• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.41-57
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• 2009

This study investigated the teaching practice of students attending a three-year early childhood education course in K City, Gyeonggi Province, as well as the educational environments of 72 kindergartens and child care centers where they received field training and which were located in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Incheon Metropolitan City, Bucheon, and Ilsan. After four weeks of teaching practice, those prospective teachers were surveyed for their objective opinions and current state regarding the practice guidance for students, teachers' working hours and wages, and female dominance in number among early childhood educators and heads of early childhood education institutions. Those data were collected to understand the operations of early childhood education institutions and the current teaching practice. According to the analysis results, the students of the early childhood education major said the four-week teaching practice was very helpful for them to understand the field and thus had positive receptions of it. Most of the prospective teachers felt the heaviest burden and experienced the biggest shortcomings in practical skills such as music, art, and hand play during class. They also felt a partial need for male counterparts. Those findings will help prospective teachers understand the field further before going out on the field and the teaching bodies have specific ideas about what kind of guidance is provided by kindergartens or child care centers. In addition, they will hopefully serve as basic data to form organic connections between the educational institutions and the field to produce more talented early childhood education teachers.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.251-276
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• 2013

This study was performed in order to examine the effects of one to one interactive picture book reading on infants' reading response and teachers' language teaching efficacy. A total of 50 2-year-olds from 8 child care centers in Incheon were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The interactive picture book reading activities were carried out once a week during 12 weeks. The infants in the experimental group read one-to-one with teachers, and their counterparts read the same book in a group. The change in teachers' language teaching efficacy was examined, and their subjective perception was evaluated through in-depth interview. As a result of this research, the infants in the experimental group showed significantly increased verbal response, compared to the control group, both in the total score and most sub-factors such as naming, responding, asking, demanding, spontaneous utterance, and decontextualized utterance. They also represented a significant rise, compared to the control group, in the total score of non-verbal response and factors like finger indicating, imitating, and accepting. Finally, the teachers who led the experimental group showed increased language teaching efficacy, and evaluated the effects of interactive picture book reading with infants very positively.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.234-243
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• 2016

The aim of this study was to identify the self-confidence in performance and education demand of first aid in kindergarten and daycare center teachers. The data from a questionnaire were collected from teachers in kindergarten and daycare centers from March 5 to 31, 2015. The responses from 149 teachers were analyzed using SPSS 21.0. The results showed that self-confidence in the performance of first aid was mostly low (mean score 2.70), but was significantly high in cases of having a willingness to perform first aid (p=.002). The education demand for first aid was mostly high (mean score 4.04), and significantly high in the case of having experience of emergency situations (4.21, p=.006), and being educated in first aid while working in a childcare facility (4.14, p=.001). Therefore, it is important to educate teachers in first aid regularly after developing an optimized program considering the frequency of emergency situations, and level of self-confidence in the performance and education demand of first aid.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.39-50
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• 2018

Objective: Social attention is paid to the issues concerning child care teachers' work multisibility and ambiguous legal status. Child care teachers are employees based on the "Labor Standards Act" and the "Child Care Act". They also play the role of kindergarten teachers based on the "Childhood Education Act" because of the Nuri curriculum. Based on the main tasks of the child care teachers who protect and nurture infants and toddlers, the Nuri curriculum education for infants is conducted. However, the duties and rights of child care teachers are disproportionate because there are many areas where teachers' professional roles do not suit their legal rights. Methods: The purpose of this study is to investigate how teachers perceive their own rights through field experience using qualitative method based on interpretative epistemology. Participants were 61 child care teachers working in the metropolitan area and used protocol description and focus group interview (FGI) for data collection. The collected data were derived as a central theme according to the data analysis method proposed by Creswell (2013). Results: Participants in the study described the 'Right and autonomy of education as a professional occupation', 'Right to request for improvement on working conditions, guarantee of living and to request for welfare system' and 'Right to guarantee of a teacher's status and adjustment of grievance.' They pointed out poor working conditions and welfare benefits at daycare centers, and emphasized that education and autonomy are necessary conditions to be strengthened for quality child care activities. On the other hand, they did not realize that 'Right to guarantee of a teacher's status and adjustment of grievance' was their right. And they have endured the infringement of this right. Conclusion/Implications: This study reveals the gap between teachers' responsibilities and rights, indicating the urgency of institutional arrangements. It is discussed that the social expectation for strengthening personality and professionalism as an infant and child specialist is increased and a practical alternative for the improvement of the right of teachers working in the child care field is needed considering the change of values about work.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.30
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• pp.8.1-8.8
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• 2015

Objectives Bedding in childcare centers (CCCs) can hold house dust mite (HDM) allergens. This study examined whether HDM allergen levels can be reduced through the distribution of an educational newsletter on bedding control to parents of CCC children in Korea. Methods All 38 CCCs were measured for Der 1 (sum of Der f 1 and Der p 1) concentrations on classroom floors and bedding before the intervention. Educational newsletters on children's bedding control were sent to 21 CCCs by mail, and teachers were asked to distribute the newsletters to the parents of the children (intervention group). The remaining 17 CCCs were not sent newsletters (control group). The measurement of Der 1 concentrations in 38 CCCs was repeated after the intervention. Dust samples were collected with a vacuum cleaner and analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods. Results The Der 1 concentrations on the bedding were significantly higher than those on the floors in 38 CCCs at baseline (p < 0.05). Although changes of the Der 1 concentrations for the control group (n=17) were not significant, Der 1 concentrations for the intervention group (n=21) decreased significantly from 2077.9 ng/g dust to 963.5 ng/g dust on the floors and from 3683.9 ng/g dust to 610.4 ng/g dust on bedding (p < 0.05). Conclusions The distribution of educational newsletters on bedding control to parents may be an effective means of controlling HDMs in CCCs.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate children's eating behaviors and teachers' feeding practices during mealtime at child-care centers. In addition, it focused on the difference of teachers' feeding practices on children age under 2 years ( ${\leq}2$ years old) and 3 years and older (3~5 years old). Methods: A total of 169 teachers working at childcare centers in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, Korea, completed self-report questionnaires in December 2013. The questionnaires were composed of questions on children's eating behaviors, feeding practices; 'Explain', 'Praise', 'Modeling', 'Indulgent', 'Insist' and 'Reward', interaction with home, and a range of demographic information (analysis rate: 51.2%). Results: Approximately 59.2% of teachers had not taken a class on feeding practice and the average score for nutrition knowledge was 14.6 out of 30 points. The most undesirable eating behavior of children during mealtime was 'eating while walking around (36.7%)' both ' ${\leq}2$ years old' and '3~5 years old'. Regarding feeding practices according to children's undesirable eating behaviors during mealtime, there were differences between age groups. When children did not eat all of the foods that were served and did not clean up silverware or seats after having food, teachers caring for '3~5 years old' practiced 'Explain'. However, percentages of those who practiced 'Indulgent' and 'Modeling' were significantly higher in teachers caring for ' ${\leq}2$ years old' than '3~5 years old'. Conclusion: These findings indicated that teachers caring for children lack education and knowledge about nutrition and feeding practice. In addition, verbal feeding practices, like explain, were mainly used by teachers. As a result, for teachers, guidelines and programs for learning about age appropriate feeding practice during mealtime at child-care centers may be needed.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.275-300
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• 2012

This study is to investigate the meaning of pre-service educare teachers' leadership experience about program development. The participants were 41 juniors in college, majoring in Child Welfare. They attended an 'infant & young childhood educare program development and evaluation' class for 15 weeks. During the given period they made documents from reflective journals and 5 participants among them were interviewed individually. Analyzing the documents sheds light on the meaning of the pre-service educare teahcers' experience. The results are as follows. First, pre-service educare teachers got a deeper understanding and attachment about communities. Second, they did a critical analysis about well-known home and abroad educare programs. Third, they had a opportunity of reflection about their education philosophy and competences. Forth, they experienced diverse leadership that is needed from educare teacher. The results showed the implications and suggestions about pre-service teacher education for educare teacher's curriculum leadership development.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.73-92
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine occupational safety accidents of child care teacher and to suggest preventive measure in occupational safety health and safety for child-care teacher. Methods: We investigated laws, policy, and previous studies related occupational safety and health for child care teacher. Especially, we reviewed the legal definition of child-care teacher to identify whether Occupational Safety and Health acts cover child-care teacher. Also cross tabulation and a qualitative analysis were conducted for occupational accidents in child care centers from 2013-2018. Results: Safety and health related policies to protect child care centers have been carried out by child care Center Safety and Insurance Association and the Child Care Support Center, but it has mainly been functioned to protect children excluding child care teacher. The most occupational accidents occur in worker aged 40s. The most type of occupational accident were falling down on the floor and surface. Also we could find that there is a high risk of falls, and musculoskeletal disorders through qualitative analysis on occupational accidents cases of child-care teacher. Conclusion/Implications: We suggest to improve the system for protecting child care workers including strengthening occupational safety and health education for child care workers, expanding coverage of national project to prevent occupational accidents.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.47-62
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• 2014

The purpose of this study targeted 93 full 5-year-old preschoolers was to examine young children's recognition of the relationships with their mothers, teachers, and peers and to analyze the effect of children's recognition on their self-concept. Children's recognition of the relationships with the people around and their self-concepts were measured by use of picture diagrams to help children's understanding and their replies. Data analysis showed that young children recognize their relationships with the people around positively, and that children's conflict recognition with their teachers influence negatively on their self-concept. This study is meaningful in that it directly researched preschooler's cognition of the relationships with the people around themselves from situation in the lack of preceding research that it comprehensively studied about relationships with the preschooler and others, and it executed one-to-one interview with preschooler using the picture tool for preschooler developed by the investigator in order to measure the preschooler's cognition.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.129-156
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning of the diverse experiences of preservice early childhood teachers during their participation in a career portfolio production program. A career portfolio production program was implemented during a nine-week period of time, and data were gathered to explore the meaning of their experiences in that process, which involved their journals, the report of their coaching professor and small- group interview data. The collected data were analyzed by encoding. As a result of analyzing the data, their experiences were categorized into eight categories: perceiving the flow of time, gathering scattered experiences, finding oneself amid chaos, being aware of being together, building psychological wellbeing, imagining one's own future as an early childhood teacher, mapping out one's future and making one's way to the world. The meanings of their experiences were reclassified into three stages: beginning, development and wrapping-up stages, in which there were two, four and two meanings respectively. The findings indicated that they were mostly cognizant of the meaning of their own experiences of producing career portfolio while they participated in the program step by step.