• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.211-234
• /
• 2013

Over the past decade, there has been considerable policy development in early childhood education and care in Korea. The focus is now shifting from the federal government to grassroots initiatives or efforts in local communities in order to provide information or programs for all eligible families with young children. There is a strong need for more integrative and comprehensive parenting support programs(titled Child Care Information Center, Young Plaza in Korea) for families with young children to meet their diverse needs of child rearing. This paper overviews the current status and trends on the support system in which early childhood education and care and parenting support centers are embedded in Korea as well as those of developed counties. Also, the issues of development and implementation of more effective parenting support programs are key themes throughout this paper. Implications and suggestions for research, practice, and policy development in the future were provided.

• Journal of the Health Care and Life Science
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.153-160
• /
• 2021

This study is to investigate the effect of early childhood teachers' resilience and social support on job stress. The degree of resilience, social support, and job stress was measured for 250 teachers of early childhood education institutions located in City I, and the relationship and relative influence were analyzed. For data processing, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were performed using the SPSS 18.0 program. As a result, first, early childhood teachers' resilience and social support were measured at a slightly higher level than average, and job stress at a slightly lower level. Second, the resilience and social support of early childhood teachers had a positive relationship, and the resilience and social support had a negative correlation with job stress. Third, as a result of analyzing the relative influence of early childhood teachers' resilience and social support on job stress, 83% explained that organizational environmental factors, material support, and behavioral factors affect job stress. These results suggest that it is most important to provide resilience and social support that can affect the reduction of job stress of in-service teachers.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.223-252
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a professional development program developed to provide an opportunity for early childhood teachers to build a firm educational belief as teachers, to have an insight into their own abilities, to keeping on reflecting on themselves and to make a prolonged effort for self-development in pursuit of an ideal life as early childhood teachers by making portfolio. And it's additionally meant to give some suggestions on the efficient implementation of the program in the future. The subjects in this study were 26 early childhood education majors. The program was provided during an eight-week period of time, and both of the collected quantitative and qualitative data showed that the program produced positive effects. The findings of the study indicate that the professional development program for preservice early childhood teachers that used career portfolio could be one of good ways to facilitate the professional development of preservice early childhood teachers and to overcome a lot of problems with education of early childhood teachers, which is lately one of primary social issues.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.46 no.9
• /
• pp.71-85
• /
• 2008

This study examined the effects of a picture book literature education program in order to assess preschool children's recognition of and attitude towards picture books. The subjects were 56 five-year-old children, 30 of whom allocated to the experimental group and 26 to the control group. The literature education program lasted for 14 weeks. The control group children participated on the national early childhood education curriculum. Children were interviewed about their concepts, preferences, and attitudes towards picture books. The results indicated that compared to control group, children who participated in this program developed enhanced and richer concepts of picture books, displayed specific preferences, and put forward clearer reasons for their preference. ANCOVA result showed significant overall differences between the two groups. Children who participated in the ptrgram displayed more voluntary and active reading and applied the contents of the picture books to their real life situations.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.159-178
• /
• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics of dietary education in South Korea and Japan, and find directions for dietary education by comparing the contents of the two countries' dietary education in their national child-care curriculums and evaluations. Methods: To this end, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on the guidebooks for the Standard Child-care Curriculum and the Accreditation Index for Child-care Center in the case of South Korea, and the handbook for the Child-care Guideline and the Third Party Evaluation in the case of Japan. Results: The findings of this study were as follows: First, South Korea showed differences in the focus of child-care curriculums and evaluations. The contents about proper eating such as nutrition and table manners comprised a high portion of the curriculums, whereas the contents about cleanness and hygiene accounted for a high portion of the evaluations. In the case of Japan, its national child-care curriculums and evaluations consistently emphasized contents related to enjoying eating oneself, and suggested various methods for this. Second, in terms of the two countries' approaches to dietary education, South Korea focused on food-related knowledge, whereas Japan mainly created the contents of dietary education based on daily experiences. Conclusion/Implications: The above results suggest a direction to improve the currently publicized dietary guidance problem and a need for consistent the national child care curriculum and evaluation indicators in South Korea to emphasize the importance of joyful eating.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the structural relationship between the authentic leadership of the director, social support, and teacher efficacy perceived by early childhood teachers. Methods: The participants of the study were 433 teachers working at kindergartens and daycare centers in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The data collected through the survey were analyzed by applying a structural equation model. Results: As a result of the study, it was found that the authentic leadership of the director perceived by early childhood teachers had a positive (+) effect on the early childhood teachers' social support and teacher efficacy, respectively, and social support had a positive (+) effect on teacher efficacy of the early childhood teachers. The results showed that social support had a positive mediating effect in the relationship between the director's authentic leadership and teacher efficacy perceived by early childhood teachers. Conclusion/Implications: The results suggest that it is necessary to establish a social support system through the exercise of the director's authentic leadership in order to improve the teacher efficacy of early childhood teachers.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.25-34
• /
• 2012

This study examined the relationship among early childhood educator's MBTI personal tendencies, creativity, and teaching efficacy. 120 kindergarten teachers and 155 day care teachers participated in this study. Several survey questionnaires were used for this study, such as, teaching efficacy scale, MBTI personality tendencies, and a creativity test. The collected data was analyzed with the SPSS program(version 18.0). The findings of this study were as follows: First, there were some differences between an early childhood educator's MBTI personal tendencies and creativity. Secondly, there was a positive correlation among early childhood educator's MBTI personal tendencies, creativity, and teaching efficacy.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.21-36
• /
• 2022

Objective: The present study examined long-term effects of media use during early childhood on grit in middle childhood, focusing on the mediating role of attention problems. Methods: For statistical analysis, the 6th, 7th, and 11th data sets from the Panel Study on Korean Children were used. A total of 1,352 cases were finally selected. Descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis, path analysis, and bootstrapping were conducted. Results: The results showed that the use of media for educational purposes in early childhood did not have a significant effect on attention problems and grit. However, when the media use time for play in early childhood was longer, levels of attention problems in early childhood were higher and levels of grit in middle childhood were lower. The mediating effect of attention problems on the relationship between media use time for play of young children and grit of middle childhood was significant. Conclusion/Implications: Findings of the present study suggest that the use of media for play during early childhood needs to be carefully monitored because it can have a negative effect on attention and grit development.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.165-176
• /
• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study is to develop a measure of the Early Childhood Teacher's Guidance Efficacy Scale based on guidance and teacher-efficacy theory. Methods: This subjects were 243 teachers in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. Results: An exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the data collected of 4 factors, namely, guidance efficacy for problem behavior, children understanding, home-connected, basic life habits. In addition, there are significant positive correlations between the sub-area score and the overall in the early childhood teacher's guidance efficacy scale(r = .26 ~ .72, p < .001). Internal consistency and split-half reliability of each sub scale were reasonably accept. Conclusion/Implications: 'The guidance efficacy scale for early childhood teachers' developed in this study is an appropriate tool. Therefore, the developed scale can become a useful tool to measure the overall guidance efficacy level of early childhood teachers.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.203-232
• /
• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the parallel dual mediating effects of positive and negative affects in the relationship between adult attachment and self-compassion of teachers in the early childhood education and care centers. Methods: Two hundred and six teachers participated in the survey who were recruited from kindergarten and child care centers in Seoul and five provinces in South Korea. The data were analyzed by means of frequency, percentages, Cronbach's reliability coefficient and Pearson's correlation using SPSS 25.0 and model 4 provided in The PROCESS macro for SPSS 3.4 version. Results: First, the teachers' degrees of anxiety and avoidance in their adult attachment were below the median scores. Those of positive and negative affects, and their self-compassion were close to the median scores. Second, there were parallel dual mediation effects of positive and negative affects between anxious attachment and self-compassion of teachers. Meanwhile, only positive affect had a mediating effect in the path of teachers' avoidant attachment and self-compassion. Conclusion/Implications: This study confirmed that it is important to raise positive affect by lowering each level of anxiety and avoidance in their attachment for teachers in order to improve their self-compassion. It implied the need to provide support for attachment stability enhancement and to pay attention to improve their self-compassion.