who come from Balkan countries and continue their education in our department.
In addition to the master's program, there is also a doctoral program in our department, and our students have the option to continue their academic life in these ways. In addition, our department's instructors guide and support them in presenting the scientific studies they carried out in the research project course at the National Preschool Education Congress which is held every year. Our instructors conduct the consultancy of Armağan Dönertaş Handicapped Children Education and Rehabilitation Application and Research Center, which was also founded by the faculty members of our department. As another center within our university, the Specially Talented Education Application and Research Center is founded and managed by Fatih Dereli, one of the professors of our department. Our professors are able to carry out studies with our students who are interested, and contributes to the enrichment of their knowledge by sharing the experiences they gained here with our students. The graduates of the Department of Preschool Education can work in institutions affiliated to the Ministry of National Education, institutions affiliated to the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, public and private schools, kindergartens and nursery classes. In addition, they can continue their duties in kindergartens opened in municipalities. Our students, who wish to continue their academic lives, can take part in academic staff or open their own institutions and become institution managers. Apart from all these, graduates of our department can establish play workshops in line with their interests and abilities, they can tell stories, they can teach music and they can lead many workshops. If you are energetic, love to work with children and enjoy life, you should come here right away. We are working with valuable faculty members who will support you in terms of knowledge, skills and experience in the work we do with children. If you know what you want, if you want to be here, we are ready and waiting for you. Edirne is a student-friendly city. There are many dormitories and guesthouses in our university where our students can stay. In addition, the transportation of our students between the campuses of our university is facilitated by service shuttles. Our university offers many alternatives in terms of eating and drinking facilities. Although there are various facilities in almost every campus, there are cafeterias in the Kosovo campus where the Faculty of Education is located, and there are cafeterias and restaurants in the close vicinity where our students have different options in terms of eating and drinking. In addition, our university has a restaurant for our students in the Karaağaç region, which joined the territory of the Republic of Turkey within the scope of the Treaty of Lausanne. This restaurant offers a variety of food options as well as relaxation opportunities in a natural area. There is a resting facility and accommodation areas for our students in the town of Enez, which is also on the coast of Edirne. In addition to these, our university also has various facilities such as libraries, social facilities, and gymnasiums. Although there are about 98 student societies in our university, their number increase day by day. Our students can join these communities or create communities themselves, in line with their interests. In addition, many cultural events such as concerts and theaters are organized in our university. We are waiting for all students who want to go on an enjoyable learning adventure to become a preschool teacher.