Abstract

This study was conducted in an attempt to develop Social Values Education Program aimed at nursery school students and examine the effect of Social Values Education Program upon the social skill acquisition of nursery school students. The effect of the education program that was developed within the scope of the study upon the social skill acquisition of nursery school students was examined via an experimental pattern with protest-posttest control group. A total of 40 children (n=40) constituted the study group (20 children (n=20) in the experimental group and 20 children (n=20) in the control group). In the study, General Information Form that was developed by the researcher and Preschool Social Skill Evaluation Scale (PSSES) were used as data collection tools. Shapiro-Wilks test was performed for determining the convenience of the study data for normal distribution, it was determined that the data did not show a normal distribution. In order to examine the effect of the education program upon the social skill acquisition of children; Mann-Whitney U Test was performed for making a comparison in independent groups and Wilcoxen Sign Test for making a comparison in dependent groups. The significance level was taken as 0.05. In order to determine the permanence of education; the permanence test of PSSES was reapplied to children in the experimental group three weeks after completing the education program. As a result of obtaining the findings; it was determined that the Social Values Education Program was effective upon the social skill acquisition of children and this effect was permanent.

Key words: Preschool education, values, values education, social values, social skills.