Prof. Dr. Nefise Semra ERKAN, a faculty member of the Department of Child Development, Faculty of Health Sciences, participated in the 17th International Congress on Educational Research held at Near East University, Cyprus, between September 4–6, 2025, with an oral presentation titled “An Examination of Classroom Teachers’ Views on School Readiness Skills: The Case of Türkiye and the United States.”
The study was conducted with a total of 126 first-grade teachers, including 63 from Türkiye and 63 from the United States. The “Demographic Information Form” and the “School Readiness Skills Questionnaire” were used as data collection instruments.
According to the research findings, Turkish teachers identified “hand–eye coordination” under the physical development domain, while American teachers emphasized “having age-appropriate fine motor skills” as the most essential readiness skill. In the social-emotional development domain, both Turkish and American teachers considered “following the teacher’s instructions” as the most necessary skill. In the approaches to learning domain, teachers from both countries regarded “being willing to learn” as the most important competence.
In the language development domain, Turkish teachers emphasized “expressing emotions and thoughts clearly”, whereas American teachers found “phonological awareness” most essential. Regarding the cognitive development domain, Turkish teachers prioritized “having conceptual knowledge”, while American teachers emphasized “possessing basic mathematical skills.”
Finally, in the self-care skills domain, both Turkish and American teachers agreed that “being able to meet one’s own toileting and hygiene needs independently” was the most essential skill for school readiness.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Nefise Semra ERKAN for her valuable contributions and scholarly work.
