Art education is an essential component of early childhood education. Studies emphasize that art education has a great impact on developing creativity, imagination, and emotional expression in children (Vasilaki, 2024). Despite the great contributions of art education to children, the implementation and emphasis of art in preschool education can vary greatly depending on teachers' attitudes and institutions' policies.

This study aims to investigate the attitudes of preschool teachers in Turkey toward visual arts education and explore potential differences between public and private school teachers. Utilizing a causal-comparative design, the research employs the Attitude Scale Towards Art Education, a validated 23-item survey developed by Aykanat (2018), to assess teachers' beliefs, values, and concerns about visual arts. The study will involve 60 preschool teachers (30 public, 30 private) selected through convenience sampling in Ankara, Turkey. The findings are expected to highlight differences in attitudes influenced by institutional settings. The study’s significance lies in its potential to inform teacher training programs, curriculum development, and policies to ensure equitable access to quality visual arts education. By addressing a gap in the Turkish context, this research contributes valuable insights to the field of early childhood education. It supports efforts to enhance the integration of arts into preschool classrooms.

While many studies note the issue of low visual arts self-efficacy among educators, there is little focus on the beliefs and practices of early childhood teachers (Lindsay, 2018). This gap is particularly evident in Turkey, where educators’ perspectives on visual arts remain uninvestigated. Therefore, this research aims to fill the gap by examining the visual arts beliefs and attitudes of Turkish early childhood educators.

According to Novaković (2015), visual arts play a key role in early childhood education, promoting meaning-making, communication, and sensory perception. In addition to this, visual arts activities enhance children’s not only artistic understanding but also the development of gross motor skills and fundamental literacy and math skills (Spodek, 1993). Dewey (1934, as cited in Yalçın & Akar Vural, 2016) highlights the importance of visual arts education as a critical element of the curriculum, stating its potential for an appreciation for others’ perspectives. Additionally, studies show that integrating art education into the curriculum fosters a more relaxed and engaging learning environment (Li & Mendoza, 2022).

A wide range of studies emphasize that successful integration of visual arts into the curriculum depends on educators’ belief in its value. Vartuli (1999) supports this by stating that educators’ beliefs significantly impact how effectively children engage with visual art activities. Teachers with low self-efficacy in the arts prioritize product-based and creativity-limiting activities over process-based art activities that encourage creativity. This significantly minimizes the opportunities for children to engage with the arts (Lindsay, 2020).

The following hypotheses have been set for the study:

H1: There is a difference in attitudes toward visual arts education between public and private preschool teachers.

The study is crucial in terms of its contribution to the academic field. In Turkey, there is limited research that examines preschool teachers' attitudes towards art education, especially a comparative analysis of public and private schools. Our study can contribute to filling this gap by adding valuable new information to the field. Additionally, this study can serve as a foundation for future similar studies. It can serve as a reference for future studies on topics such as cross-cultural comparisons or the effect of teacher attitudes on children's artistic development. Furthermore, if the findings show that art education isn’t given the importance it deserves in preschool classrooms, it may encourage a rethinking of the perspective toward art education.

This study uses a causal-comparative research design to examine differences in attitudes toward visual arts education between public and private preschool teachers in Turkey. Participants and Sampling: The target population comprises all preschool teachers employed in public and private schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Ankara. The accessible population includes preschool teachers in public and private institutions within Çankaya, Ankara, with online invitations to participate in the study. A total of 60 teachers (30 from public preschools and 30 from private preschools) will form the intended sample. Convenience sampling will be employed due to limitations. Teachers will be selected through professional networks, alumni groups, and personal contacts. Instruments: Attitude Scale Towards Art Education, developed by Aykanat (2018), will be used as an instrument. The scale was designed specifically for early childhood educators and is available in Turkish, ensuring linguistic and contextual relevance. The purpose of the instrument is to assess teachers' attitudes towards art education. The scale consists of 23 items categorized into four sub-dimensions: Enjoyment of Art and Its Contribution, Negative Attitudes Toward Art, Art Education’s Role in Enhancing Communication, and Importance of Art Education. Scores are assigned on a 5-point Likert scale with negative items reverse-coded. Sub-dimension averages indicate participants' attitudes. The questions of the instrument are developed based on existing literature on visual arts education and preschool teachers’ attitudes. Furthermore, the instrument’s reliability and validity have been established through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.81 to 0.95. Procedures/Data Collection: The primary tool for data collection will be a survey questionnaire, which will consist of two main sections: Demographic information and Attitude Scale Towards Art Education (Aykanat, 2018). Participants will receive an invitation message with a link to the online survey via social media platforms. The message will include details about the study, confidentiality, anonymity and the voluntary nature of participation. Since the study will be conducted with Turkish teachers, all announcements will be made in Turkish. Data Analysis: Quantitative data from the survey will be analyzed using SPSS (28.0). Descriptive statistics will summarize attitudes across sub-dimensions. Moreover, independent samples t-tests will be conducted to compare the means of two independent groups. If data will not be normally distributed or violate assumptions, a Mann-Whitney U Test will be employed to compare the attitudes between the two groups.

The initial data were collected from a total of 22 teachers who work in private shools (n=11) and public schools (n=11). Among the participants, while 54.5% of them were female (n=12), 45.5% were male (n=10). The descriptive analysis of the data showed that both public and private preschool teachers hold generally positive attitudes toward visual arts education (M = 4.66, SD = .37). In addition, an independent samples t-test was initially conducted to compare the two group. However, the assumption of homogeneity of variance was violated, as indicated by Levene’s test, F (1,20)=5.81, p=.026. Therefore, A Mann-Whitney U-test was conducted. The results indicated no statistically significant difference in attitudes between the two groups, U= 45.50, Z = -0.99, p = .31, with a small effect size r=-.21. According to preliminary findings, preschool teachers from both public and private schools acknowledge the importance of visual arts education regardless of potential differences in resources or institutional priorities. The lack of a statistically significant difference between the two groups leads to further questions about whether institutional disparities inflluence other factors, such as the quality of arts integration into classroom activities. Nevertheless, it is crucial to highlight that the study will be expanded with a larger sample to provide a more comprehensive understanding. The final analysis and interpretations may evolve with additional data, potentially presenting new insights into the impact of institutional differences on attitudes toward visual arts education. In conclusion, this study contributes to the expanding research on early childhood arts education by shedding light on preschool teachers’ attitudes with empirical evidence.

Li, C., & Mendoza, M. G. C. (2022). Integrating Arts Education for Learning Result: A bright but tough way. OALib, 09(09), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1109231 Lindsay, G. (2020). Visual arts pedagogy in early childhood contexts: The baggage of self-efficacy beliefs, pedagogical knowledge and limited pre-service training. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 46(1), 80–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1836939120979061 Lindsay, Gai Maree (2018). Art is Experience: An Exploration of the Visual Arts Beliefs and Pedagogy of Australian Early Childhood Educators. University of Wollongong. Thesis. https://hdl.handle.net/10779/uow.27666024.v1 Novaković, S. (2015). Preschool teacher's role in the art activities of early and preschool age children. Croatian Journal of Education: Hrvatski časopis za odgoj i obrazovanje, 17(Sp. Ed. 1), 153-163. doi: 10.15516/cje.v17i0.1497 Spodek, B. (1993). Selecting activities in the arts for early childhood education. Arts Education Policy Review, 94(6), 11–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.1993.9936936 Vartuli, S. (1999). How early childhood teacher beliefs vary across grade level. Early childhood research quarterly, 14(4), 489-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(99)00026-5 Vasilaki, V. (2024). Pre-School teachers’ views on the impact of visual arts education on early childhood education. Innovare Journal of Education, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.22159/ijoe.2024v12i4.51710 Yalçın, E., & Akar Vural, R. (2016). A review on accessing to arts education in primary schools: A case study in turkey. Psycho-Educational Research Reviews, 5(3), 80-93. Retrieved October 26, 2024, from https://perrjournal.com/index.php/perrjournal/article/view/297