A QUALITATIVE VIEW TO CHILDREN’S PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

Problem solving is one of the important skills, which enables individuals to adapt to life and is associated with skills like theory of mind, empathy and self-regulation, in their life. Problem solving is an improvable skill and should be supported as from early childhood years. The purpose of this study is to determine how children generate solutions to problems and how they feel in such cases. As long as children are good problem solvers, they will find effective solutions to all kinds of problems. In the study, the qualitative model and the case design were used. The data of study were obtained from the children attending a kindergarten in the city center of Kırklareli in the school year of 2016-2017. Eleven children who were selected on a volunteer basis were included in the study where content analysis was carried out. Among the children who participated in the study, six were girls and five were boys. During the application, a puppet and five problem statuses were used. The data collected as a result of one-to-one applications with the children were examined with content analysis method. As a result of the study, it was observed that the children were able to generate effective solutions including the use of empathy and self-regulation skills to the problem statuses; however, they had difficulty in naming their emotions in relation to problem statuses. The results of the study suggest that primarily parents and educators should emphasize emotions more and encourage children to think about their emotions. Additionally, qualitative studies with larger sample groups concerning theory of mind, problem solving, empathy and self-regulation skills can help to understand the development process of these skills better.

ÇOCUKLARIN PROBLEM ÇÖZME BECERİLERİNE NİTEL BİR BAKIŞ

Problem çözme, bireyin hayata uyum sağlamasını kolaylaştıran, zihin kuramı, empati ve öz düzenleme gibi becerilerle ilişkili bireyin yaşamındaki önemli becerilerden biridir. Problem çözme geliştirilebilen bir beceri olmakla birlikte, erken çocukluk yıllarından itibaren desteklenmesi gerekmektedir. Çocuk ne kadar iyi bir problem çözücü olursa, yaşamanda karşısına çıkacak problemlere o kadar etkin çözümler bulabilecektir. Bu araştırmadaki amaç çocukların problem durumları karşısında nasıl çözümler ürettiklerini ve bu durumlar karşısında hissettikleri duyguları ortaya çıkarmaktır. Araştırmada nitel model ve durum deseni kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın verileri 2016-2017 eğitim-öğretim yılında Kırklareli Merkez’deki bir anaokuluna devam eden çocuklardan elde edilmiştir. İçerik analizi yapılan çalışmaya gönüllülük esasına göre 11 çocuk dahil edilmiştir. Çalışmaya katılan çocuklardan altısı kız, beşi erkektir. Uygulama sırasında bir kukla ile birlikte beş problem durumu kullanılmıştır. Çocuklarla birebir yapılan uygulamalar sonucunda toplanan veriler, içerik analizi yöntemiyle incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın sonucunda, çocukların problem durumlarına, empati ve öz düzenleme becerilerinin kullanımını içeren etkili çözümler üretebildikleri, ancak problem durumları karşısında hissetikleri duyguları isimlendirmekte zorlandıkları görülmüştür. Araştırmanın sonuçları başta ebeveynler olmak üzere, eğitimcilerin duygular üzerinde daha çok durması ve çocukları duyguları üzerinde düşünmeye teşvik etmesi gerektiğini düşündürmektedir. Ayrıca zihin kuramı, problem çözme, empati ve öz düzenleme becerileri ile ilgili yapılacak daha büyük örneklem gruplu nitel çalışmalar, bu becerilerin gelişim süreçlerinin daha iyi anlaşılmasına yardımcı olabilir.

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