Discussing Death With Young Children: A Mixed-Method Study With Turkish Early Childhood Educators

Although death is a universal and inevitable aspect of life, it remains largely avoided in early childhood education settings. This mixed-method study explores early childhood educators’ comfort levels, beliefs, and preparedness regarding discussions about death with young children and their death-related metaphors. Data were collected by convenience sampling from 166 early childhood educators across various regions of Türkiye through an online form. Quantitative findings revealed that educators feel unprepared and uncomfortable addressing death, highlighting significant gaps in both pre-service and in-service training. Qualitative analysis showed that educators’ metaphors most frequently emphasized inevitability and noncorporeal continuation sub-components. These findings emphasize the urgent need to strengthen teacher education curricula and provide targeted professional development to better support early childhood educators in addressing death sensitively and effectively.