Preschool teachers’ perspectives about diversity in nation-state country: a glimpse from Türkiye

Purpose This study aims to investigate preschool teachers' perspectives on diversity in the unique educational context of Türkiye, a nation-state often underrepresented in the predominantly Western-centric diversity literature. Design/methodology/approach Recognizing teachers as critical content integrators, the study involved semi-structured interviews to explore their views on diversity within early childhood education. Findings Analysis of the interviews revealed two key themes: first, the challenge of maintaining nation-state ideology, where teachers balance fostering a national identity with acknowledging diverse cultural backgrounds; and second, a willingness among educators to embrace diversity, highlighting their efforts to create inclusive, multicultural classrooms. Practical implications The authors call for developing context-specific teacher education programs addressing diversity in depth, equipping teachers to effectively promote context-specific multicultural education that would be different from Western countries. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is original in researching preschool teachers’ understandings of multicultural education in a nation-state country.