Investigation of the Contribution of the Primary School Catch-up Education Programme (IYEP) to the Solution of Empathy and Conflict-Based Problems Among 3rd and 4th Grade Students with Teachers' Observations

İlkokullarda Yetiştirme Eğitim Programı (İYEP) Uygulamasının 3. ve 4. Sınıf Öğrencileri Arasında Yaşanan Empati ve Çatışma Temelli Sorunların Çözümüne Olan Katkısının Öğretmenlerin Gözlemleriyle İncelenmesi

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the implementation of the primary school catch-up education programme (IYEP) according to the views of teachers regarding the solution of empathy and conflict-based problems between 3rd and 4th grade students. The study group of the research, which was conducted with the case study method, consists of 10 classroom teachers working in Izmir province. Data were collected using the interview technique. The data obtained from the research were thematically analysed and interpreted. As a result of the research; it is seen that there are mutual problems between the students participating in the training programme in primary schools and their peers due to the inability to establish empathy and these problems increase the conflict processes. The strategies and tactics used by the students of the education programme in primary schools to solve their conflicts are mostly seen as withdrawal. In academic terms, it is seen that they physically distance themselves and do not speak due to the lack of Turkish literacy; some students complain to teachers whom they see as a source of authority and mediator in the classroom. academically, the sense of failure they experience in Turkish and mathematics lessons in particular and in all the time they are at school in general shows that they cannot develop empathy with their peers and as a result, they experience psycho-social problems such as feeling inadequate, being put in the second plan, silence (withdrawal) and not focusing on lessons. Thanks to IYEP, it is seen that students' empathy processes towards each other in their psycho-social relationships have improved and conflicts have decreased.