Preschool Teachers' Views on Guidance and Psychological Counseling Services in Early Childhood Education

This study aims to examine the opinions of preschool teachers on guidance and psychological counseling services. The method of the study is qualitative research design. The research data were collected via the interviews with the preschool teachers. The study group of the research consists of 24 preschool teachers working in Yozgat city in Turkey. Content analysis was made use of while forming the finding part. The results of the study display that the preschool teachers perceive guidance and psychological counseling services as "guiding," "informing," “assistance” and "cooperation" services. Also, parents and teachers also need the guidance teacher mostly in situations related to behavioral problems, special needs students, adaptation problems, and family-related problems. It was observed that preschool teachers perceived that guidance and psychological counseling services should be in preschool education institutions but that the guidance services they received were not sufficient.