Investigation Of Preschool Children's Interpersonal Problem Solving Skills

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine preschool children's interpersonal problem solving skills and the factors affecting these skills in detail. For this purpose, quantitative and qualitative research methods were used conjunctively and the research was planned in accordance with "screening model". This research is a descriptive research that enquired the current situation. The study group was comprised of 152 children selected from 10 kindergartens attached to the Ministry of Education in the province of Giresun. The children participating in the study were chosen by random sampling method. To collect data of the study, Interpersonal Problem Solving Inventory (IPSI) developed by Özdil (2008) was used. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher was used to make interviews with teachers and parents. In this research, data were collected from three different participants, namely from pre-school children in the case of quantitative data analysis and from teachers and families in the case of qualitative data analysis. After analyzing the data from Interpersonal Problem Solving Inventory, the children who got the lowest score were determined based on the results of the analysis. Then, interviews were conducted with classroom teachers and parents of these children to obtain in-depth information. Content analysis and the ANOVA test were used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data of the research, respectively. Considering the results of the study, it is apparent that quantitative and qualitative data are consistent with each other. Significance was detected as a result of the statistical analysis performed between time spent by children watching TV and their parental structures and their interpersonal problem-solving skills, while teachers and parents of children were found to focus on their parental structure and time spent by them watching TV. Teachers expressed their views about behavioral problems of children with interpersonal problem solving problem as aggression, verbal threats, not sharing, not participating in group activities, crying and maternal/paternal dependency, and the parents expressed their views under themes of aggression, verbal threats, crying and maternal / paternal dependency.