Analyses of Childrens Daily Activities in Preschools of Middle-and Lower-Income Communities: Focus on Child-Centered Educational Programs

거주지 계층에 따른 유아교육 기관에서의 아동의 활동분석 - 아동중심 교육 프로그램을 기반으로 -

This study compared children's daily activities In the preschools of middle-and lower-income communities. 22 children, evenly divided by community and children's gender, were observed for 3 hours on 5 consecutive days. The observers followed the target child, gathering data during 30-second "windows" every 4 1/2 minutes. A total of 750 observations were used in the analyses. The findings show the variation in children's activities as a function of community differences. In the case of academic activities, children of middle-income community were more exposed to and engaged in play with academic objects more than children of the of low-income community. A reverse tendency, however, was found in academic lessons. Children of low-income community were more exposed to work than their counterparts. Children of middle-income community were engaged in child-adult conversation more than those of low-income community. In addition, children of the middle-income community initiated their involvement in play and conversation more than their counterparts, though no difference was found in children's initiation of activities.