Yeon Seung Lee

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 5-7, 2010

Joseph Tobin

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 9-26, 2010

The argument in this paper is two-old: (1) Policy making should reflect a consideration for sociocultural factors; and 2) Policy making, whether or not policy makers realize it or desire it or not, inevitably reflects the influence of socio-cultural factors. Cultural forms of ECEC are valuable, under-appreciated, and endangered by globalization and pressures to modernize, rationalize, and compete with those of other countries. These beliefs and practices should be preserved and treasured. But they should not be viewed as fixed. Early childhood education practitioners, policy makers, and scholars should value the early childhood educational beliefs and practices of their culture and should think of them as national treasures, as patrimony, as endangered educational ecology, which it is their responsibility to protect and pass on to the next generation.

Preschool, Anthropology, China, Japan

Nirmala Rao

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 27-39, 2010

This paper considers how educational policy and kindergarten curriculum guidelines have affected the quality of teaching and learning in preschools in Hong Kong. First, it provides an overview of early childhood education in Hong Kong. Second, it reviews educational policy relevant to preschools from a historical perspective highlighting the pursuit of quality which has been evident over the past few decades. Third, it analyses the Guides to the Pre-primary Curriculum published in 1996 (Curriculum Development Institute, 1996) and in 2006 (Curriculum Development Council, 2006) by the government. Next, it considers observations of the quality of teaching and learning in Hong Kong kindergartens. Finally, it concludes with an analysis of the major factors which have affected early years` policy and practices in Hong Kong.

Policy, Preschool, Quality, Curriculum, Hong Kong

Christine Chen

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 41-56, 2010

This is a descriptive paper of how government policies became the driving force of an early intervention literacy programme for at-risk learners. However, the success and sustenance of the programme lie in the hands of the early literacy educators. As such, the Association for Early Childhood Educators (Singapore) took up the challenge of growing them based on Darling-Hammond & Snyder`s contextualized approach to teaching and learning. Having nurtured them for four years, the Association traced the learning journeys of five literacy educators based on the van Manen`s "lived experience" and DuFour and Eaker "professional development community". Findings uncovered their teaching and learning beliefs, how some gained confidence while others change their teaching and learning strategies and the conditions that promote learning.

Government, At-Risk Learners, Early Intervention, Early Literacy, Professional Development

Mikko Ojala

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 57-72, 2010

The purpose of this paper was to listen to the voices of parents as they discussed how they view a good early childhood program using large scale survey. Exploring the characteristics-that is, the ecologies-of the different programs they had chosen is important to understanding how parents perceive good programs. Both similarities and differences were found both within and across parents at different program types. The multiple layers of both similarities and differences across parents suggest that their values and beliefs can account for their perceptions of what constitutes a good program among the many early childhood programs available. The research suggests that as programs have different purposes, more attention to context-specific local desires is needed.

Finland, ECEC, Preschool, Educational Policy, Curriculum, Evaluation

Hyun Sim Jung , Na Ya Choi , Hyun Kyung Woo , Soon Hyung Yi

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 73-93, 2010

This project`s objective was to develop a family literacy program which serves as a basis for parents and children of multicultural families to adapt to Korean society. The family literacy program for multicultural families was made up of a program for children and one for mothers, and an interactive program. The main contents of all the textbooks focus on Korean culture, multiculturalism, and child education. In order to evaluate and modify this program, a pilot application was administered to 6 multicultural families at a childcare center. During the same period, an interactive program was conducted at their homes. The mothers who participated had a positive evaluation of the program, which had the same theme for both mothers and children. They were also satisfied with the materials provided, transportation fees, and infant care service.

Multicultural Families, Female Married Immigrants, Family Literacy Program

Sun Mi Park

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 95-115, 2010

The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of early childhood teachers` professional development through exploring their learning experiences by the lens of Mezirow`s transformative learning theory. Semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with three teachers with five of more years of teaching experience. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted in qualitative approach. The results of this study showed that the learning experience of teachers could be categorized into two aspects (additive and transformative learning) and that transformative learning has been shown in a series of phases: critical reflection, discourse, and action. Such a transformative learning pattern made it necessary to look at the professional development of teachers as a personal, dynamic process of meaning construction, not a one-way or linear process, which is more than acquisition of new teaching skills and knowledge or improvement of existing ones. Also, the professional development as a transformative learning process led to the teachers taking a critical look at their frame of reference and opened up their own assumptions and beliefs.

Early Childhood Teachers, Professional Development, Learning Experience, Transformative Learning Theory, Qualitative Study

Fuminori Nakatsubo , Kiyomi Akita , Tokie Masuda , Katsuo Yasumi , Fumiko Sunagami , Junko Minowa

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 117-132, 2010

The purpose of this study is (1) to clarify, by monitoring discussion in group settings, how teachers at Japanese kindergartens recognize emotions of educators and young children in videos of early childhood care and education; (2) to clarify how teachers express their emotions that are aroused by viewing videos in a group discussion setting; (3) to compare the differences in teachers` narratives among four kindergartens. The participants are 21 teachers in kindergartens A, B, C and D. All of the participants watched three videos and participated in discussion about the video afterward. And then we analyzed the expression and recognition of emotions in their narratives. Although the participants watched the same videos, the teachers` narratives were different: (a) the characteristics of teachers` narratives about recognition of emotions were as follows: The A teachers viewed the emotions of the educators in the videos critically by keeping a certain psychological distance. The C teachers were sympathetic to the emotions of the educators in the videos. The D teachers descriptively discussed the emotions of the educators in the video. (b) The characteristics of the teachers` narratives about recognition of expressions were as follows: The A teachers expressed sympathy for the young children in the video by critically viewing the educators. The B teachers reflected on their own action with young children by replacing the educators in the video. The C teachers expressed sympathy for the educators in the video by assimilating with the educators.

Japanese Early Childhood Teachers` Narratives, Japanese Kindergartens, Recognition of Emotions, Expression of Emotions

Yeon Wook Hwang

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 133-157, 2010

Contemporary early childhood education has changed markedly and rapidly in the world. Investigating the contemporary early childhood education including current issues in the early childhood education settings in the Republic of Korea is helpful to recognize what urgent problems are in the field of early childhood education and to find a solution to the problems. The purpose of this study is, therefore, (a) to understand urgent problems in early childhood education in Korea, and (b) to suggest directions for early childhood education in Korea on the influence of assessment on children`s development and learning in kindergarten and beyond. In order to suggest directions for early childhood education in the Republic of Korea on the influence of assessment on children`s development and learning, the following concerns are discussed: (a) alternative assessment methods, (b) teacher-training programs, and (c) the teacher`s efficient use of after-school hours.

Contemporary Early Childhood Education, Assessment, Documentation

Boo Kyung Cho , Yun Hee Seo

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 159-179, 2010

This study investigated the relationships between kindergarten teachers` self-leadership and their job satisfaction as well as their directors` super-leadership. It also tried to identify the sub-variables of job satisfaction and super-leadership that best explained the teacher`s self-leadership. Three instruments of 「Kindergarten Teacher`s Self-leadership Questionnaire」 (Kim, 2007), 「Kindergarten Teacher`s Job Satisfaction Questionnaire」(Park, 2003), and 「Kindergarten Director`s Super-leadership Questionnaire」 were administered to 376 kindergarten teachers simple random sampled from a total of 919 private kindergartens in Gyeonggi-Do, Republic of Korea. The results indicated that the kindergarten teacher`s self-leadership and job satisfaction showed a positive correlation. The teacher`s self-leadership also showed positive correlation with all sub-variables of the director`s super-leadership. The sub-variables of director`s super-leadership or teacher`s job satisfaction that best predicted the kindergarten teacher`s self-leadership were ``teaching achievement``, ``reward and punishment`` and ``personal growth and professional development``, when combined demonstrated an explanatory power of 50%. Of the 3 sub-variables, ``teaching achievement`` accounted for the largest explanatory power of 39%. These results suggest that the satisfaction from teaching itself is the most important variable in explaining the teacher`s self-leadership.

Kindergarten Teacher`s Self-Leadership, Job Satisfaction, Super-Leadership

Hee Jung You , Min Jung Kang , Yeon Seung Lee

DOI: Vol.16(No.2) 181-200, 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine, systematize, and offer ways of balancing the teaching practicums of college and university teacher education programs, by examining their pre-teaching practicums and teaching-learning methods. The subjects were 276 teacher-candidates from four colleges and 164 teacher-candidates from six colleges; all institutions were of the same status. It was found that a pre-teaching practicum helps college and university teacher-candidates learn valuable material, but statistics show significant differences in perceptions regarding the pre-teaching practicum of colleges and those of universities. Second, practicums appeared to provide guidance in preparing lesson plans. Those college teacher-candidates who made demands regarding teaching-learning content, interactions with other teachers, and teaching different activities tended to learn more. Third, university teacher-candidates who made demands regarding the provision of mock teaching exercises, as well as college teacher-candidates who asked for teaching-observation activities, became more skilled in teaching different activities. Fourth, an examination of the theory-to-practice ratios among colleges and universities suggest that teacher-candidates from both required relatively more practice, but that college teacher-candidates showed more dissatisfaction with the material and demanded more practice.

Teacher Education Program, Pre-teaching Practicum, Teaching-Learning Contents and Method