• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.119-135
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study was conducted to identify the components of kindergartener horticultural education by deriving objective components of horticultural education using the Delphi survey method, and then to provide basic data that can be used when creating horticultural programs in the regular curriculum. Methods: A total of 32 experts including professors of early childhood education, kindergarten directors, horticultural therapy professors, and horticultural therapists were selected as the Delphi panel. Of the 32 selected, only 29 answered all three rounds of the surveys. For the first round of the survey, an open-ended questionnaire, was used, and in the second and third rounds closed-ended questionnaires were used. Results: Results indicated that under the category of the goals of horticultural education, there were 7 items related to the current problems of horticultural education, 16 items related to the need for horticultural education in the smart age, 18 items related to the direction of horticultural education, and 5 items related to the areas most suitable for horticulture education for young children in the Nuri Curriculum. Results in the category of the implementation of horticultural education indicated that 2 items related to horticultural education hours, 3 items related to the venue for horticultural education, 2 items related to the activity types applicable to the Nuri Curriculum, and 4 items related to the objects of horticultural activities were derived. As the current problems of horticultural education, the following items were identified: event-oriented activity (M = 4.24) and lack of kindergarten teachers' opportunities for systematic gardening education (M = 4.21). The results related to the necessity of horticultural education indicated the following items: education on respect for life through caring (M = 4.59), emotional intelligence and stability (M = 4.55), directly experience of the growth process of plants (M = 4.55), and development of the five senses (M = 4.55). Finally, within the direction of horticultural education: nurturing the desire to live with nature (M = 4.50), and learning about life (M = 4.44) was identified, which had higher averages. Within the areas of the Nuri Curriculum, which is most consistent with horticultural education, nature exploration (M = 4.69) and the integration of all areas (M = 4.59) were derived as priorities. Also, regarding the implementation of horticultural education, the following items were derived as the priority from the expert group: 30-40 minutes (M = 4.14) and 40-50 minutes (M = 4.14) for class periods, outdoor garden in a kindergarten(M = 4.66) for the venue of gardening education, outside play (M = 4.59) for the activity type, and vegetable crops (M = 4.55) for the objects of gardening activities. Conclusion: It is significant that the goal and implementation of kindergartner horticultural education were objectively derived through collecting opinions of expert panels. Based on the results of this study, a horticultural education program for kindergarten teachers should be implemented.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.199-211
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• 1999

This study identified and explained the prototypes of belief systems about the kindergarten curriculum with the use of Stephenson's Q-methodology. The sample consisted of 15 preschool teachers and 15 college students majoring in early childhood education. A Q-deck composed of 48 cards was developed by the researchers and sorted by the subjects. The obtained Q-sort scores were analyzed by factor analysis. The findings revealed that the subjects were divided into 3 types: "the practical-disciplinary type" consisting of mostly of teachers, "the theoretical-openness type" consisting mostly of students, and "the compromising type" consisting of some teachers and some students.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.899-913
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• 2005

The purpose of the study is to analyze the perception and expectation made by parents, regarding the goal, methods and management of kindergarten education. The study is designed to identify social needs for the early childhood education and to produce some important information necessary for the development of education programs for kindergarteners and for the management of a kindergarten. As subjects of the study, 623 mothers of kindergartens were sampled from kindergartens. The researcher constructed a questionnaire of multiple-choice type for surveying opinions of the subjects, based on the analysis of curriculum materials published by Korean Ministry of Education. In data analysis, frequency of response on each item of the questionnaire was tabulated, and chi-square test was applied for testing the difference between independent samples. The results of the study are summarized as followings: First, parents feel kindergarten education necessary because 'interaction with peers' itself must be an important condition for socialization of younger children. For an 'ideal personality' to be pursued in kindergarten education, parents place 'moral personality' in the first priority.' And for educational objective of kindergarten they select 'development of cooperative attitude' as the most important one. Second, 'play method' is emphasized by parents as the most desirable educational method for kindergartener. Third, they think it is necessary for parents to participate in the management of kindergarten. And they also feel that parents of kindergartener should be educated on the early childhood education. Fourth, parents emphasize that the early childhood education should be integrated into a public educational system in order to provide equal educational opportunity for all preschoolers.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.3557-3563
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• 2014

Korean National Level Kindergarten Curriculum does not include English education in regular class time. On the other hand, more than 90% kindergarteners are taught English. This study examined the Native English Teachers' (NETs') cultural aspects of their teaching at regular kindergartens in Korea. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with four NETs who were working at regular kindergartens in Korea, their partner Local English Teachers (LETs) and kindergarten principals. All interview data was transcribed and categorized based on the grounded theory method. The results showed that NETs are not required to be culturally prepared to teach in Korean kindergartens. Consequently, most of them do not consider the students' culture in their teaching activities. Moreover, Korean kindergartens, where research participants work, are not prepared well to invite NETs into their regular curriculum. These results will have significant implications on Korean kindergarten's English education practice.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.345-358
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• 2018

The goal of this study was to analyze the degree of kindergarten teacher's understanding with respect to educational activities of social relationships area & art experience area in the Nuri-curriculum and to provide complementary materials and educational programs for enhancing kindergarten teacher's professional development. The tool for this study was a number of questionnaires on teacher's understanding in two area. The number of survey participants were 650 teachers and 78 preliminary teachers, 728 in total. Statistical analysis to this research responses was done by SPSS 23 at the significance level of .05, .01, .001 each. Research findings reached a conclusion of proposing differentiated complementary materials and educational programs based on the types of kindergarten, qualification of teachers and their demographics. That is, it should be adjusted to the differences in establishment-operation types of kindergarten, location/size/ages of class, careers/ages/license of teachers, and current-preliminary teacher's understanding. The educational activities of social relationships area should be focused on an attitude of valuing oneself and family by browsing and practicing what one can do for oneself and family. The educational activities of art experience area should be focused on integrated experience of artistic expression and appreciation activities by exploring musical, movement and artistic elements.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.179-203
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• 2015

In this study, connections between the NURI curriculum for 5 years old children and the contents of teacher's manual books according to it and the contents of elementary 1st grade mathematics curriculum and textbooks was analyzed to find the implications that can help to link the two curricula in the development of kindergarten and elementary school mathematics curriculum. The five following implications could be obtained from the analysis. First, it is necessary to connect the contents of the NURI curriculum for 5 years old children which were completed in that curriculum like 'spatial relation'in geometric figure domain and 'data collection'in probability and statistics domain to the contents of the 1st grade curriculum. Second, in the case of the contents not connected between the NURI curriculum for 5 years old children and the contents of elementary 1st grade mathematics curriculum but connected between the NURI curriculum for 5 years old children and the contents of elementary 2nd ~6th grade mathematics curriculum, it is necessary to re-adjust the hierarchy based on one of the curricula. Third, it is necessary to check whether $\ll$K-teacher's manual book$\gg$ obey the NURI curriculum for 5 years old children or not. Fourth, it is necessary to review the related elements of the NURI curriculum for 5 years old children and elementary 2nd ~6th grade mathematics curriculum in [activity] in $\ll$K-teacher's manual book$\gg$. Fifth, it is necessary to handle the mathematics contents explicitly and systematically in [activity] in $\ll$K-teacher's manual book$\gg$.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.231-248
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• 2008

This research used Q-Methodology to investigate kindergarten teachers' perception style regarding children's creativity. The 30 participants had various teaching experiences and educational backgrounds and were teaching in a variety of types of kindergartens in the cities of Busan and Ulsan. Individual teacher's subjective perspective was the main target for the analysis. Results showed four types of teachers' perceptions of creativity : 1) perceiving creativity as children's creative thinking ability, 2) focusing on creative curriculum development 3) perceiving creativity as children's creative personality, and 4) focusing on either teacher's thorough understanding of children's creativity or teachers' creativity. These results indicate that teachers tend to perceive creativity in narrow and specific domains. These findings are discussed with respect to their educational implications.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.137-152
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• 2002

In response to a growing trend toward downward escalation of public school curriculum, the present study surveyed so-called extracurricular activities in kindergartens and analyzed teacher's perception of these activities. Questionnaires were mailed to 1300 private kindergartens and 1116 responses were received. Major findings were that over 89% of the respondents reported doing extracurricular activities in their kindergartens, mostly using 3-4 different kinds of special activities. The 3 most highly ranked lessons in order of frequency were English, art and physical activity. Whole group time was most often used for extracurricular activities. Kindergarten teachers were concerned with the qualifications of teachers for these activities. Teachers of these extra activities usually have no specialized training or supervised experience working with 3-through 5-year-old children.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.71-84
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• 2005

Eighty-eight 5-year-old subjects were tested by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, and randomly assigned to experimental(n=44) or control(n=44) groups. Developed in collaboration with kindergarten teachers, physical activity projects were based on themes from "life and health" and "life as expression" of the kindergarten curriculum. The resulting program consisting of 24 activities was applied to the experimental group for 24 sessions. Data were analyzed by mean, standard deviation, and repeated measures ANOVA. Effectiveness of the physical activity program for enhancing creativity was shown by a significant increase in mean creativity scores of the experimental group and in the sub-scores of fluency, originality, abstraction of title, elaboration, and resistance to an impetuous ending.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.25-35
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• 2017

This study was carried out qualitative study to figure out the process of the perception of creativity conception by kindergarten teachers in Korea. The interviewees are 4 current teachers in kindergarten in Seoul. Data was collected from semi-structured in-depth interview. Collected data were analyzed using Modified Grounded Theory Approach by Kinoshita, a kind of qualitative research method. As a result of data analysis, kindergarten teachers who experts in child education understood key concepts of creativity as unique thinking and rich expression ability. Such concept is mainly acquired at the class in which direct encounter with children is made. Besides, they formed the concept of creativity through reading books and articles, graduate studies and teaching Nuri Curriculum. In the preceding studies on the concept of creativity targeted to elementary and secondary school teachers, they had shared wide concept, but kindergarten teachers shared only some key concepts on creativity. This result would mean that the concept of creativity in the early children education is relatively coherent and such concept and teaching method are relatively well delivered to children at the education field.