• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.523-537
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• 2009

This research aimed to understand the current status of early childhood education and to develop a future direction of early childhood English education. One group interview and three private interviews were conducted with 10 early education teachers to obtain in-depth understanding of the problems inherent in English education. The findings show that there is an internal conflict in the teachers regarding the value of English education in early childhood. In addition, there are external conflicts with the children the parents, the English teacher, the program director, and the government in English education. It is concluded that the early childhood educators felt an internal conflict regarding the current, inappropriate execution of early English education which is lacking a suitable educational plan including goals and practices. Furthermore, the teacher's preference for English also contributed to the internal conflict regarding the belief in early childhood English education. Secondly, the external conflicts included: English teachers with inadequate understanding of comprehensive early childhood development, parents who show excessive interest in early childhood English education without regard to childhood development, the reality that early childhood English education is mostly influenced by the attitudes of the program director without regard for the conflicts experienced by the early childhood teacher, and the politics of the government continuing to ignore the reality that early childhood English education ontinues in practice without being included in the national curriculum.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.9 no.spc
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• pp.167-184
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• 2003

This paper is to analyze how Walt Whitman developed the theme and structure of Leaves of Grass with his ideal of democratic vistas. Whitman established his identity as an inspired poet, having faith in the divinity of man based on transcendental belief. After being awakened to the transcendental truth, he practiced his own common world view--his democratic vistas. Whitman searched for the unity with nature and identified his self with "common man and his nation." The poetry expresses "cosmological and national ideology" dedicated to the creation of an ideal nation united in eternal freedom and peace. By portraying common cosmic and national theme in terms of his individual personality, he brought various paradoxical and controversial ideas into one thing, namely "democracy", fusing diversity into unity. As in the symbol of the grass, there is a unity in variety reflected by democracy in a cosmological and political compound. With the form of free verse, he could express his liberal unrestrained and mystical thoughts of democracy. This new form has been associated with the poet's strong consciousness of the need for modernization in his country. He willingly assumed "the role of prophet and public voice for American democrat" with the rolling catalogues and I-persona which formed a sense of the common man and common things of America. Whitman pioneered a democrat literature with simple and dynamic tone and style. He successively pursued the democratic vistas in his Leaves of Grass.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.147-162
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to seek out efficient multicultural education plans by investigating Home Economics teachers' perception of multicultural families and multicultural education. Thus, a survey was carried out to collect data mainly from home economics teachers who is working for middle schools. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. Firstly, there were more teachers who had some experience of contacting with multicultural families than those who didn't have, but it was not a big difference. Also, it was found that there were not many teachers who took multicultural education-related classes for their studying at college or had multicultural education-related teachers' training for their working as a teacher. Secondly, it was found that their respect for multi-races, recognition of multi-cultures, belief in multi-cultures and acceptance attitude toward multicultural knowledge were very positive. Thirdly, it was found that most teachers had consideration -centered viewpoints most of all. On the other hand, assimilation-based viewpoints were the least among teachers. Fourthly, teachers believe that multicultural society centered contents, which is a society where people get along with each other, should be dealt in class while executing education for multicultural families. Lastly, in regard to methods of executing education for multicultural families, it was found that they showed the strongest opinion that it should be executed all over the domain of every school subject as integrated education.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.309-323
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• 2002

This qualitative study investigated preservice teachers' understandings of the ontology and epistemology underlying constructivist notions of learning through four in-depth interviews. Of the sixteen participants in a larger study, five significantly changed ontological and epistemological beliefs and eleven did not. This study focused on these eleven teachers who have hardly changed their philosophical beliefs throughout the teacher education program. Ten teachers who consistently maintained the scientific realist beliefs were presented as a composite case (Young's case). Among the eleven teachers, there was one outlier who had consistently maintained an idealist and relativist epistemological position from the beginning of the study and was subjected to another case analysis (Ben's case). These cases corroborated the assertion that each individual's deeply entrenched ontological and epistemological beliefs are very hard to change. For researchers, this study offers insights into the reasons that preservice teachers give for non-changes in their thinking about learning to teach. The study also examines preservice teachers' perceived constraints in implementing their ideal pedagogies and the influence of the teacher education program on their pedagogical beliefs changes. The benefits and influences of the M.Ed. program's theoretical coursework and the field experiences on these teachers' learning-to-teach experiences are addressed with rich data. The implications for teacher educators as well as for the instructional practices of preservice teacher education programs are discussed. This research emphasize necessity of the field-based teacher education program and the need of empowering experienced school teachers as teacher educators in teacher preparation and professional development.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.186-192
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• 2007

In this study, the effects of concept mapping on the preservice elementary teachers' achievement, conceptual understanding, anxiety toward science, and science teaching efficacy belief were investigated in the undergraduate general chemistry course. The aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) between preservice teachers' learning approach and concept mapping strategy was also investigated. Sixty-nine freshmen from a university of education were assigned to a control group and a treatment group. Tests regarding students' learning approach, anxiety toward science, and science teaching efficacy belief were administered as pretests. Treatment lasted for 9 weeks. In every class, students in the treatment group constructed concept maps, while those in the control group solved the problems of the textbook after the lecture. After the instructions, tests of achievement, conceptual understanding, anxiety toward science, and science teaching efficacy beliefs were administered. The results indicated that students in the treatment group significantly outperformed those of the control group in the achievement test. In the conceptual understanding and the science teaching efficacy beliefs, however, no statistically significant differences were found between two groups. Students of the treatment group showed significantly higher anxiety than their counterpart in the test of anxiety toward science. No aptitudetreatment interaction between students' learning approach and the concept mapping strategy was found.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.373-388
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• 2013

This paper is to investigate how two elementary school teacher's belief mathematics as educational content, and teaching and learning mathematics as a part of educational methodology, and what the two teachers believe towards gifted children and their education, and what the classes demonstrate and its effects on the sociomathematical norms. To investigate this matter, the study has been conducted with two teachers who have long years of experience in teaching gifted children, but fall into different belief categories. The results of the study show that teacher A falls into the following category: the essentiality of mathematics as 'traditional', teaching mathematics as 'blended', and learning mathematics as 'traditional'. In addition, teacher A views mathematically gifted children as autonomous researchers with low achievement and believes that the teacher is a learning assistant. On the other hand, teacher B falls into the following category: the essentiality of mathematics as 'non-traditional', teaching mathematics as 'non-traditional, and learning mathematics as 'non-traditional.' Also, teacher B views mathematically gifted children as autonomous researchers with high achievement and believes that the teacher is a learning guide. In the teacher A's class for gifted elementary school students, problem solving rule and the answers were considered as important factors and sociomathematical norms that valued difficult arithmetic operation were demonstrated However, in the teacher B's class for gifted elementary school students, sociomathematical norms that valued the process of problem solving, mathematical explanations and justification more than the answers were demonstrated. Based on the results, the implications regarding the education of mathematically gifted students were investigated.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.197-206
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to research pre-service chemistry teachers' inquiry ability and perception on inquiry by analyzing their argument structure. Nine graduating senior students have participated in this study. They have experimented with mass change during state change, which is included in 7th grade science textbook. We have analyzed pre-service teachers' experimental reports using Toulmin's argument model. Also, we have researched their views on science and experiments through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. As results show, various factors have affected pre-services' argument structures; lack of science knowledge and inquiry ability, belief about error, and additive data. This study shows that pre-service teachers' inquiry abilities is insufficient, and it is necessary to review rearrangement of pre-service science teacher curriculum in order to offer inquiry experiments in teacher education program.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.433-441
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• 2016

This study analyzed the structural types of happiness that kindergarten teachers feel and the features of each happiness type to increase the happiness of kindergarten teachers. The subjects of this study were 41 kindergarten teachers working at a kindergarten in D city. They were chosen randomly. The Q-methodology, which allows in-depth measurements of people's subjective perception of happiness, was employed. The results and further analysis revealed 4 structural types of happiness: 1) self-realization type, who feels happiness while setting goals and achieving them; 2) inner satisfaction type, who thinks that happiness can be found in the current status; 3) social relationship type, who emphasizes a good relationship with others; and 4) personal belief type, who emphasizes living life in one's own style without being bothered by others.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2003

This study aimed to discern the educational meaning of nature experience activity in a nonformal educational program in Korea, focusing on the interaction between a teacher and learners. To achieve this objective, an ethnographic research method was employed using an environmental educational program for children in a nonformal setting. The results of study are as followings. Firstly, the teacher's belief-"young ecologist" shaped its own characteristics of the program. Secondly, the children had a understanding that they learn something about nature(e.g. learning by seeing, dlscovering, recollecting, and awakening). The analysis of teachers' ideas and learners' attitude toward nature experience shows that there exists a gap between the teachers' expectations and the actual ecological changes in the learners' ideas. However, the educational meaning of nature experience can be understood by the unique type of interaction between a teacher and learners. In conclusion, on the basis of this study, it is suggested that educators should be aware of the fact that nature experience can conttribute significantly to the education of children not just from the encounter with nature but also philosophically with regard to our connectedness with nature. Bringing nature into educational contexts can help children to take part in thoughtful perspectives of learning and to devise their own appropriate nature experience.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.311-328
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• 2005

This study was to understand the components that influence preservice elementary teachers' mental models about 'astronomical phenomena' such as the Seasons of the year, and the Lunar Phases of the month. We selected university of education students among whom 23 were in the second you. The data collected from the paper-pencil test and individual interview with students. The results of this study show that the students had apparent synthetic Mental models, and that the distance theory, and occultation theory had most important effects on their Mental Models. It can be said that preservice elementary teachers' initial mental models of the' astronomical phenomenon' have their origin in their belief sets (specific theory) related to 'astronomical phenomenon', on the basis of which they can interpret their observations and cultural information with the constraints of a naive framework of physics. The structures and possible sources of their mental models for overcoming these synthetic mental models were also discussed.