Search

The present study aimed to investigate mother–teacher discrepancies in reports of preschoolers’ behavior problems and to examine whether maternal attribution to behavior problems, perception of parenting, and behavior management strategies predicted the discrepancies. The mothers and teachers of 384 preschoolers aged 3–6 years from 16 preschools of Seoul, South Korea, completed the Child Behavior Checklist and the Caregiver–Teacher Report Form. Based on their ratings, they were classified into three groups: (a) mother–teacher Agreement Group, (b) Disagreement Group with Mother only reporting at Risk (Disagreement Group-MR), and (c) Disagreement Group with Mother only reporting No Risk (Disagreement Group-MNR). The results showed marginal similarities between mothers’ and teachers’ reports of behavior problems, indicating both low correlations and differences in percentages of at-risk children. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed that maternal attribution and maternal perception of parenting difficulties predicted group membership regarding mother–teacher discrepancies. For both internalizing and externalizing problems, mothers who attributed environmental factors as primary causes of children’s behavior problems were more likely to be in the Agreement Group than the Disagreement Group-MNR. With regard to externalizing problems, the more the mothers perceived parenting difficulties, the more likely they were to belong to either of the Disagreement Groups. The outcomes suggest the importance of considering that mothers’ reports of children’s behavior and mother–teacher discrepancies partly mirror mothers’ beliefs and perceptions regarding children’s behavior and parenting. Professionals need to be aware that information from mother–teacher discrepancies can be of help in understanding mothers as well as children in practice.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between the daily routines and physical environments of daycare centers. Methods: A total of 20 classes at 8 different daycare centers from the metropolitan city of Daejeon were investigated. Trained observers visited each daycare center more than 3 times and collected data about daily routines using the Observational Log for Daily Routines in Daycare Centers. Also, the physical environments of each class were investigated in terms of actual size, layout of activity center, etc. Results and Conclusion: Results of the study were: first, daily routines of daycare centers could be divided into 2 distinguishable types by cluster analysis- `free play oriented` and `group activity oriented` Second, the amount of space each child has in a classroom differed according to the total size of the classroom. An average of 7 activity centers existed in each classroom. Third, there was a difference between free play oriented and group activity oriented groups in terms of the classroom size allocated for each child and the organization of the activity centers.

본 연구는 영아반의 하루 일과를 관찰하여 실내자유놀이, 실외놀이, 집단활동 및 낮잠 휴식 등의 일과를 구성하는 주요 요소들이 진행된 시간들을 바탕으로 하루일과의 유형을 분석하였다. 그리 고 일과유형에 따라 영아의 놀이성, 교사의 학력 및 경력, 교사행동에서 어떠한 차이를 보이는지 살펴보았다. 연구결과, 영아반의 일과유형은 ‘실내 외놀이 지향형’과 ‘낮잠 휴식 및 집단활동 지향 형’ 등 2가지로 분류되었다. 일과유형별 영아의 놀이성의 차이를 살펴본 결과, ‘실내 외놀이 지향 형’이 ‘낮잠 휴식 및 집단활동 지향형’보다 영아의 놀이성 전체점수와 하위영역인 신체적 자발성, 즐거움의 표현, 유모감각에서 유의하게 높은 점수를 보였다. 그리고 일과유형에 따라 교사의 학 력은 유의한 차이가 없었으나 교사의 경력에서는 ‘실내 외놀이 지향형’ 학급의 교사경력이 ‘낮잠 휴식 및 집단활동 지향형’ 학급의 교사경력보다 유의하게 더 많았다. 교사의 상호작용행동에서도 유의한 차이가 나타나 ‘실내·외놀이 지향형’ 일과의 교사가 ‘낮잠 휴식 및 집단활동 지향형’의 일 과를 운영하는 교사보다 긍정적 지도행동과 중립적 지도행동을 유의하게 더 많이 보였다.

This study explores the types of daily routines in child care centers based on the time planned for indoor free choice activities, outdoor activities, group activities and nap/rest. The daily routine plans of 63 classes of 0 to 2-yearolds and 51 classes of 3 to 5-year-olds were cluster analyzed. Also, openness and closeness of child care programs as well as the most participated indoor/outdoor activities were examined using questionnaires developed for teachers. The results were as follows: First, teachers planned the most time for free play choice activity and comparatively less time for outdoor play during the day. Time for rest and naps were planned more for 0-2 year-olds whereas group activities were planned more for the 3-5 year-olds. Second, 3 daily routine types were found in the daily plans of child care centers, such as “Low-Activity Oriented,” “Free Choice Activity Oriented” and “Group Activity Oriented” in 0 to 2-year-old classes and 3 to 5-year-old classes. Also, “Group Activity Oriented” type in 0 to 2-year-old classes showed more “closed” child care programs than the “Free Choice Activity Oriented” type. However, no difference was shown among the 3 types of daily routines in the openness and closeness of 3 to 5-year-old child care programs. Finally, all children, regardless of the types of daily routine, participated most in block activity and role play indoors and fixed-play equipment, sand play and free play outdoors.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual conditions and characteristics of weekly and daily child care programs for infants, to provide a basis for the improvement of infant care quality. Weekly and daily curricula of 18 classes for one and two-year-olds classes (9 for each ages) from childcare centers in D city were collected from Nov. 2009 to February 2010. The results are as following: first, classes for one-year-olds plan 6-25 activities and classes for two-year-olds plan 12-30 activities weekly, with differences in the number of weekly activities according to the childcare centers. The number of weekly activities should be planned considering infants' interest as well as educational continuity of the activities. Second, the investigation of daily activities showed that the routine activities planned for one-year-olds were for total of 310-600 minutes and for two-year-olds 310-540 minutes. Among these, on average of 66% of the time was planned for everyday life such as eating and napping. The rest of time was dedicated to indoor and outdoor free play. However a few centers allocated more time for group activities according to subjects compared to free play. A curriculum composed of group activities ignoring infants' individual developmental differences should not be encouraged. Last, the results of cluster analyses on weekly and daily curricula in terms of the number of activities and time, duration, number of group activities and time showed that curricula for infants could be characterized into two types: "free play" and "group activity" curricula.

The purpose of this study was to examine different child care curricula according to teacher's teaching method types. The subjects of the study were three hundred and fifty-six teachers, who were divided into four groups according to their teaching method: mixed method(type A), child oriented method(type B), teacher oriented method(type C), and beliefless method(type D). The data on the duration of free play and outdoor play time, activities frequently practiced in class, and outside one the playground were collected. The dimensions of child care programs were measured using Moore(1994)'s "The Early Childhood Dimensions of Education Rating Scale". The results of this study were as follows: first, teachers who used child oriented teaching methods gave more free play time than teachers using teacher oriented or mixed teaching methods. Second, teachers using teacher oriented methods showed the closeness and teachers using child oriented methods showed the openness in child care programs. Last, the activities teachers thought were the most important differed according to the teachers' methods even though in actual practice, there was no difference shown.

This study dealt with free play activities in the curricula of childcare centers in Daejeon area. 29 teachers from 21 day care centers were interviewed individually to obtain an understanding of teachers perceptions and conflicting views about play activity in the context of different day care curricula. The data were analysed qualitatively, using categorization and key word classification, frequency analyses and chi-squared tests. The results were as follows: (1) play-oriented curricula included sufficient play time and planned play activities in terms of the children`s development. Children`s freedom in play, optimum intercession by teachers, and interrelating activities between activity areas were included. In mixed curricula, children`s freedoms were limited in many cases, and interrelating play between activity areas was hardly found. Formal lesson-oriented curricula resulted unplanned play activities and teachers` passive intercession of play. (2) Most teachers believed that play activities were more important to a child`s development than formal lessons.

The purpose of the study was to examine the actual conditions of caregiver-infant ratios, group-room activity areas, evaluations of infant programs and caregiver-infant interactions based on structural and process indicators which are major factors of infant care. The subjects were 20 caregivers and 91 infants from 14 infant classes of 13 day care centers in Daejeon. An actual survey was conducted on caregiver-infant ratios and group-room activity areas, and teaching-learning plans for infants and daily schedules were gathered for the evaluation of infant programs. The caregiver-infant interactions were observed every one minute for a total of 20 minutes using Lee Wan Jeong's "Evaluation Measure of Caregiver-infant Interactions"(1999). The results of this study were as follows: First, caregiver-infant ratios ranged from 2.5 to 7 infants per caregiver, resulting in the difference of the number of infants. Second, the 14 classes for one-year-old infants were arranged in three different ways; 5 classrooms with distinctive activity areas, 2 without any divided areas and 7 containing a mix of partial activity areas. Third, in teaching-learning plans for infants, there were a large number of topics related to seasonal features and experiences while the fewest were about basic life habits. Fourth, in the caregiver-infant interactions, caregivers used more positive interactions and linguistic modeling than sensitive responses to infants and social interactions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the difficulties and needs for adaptation program of married immigrant women raising children in Korea. Data were collected from 27 Day care centers in Guemsan County, Chungnam Province. 20 senior teachers of day care centers and 58 mothers who had immigrated into Korea by international marriage were asked to complete a packet of questionnaire designed by researchers for this study, and in-depth interviews were conducted to 20 senior teachers and 6 mothers who could communicate in Korean. Data were analyzed by using frequency analysis, one way ANOVA, and cross-section analysis. The outcome of this study showed as follows: 1) The number of entire married immigrant women's children attending day care centers at Guemsan area was 102 persons. 2) Immigrant mothers felt that the lack of their understanding Korean culture makes them difficult in raising children in Korea, whereas the day care teachers felt that children's language development was delayed. 3) According to the survey of adaptation program a for married immigrant women's children, there was few program at the time of survey, only two daycare centers conducted multi-cultural education and Korean language education once or twice a year. Teachers required Korean language education, grievance counseling (?) for the mothers. Immigrant mothers required multi-cultural education and Korean language education.

The purpose of this study was to provide data for the stress and difficulty of the principal on the day-care centers. For this purpose, we had interviewed with 154 principals on the day-care centers in Daejeon and Chungcheong-do. The principals reported that they had stress about administration of day-care center normally. Their stress was different by the type of the center, the number of the class and their sex. They had difficulties in administrating teachers, managing the center, relating with the authorized officials, and finances. For the governing their center expertly, they needed to improve the quality of teachers, to amplify the financial support, and so on.

Recent research suggesting that parental behaviour may promote or discourage the development of inhibited behaviour stimulated interest in the effect of inhibited behaviour on parenting. Of 125 US 3-year-olds and 100 Korean 3-year-olds whose inhibited behaviour was evaluated repeatedly at age 3, the videotapes of the 50%most inhibited in each sample were rated with regard to parental responses that: (1) encouraged the child to approach the stimuli in question; (2) accepted and/or encouraged the child’s withdrawal; and (3) discouraged the child’s withdrawn behaviour. Analyses revealed that child effects on parenting were more pronounced than parenting effects on child behaviour; that mothers were more affected by child inhibition than fathers; that, surprisingly, parents who responded to child inhibition by accepting/encouraging child withdrawal also reacted by discouraging child withdrawal and encouraging approach; and that the greater the child’s inhibition, the more parents encouraged approach behaviour, encouraged/accepted withdrawal, and discouraged withdrawal. These results are discussed in terms of other evidence highlighting parental influences on child inhibition.