• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.243-262
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• 2010

This study approaches the children's talent show performed at child care centers from the perspective of critical pedagogy in order to investigate its social, economic, and political context. Two child care centers where children's talent show are opened annually were selected as a sample. A qualitative study was conducted by collecting data from participant observation and interviews with the children, teacher, parents, and principles at the selected centers. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. The children's talent show played a role as a business tool for managing the child care center in terms of such functions as recruitment of new children and promotion of the institute, rather than simply being the result of demand from the children and parents. Consequently, the children and parents appear to be passive participants in the talent show by partially accepting the positive views thus generated without expressing disagreement with these views. This study suggest the need for a general debate regarding the planning and execution of events at child care centers.