A New Technique in Preschool Education: Debate

This qualitative study was aimed to determine the effect of the in-class debate technique on the development of preschool children which is not widely used in preschool education. Thirteen children who are sixty to seventy-two month- old attending to a preschool were first observed for two weeks whether they showed the selected characteristics of development in the National Preschool Education Program. Then, for eight weeks, in-class presentations, trainings and practices were done on the in-class debate technique by the researchers while observations were done. Before and after the practices, semi-structured interviews were also done with the classroom teacher related with supporting the development of children and her perception about the in-class debate technique used in preschool. Since the beginning of the study, parents who were informed and asked for their participation also reported the changes they observed in their children during the in-class debate practices through parent forms prepared by the researchers. For the evaluation of the total twelve-week study, the children were observed for two more weeks and it was found out that in-class debate practices supported the children in the areas of cognitive, socio-emotional and language development. Taking the findings into consideration, suggestions were provided for teachers, researchers and administrators who are working in the undergraduate, graduate and in-service preschool teacher training programs.