권재희 Jaehee Kwon , 박은선 Eunsun Park

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 1-16, 2020

The purpose of this study is to investigate pre-service teachers’ awareness of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), their exposure-reducing behaviors, and their needs for education about such chemicals. Data were collected from 222 pre-service teachers in early childhood programs at two Korean universities. The results of this study reveal that most pre-service teachers are aware of EDCs, and they have some knowledge and a high level of sensitivity to their negative effects. However, they do not take the active initiative to decrease exposure to these chemicals in their everyday lives. In addition, their class experiences do not significantly affect their awareness of EDCs or influence behaviors that reduce exposure to the chemicals. Thus, they present a high level of educational need regarding EDCs. Based on the findings, we discuss how to provide future early childhood educators with necessary education about EDCs.

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, EDCs, pre-service teachers, awareness, exposure-preventing behavior, educational need

문명화 Myunghwa Moon

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 17-31, 2020

This study aimed to confirm the mediating effect of family interaction in the relationship between the mothers marital satisfaction and her children’s peer interaction. To this end, the responses of 1,158 mothers with six-year-old children were analyzed from the 2014 data of the Panel Study on Korean Children conducted by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. The results of this study showed the following: First, the mother’s marital satisfaction has a direct and significant effect on family interaction, and family interaction has a direct and significant effect on children’s peer interaction. The mother’s marital satisfaction had no direct effect on the children’s peer interaction. Second, the mother’s marital satisfaction had an indirect significant effect on the children’s peer interaction through family interaction, and the significance of the mediating effect was verified. In other words, the higher the mother’s marital satisfaction was, the higher the family interaction was, and it was found to have a positive effect on the children’s peer interaction in educational institutions. The results of this study are meaningful in confirming the importance of family interaction and confirming that the marital satisfaction perceived by mothers has an influence on the children’s peer interactions through environmental and emotional parenting factors such as interactions among families.

mother’s marital satisfaction, family interaction, peer interaction

임민영 Minyeong Lim , 이정민 Jungmin Lee , 이강이 Kangyi Lee

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 33-56, 2020

This study takes a qualitative approach to examine the nature of writing, drawing, and multimodality in young children’s draw and write journals. To do so, a thematic analysis was performed on 710 journals of 20 five-year-old children. Analysis of the journals revealed the children as beginning writers, mature painters, and promising multimodalists. As beginning writers, they showed improvement in narrative structure and the development of perspective on self and others. As mature painters, they demonstrated distinct styles in the patterns of plot and the features of characters by gender. As promising multimodalists, we find roles and types in children’s use of multimodality. From these results, we conclude that the children made draw and write journals as active meaning constructors. This conclusion suggests that the draw and write journal is not only a tool to develop writing, but also an educational method to cultivate multimodal literacy. We expect this study will provide academic insight and practical implications for the representation of children’s personal narratives and collaborations in writings and drawings.

active meaning constructors, draw and write journal, experience representation, qualitative research, thematic analysis

방효국 Hyokook Bang , 민가혜 Gahye Min

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 57-75, 2020

This study explored the psychological and emotional changes and growth processes felt by unprepared fathers through the experiences of men who became fathers due to premarital pregnancies. The collected data were analyzed using case study methods to understand the external and internal changes of the participants and understand the essential meaning of experiences as unprepared fathers in accordance with the context (e.g., pregnancy before marriage, preparation for childbirth, childbirth, child rearing). As a result, of four major themes arose: complex feeling of pregnancy, confrontation as an unprepared father, a child greeted with guilt, and fatherhood like two sides of the same coin. The results of this study are expected to provide meaningful implications for premarital pregnancy families and the development of father education programs.

premarital pregnancy, child’s father, experience

최수연 Suyun Choi

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 77-99, 2020

This study investigates materiality in early childhood education (ECE) history from a new materialist perspective by reviewing primary and secondary sources of pioneers to reveal their values toward the materiality in terms of object-based and sensory play/learning. This research employs a historical approach and provides an integrative literature review to reconceptualize the meaning of play and embodied learning in today’s ECE. I trace the materiality in the ECE pioneers’ philosophies from Plato to Patty Smith Hill and analyze insights from and limitations of their ideas about materiality from a new materialist perspective. I also suggest possible implications for researchers and educators.

materiality, sensory learning, object-based learning, play, historical approach

김태연 Taeyeon Kim

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 101-114, 2020

This study aims to uncover the perception and effort of early childhood educational sites for growing creative talent for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Seventy-one teachers from kindergartens and childcare centers were surveyed on the topic of “creativity education.” Based on the survey results, focus group interviews with eight experts were conducted. The results show that, first, kindergartens and childcare teachers considered children’s creativity of important educational value, but were not familiar with most creativity education methods. The main problems were the lack of information on new educational methods and the limitation of human resources and material environments at the centers. Second, it was considered necessary to expand the concept of children’s creativity as viewed by the childcare educational site. Children’s creativity should be assessed by “cause” than its “result.” A minimum of knowledge and experience can lead to creative ideas for problem-solving, and hence a certain level of intelligence is essential for creativity development. Third, it is important that teachers be clearly aware the children’s creativity and form a creative and acceptable classroom atmosphere. I expect this study to have implications for the development of creative talents in child studies and early childhood education.

childcare teacher, creativity education, early childhood, fourth industrial revolution, kindergarten teacher

이지영 Jiyoung Lee

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 115-133, 2020

This study examined the multicultural understanding and attitudes of immigrant children and their classmates in kindergarten. It observed and interviewed twenty-three children and one teacher in a class. The study found that the children's multicultural understanding was solidified and expanded through interaction with classmates. This process showed that the children recalled, shared, and added to their multicultural understanding. The children presented multicultural attitudes such as an inquisitive attitude, a favorable attitude, and a limited attitude. This study suggested the need for antibias education against identity stereotypes, an environment where children can share their multicultural understanding, and the use of multicultural children's bicultural experiences as cultural resources to enhance children's multicultural awareness.

immigrant children, multicultural understanding, multicultural attitude, multicultural education, multicultural children

이성주 Seongjoo Lee , 성영실 Youngsil Sung , 최우수 Woosoo Choi

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 135-159, 2020

This study aimed to identify teachers’ perception of young children’s happiness by concept mapping. A total of 16 early childhood teachers were selected as participants. They categorized and rated their own thoughts on the focus question. Based on this, multidimensional scale analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were conducted. The results were as follows. First, 42 final statements were generated as early childhood teachers' perception for young children’s happiness, and these were divided into two dimensions: interpersonal relations-young child individual, and external factors-internal factors through multidimensional scale analysis. In addition, through cluster analysis, they were classified into five groups: “happiness to feel together,” “happiness through play,” “joy and happiness of activities,” “happiness from freedom,” and “joy and happiness of achievement.” Second, as for the fitness for each group, “happiness to feel together” showed the highest goodness of fit, and the statements “when you play as much as you want to be free” and “when you feel loved by mother and father” showed high goodness of fit. The results of this study may provide implications for the direction of teacher education and the practice of effective education for the enhancement of young children’s happiness.

happiness, young children, early childhood teachers, concept mapping

손은애 Eunae Son

DOI: Vol.26(No.2) 161-183, 2020

This study utilizes Michel Foucault’s “genealogy of knowledge” to investigate the shifts in the discourses of early childhood education (ECE); it retraces modern views of children and key concepts of modern ECE philosophy such as child-centeredness and developmentally appropriate practices. Examining the current paradigm shifts in the field, this study provides implications and suggestions for early childhood teacher education. The results are as follows: Although paradigm shifts in the field affected logical systems or people’s perspectives on children and education, conventional philosophers’ ideological foundations were not entirely denied. Along with the modern shifts, the field was developed based on a scientific foundation that focused on children. Postmodernism reveals social inequality and injustice through interpreting intrinsic assumptions in the modern view of children and key concepts in the field’s discourses. The field’s historical trend of inclining to scientific studies of children psychology and development tends to obstruct early childhood educators’ broader field of vision in socio-cultural contexts. As social factors, paradigms, and the educational field have inseparable relationships, teacher education programs need to provide broader views on education such as sociological or political perspectives on ECE. Thus, pre-service early childhood teachers will get a comprehensive understanding of educational phenomena with consideration of socio-cultural contexts and construct their stances on education.

paradigm shift, early childhood teacher education, discourse of early childhood education, child-centeredness, developmentally appropriate practices