Investigating Classroom Teachers' Views on Age of Starting Primary School for 60-66 Months Old Children

Article History: Received 05.05.2014 Received in revised form 26.02.2015 Accepted 12.03.2015 Available online 01.04.2015 This research has been carried for the purpose of studying the form teachers’ views about the enrolment of children who are 60-66-month-old in a primary school. The study group of the research is composed of 20 form teachers, 8 of them are female and 12 of them are male, who work in Batman in 2012-2013 academic year. The research has been carried with the form teachers who teach 1st grade students in primary schools with different socio-economic levels which are selected according to maximum variation sampling method, and the phenomenological model of qualitative research approaches is used in this research. The views of three experts in this field are asked for the content validity of the questions in interview form, and necessary editions are made in accordance with suggestions. Also the comprehensibility of the questions in the interview form is checked by consulting five form teachers and the form is finalised. The data received from form teachers are analysed by using content analysis method. The research has shown that the enrolment of 60-66month-old children in primary schools has led them to face some cognitive, affective and psychomotor inabilities, that there are some people who think 60-66-month-old children’s enrolment in a school upon their parents’ request affects their success negatively besides some who think it has positive effects, before starting a primary school children should have pre-school education in order to ensure primary school readiness, that parents’ anxiety and their wish for getting benefit have an influence on the enrolment of 60-66-month-old children in primary schools, and some conscious parents want to enrol their children in school at early ages. © 2015 IOJES. All rights reserved