ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of what people know about early childhood education in Turkey and focuses on the sociohistorical roots of early childhood education (ECE), and the major early childhood educational systems and their goals and aspirations. In Turkey, educational rights of individuals are under legal protection. The national education system, implemented in 1973 by National Education Law 1739, comprises two subsystems: formal and informal education. The chapter examines ECE services in Turkey within two historical periods: the Pre-Republican Ottoman Empire Era and the Republican Era. Laws, systematic institutions, organizations, and the National Education Council have all played an effective role in shaping Turkish national education policies. Another platform that focused on the development of educational systems besides the National Educational Council is the five-year development plans established by the Ministry of National Education. Outside of institutional ECE programs, the project also emphasized increasing society-based ECE models.
