Time Dependent Changes in the Opinions of First Grade Students Regarding Their Preschool and Primary School Teachers

The goal of this research is to investigate how opinions of first grade students, coming from different types of preschools and attending different primary schools, change from the beginning to the end of one school year about their preschool and primary school teachers. In this context, we used a qualitative case study method, with a sample of 27 first grade students in order to observe changes in the opinions of students and subsequently analyze important differences between these school types. Our sample includes three different categories of first grade students: 9 students graduated from the kindergarten of a Ministry of National Education Primary School (MONEPS) and continuing with the same primary school, 9 students graduated from the kindergarten of a Private Primary School (PPS) and continuing with the same primary school and finally 9 students graduated from an Independent Preschool Administered by the Ministry of National Education (IPAMONE) and continuing with the Ministry of National Education Primary School. For each student, relevant data was collected through interviews with semi-structured questionnaires, conducted twice at the beginning and at the end of a seven month period within the 2008-2009 academic year twice. Following these interviews, any differences or similarities between the answers of students coming from different types of schools are investigated. As an additional outcome of this study, changes in the opinions of each student between the two associated interviews were identified. The results of first interviews show that students in all types of schools liked doing reading and writing exercises with their teachers. However, during their second interviews, they favored studying and examinations instead. Nearly all of the students remembered their preschool experiences and mentioned that they missed play activities and the close relationship they had established with their preschool teachers during that period.