• Human Ecology Research
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.105-120
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• 2020

This study helps infant teachers practice a constructivism-based teacher education program that supports infant mathematical inquiry activities and examines improvements in mathematical teaching knowledge, mathematical teaching initiatives, mathematical interaction, constructivism belief and mathematical teaching efficacy. Twenty two experiment group infant teachers and twenty two comparison group infant teachers were chosen at two workforce educare centers. The experiment group infant teachers participated in 18 sessions of a constructivism teacher training program for 8 weeks, but the comparison group infant teachers did not take part in the program. Pretest and post-tests were implemented for the mathematical teaching knowledge, mathematical teaching initiatives, mathematical interactions, constructivism belief and mathematical teaching efficacy in the experiment group. Independent sample t-test and ANCOVA were tested using Windows SPSS statistics 21.0. The homogeneity test for the experiment and comparison group revealed significant differences. ANCOVA was carried out after the pretest score was controlled as a co-variance. Significant differences were indicated in mathematical teaching knowledge, mathematical teaching initiative, mathematical interaction, constructivism belief and mathematical teaching efficacy. The results indicated that a constructivism-based teacher education program to support infant mathematical inquiry activities influenced improvements in mathematical teaching knowledge, mathematical teaching initiative, mathematical interaction, constructivism belief and mathematical teaching efficacy. This study proved the effects of the program based on constructivism theory content for the knowledge, skills and attitude about infant teaching of mathematical initiatives and practiced a program of exploration, investigation, application and assessment for infant teachers. The results can help infant teachers teach mathematical exploration activities and help activate infant mathematical exploration activities.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.129-140
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• 2019

Objective: Teacher's professionalism means the ability to apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes related to child care effectively to carry out the child care process. Depending on the professionalism of the teacher, the teacher-infant interaction may be affected and the job satisfaction may be different. The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of perceived level of infant teachers' professionalism and to investigate the effect of professionalism of infant teachers on teacher-infant interaction and teacher's job satisfaction. In addition, through this study, it is aimed to help the infant teachers themselves to measure their own abilities and qualities and to develop individual growth by recognizing the importance of infant teacher's professionalism in the daycare center. Methods: For this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 329 infant teachers who were in charge of the ages between 0 and 2 years. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS / WIN 24.0 program. First, the mean and standard deviation of the subfactors of the infant teachers were determined in order to know the level of professionalism, teacher-infant interaction, In order to investigate the relationship between the variables, we conducted a Pearson correlation analysis. Finally, Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of the teacher's professionalism on teacher-infant interaction and subfactors, and teacher job satisfaction and subfactors. Results: Teacher professionalism was found to have a positive effect on teacher-infant interaction, and caring interaction and teacher-parent-community relations were found to affect teacher-infant interaction. In addition, teacher professionalism had a positive effect on job satisfaction, and child development, curriculum, and teacher-parent-community relations were found to affect job satisfaction. Conclusion/Implications: Influence of teacher-infant interaction and teacher job satisfaction is different according to subfactors of teacher's professionalism. In particular, this suggests that it is necessary to consider ways to selectively raise the level of teacher professionalism according to the situation of infant teachers in each region.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.71-90
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to identify the influences which were child care center infant teacher's coaching competency, director management competency, institutional resources, and parent expectation and participation that have on infant-teacher relationships. The subjects in this study were 379 infant teachers working in child care centers across the country. A director management competency questionnaire, institutional resources questionnaire, parent expectation and participation questionnaire, infant-teacher relationships questionnaire, and coaching competency questionnaire were used for this study. For the research analysis, frequency, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ coefficient, and Pearson's correlation were calculated and regression analysis were conducted. The results are as follows. Firstly, the influence of director management competency on infant-teacher relationships is completely mediated through infant teacher's coaching competency. Secondly, the influence of institutional resources on infant-teacher relationships is completely mediated through infant teacher's coaching competency. Thirdly, the influence of parent expectation and participation on infant-teacher relationships is completely mediated through infant teacher's coaching competency.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.25-41
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of a director's support for coding education perceived by childcare teachers on the participation of teachers in the learning community and the intention to implement coding education. Methods: The participants of this study were 312 early childhood teachers working at daycare centers in Seoul, Gyeong-gi, and In-cheon area. The data were collected through the survey questionnaires and analyzed using a structural model to explore the relationship between variables. Results: Verifying the mediating effect of infant teacher participation in the learning community between a director's support and infant teacher's intention to implement coding education positively mediates the director's support and infant teacher's intention to implement coding education. In particular, it was discovered that the intention to participate in coding-related learning communities had the greatest impact on infant teachers' intentions to implement coding education based on total effectiveness. Conclusion/Implications: The above analysis results suggest that in order to enhance the intention of infant teachers to implement coding education, it is necessary to support the learning community related to coding education and encourage participation from infant teachers.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.189-206
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• 2019

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop and apply a Teacher Learning Community Program in order to improve the specialization of infant daycare center teachers and explore the changes in the learning attitudes of teachers. Methods: To develop the program, the requirements were analyzed by surveying 500 teachers of infant classes. The developed program was provided to 25 infant daycare center teachers for a total of 14 sessions. A total of 75 sets of collected journal writing materials were analyzed qualitatively. Results: First, the Teacher Learning Community Program for infant daycare center teachers was developed. Second, the Teacher Learning Community Program was found to bring a shift in the learning attitudes among the teachers of infant classes towards reflective and communal learning. Conclusion/Implications: The Teacher Learning Community Program brought a shift in the learning attitude towards reflective and communal learning. Thus, the Teacher Learning Community Program can be applied as a teacher education program for improvement of the specialization of infant daycare center teachers.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.87-98
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• 2022

This study examined the relationships between teacher variables that improve the efficacy of the play teaching of infants and toddlers following a play-oriented curriculum. The participants were 287 infant teachers. The results were as follows. First, the independent variables had a significant effect on the efficacy of play teaching, teacher-infant interaction, and classroom environment. Second, the mediating effects of teacher-infant interaction and classroom environment on the effect of independent variables on the efficacy of play teaching were as follows. The interaction mediating effect between professionalism and play belief was significant, but teaching creativity was found to be significant. In the mediating effect of the classroom environment, expertise, play belief, and teaching creativity were found to be significant. Third, both teacher-infant interaction and the multimedia effect of the classroom environment were statistically significant in mediating the effect of independent variables on the efficacy of play teaching. These results provide basic data on the necessity for teacher education to explore ways to improve teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching play and their teaching skills.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.73-89
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• 2024

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of communication and cooperation between teachers and parents on infant care. Specifically, this study explored the direct effect of teacher-parent partnership on teacher-infant interactions and the indirect effect through teacher sensitivity. Methods: The participants of this study were 216 teachers in charge of infant classes at child care centers located in Gyeonggi-do. They responded to questionnaires on teacher-parent partnership, their sensitivity, and teacher-infant interactions. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: First, teacher-parent partnership did not have a direct impact on teacher-infant interactions. Second, teacher-parent partnership indirectly influenced teacher-infant interactions through teacher sensitivity. In other words, a high level of teacher-parent partnership was associated with a high level of sensitivity, subsequently resulting in the provision of high-quality interactions for infants. Conclusion/Implications: This study confirmed the role of teacher sensitivity as a mechanism to explain how teacher-parent partnership is linked to teacher-child interactions. The results emphasize the importance of communication and cooperation between teachers and parents in enhancing teachers' sensitivity and, ultimately, providing high-quality child care to infants.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.41-57
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderate effect of the physical environmental-level between infant teachers' positive play beliefs and teacher-infant interaction. Methods: The subjects of this study were 483 teachers in charge of one-year-old and two-year-old infants in child care centers located in metropolitan areas. The data were collected by asking the teachers to respond to a questionnaire and the data collected were analyzed through correlation and hierarchical multi- regression analysis. Results: First, the positive play beliefs of the infant teacher, the physical environment level, and the teacher-infant interaction showed significant proportional correlations. Second, the physical environment level moderated the influence of the teacher's positive play beliefs on teacher-infant interaction. In particular, results showed that functional interior space configuration, outdoor playground composition and facilities among the sub-variables of the physical environment level had a moderating effect. Conclusion/Implications: The results of this study show that teachers with positive play beliefs have positive teacher-infant interaction when there is sufficient space available for infants and teachers. This indicates that the human and physical environments of child care centers can promote teacher-child interaction.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.203-225
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• 2018

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the mediated effect of teacher-infant relationships between teacher efficacy and infant's adjustment to child care centers. Methods: A total of 137 child care teachers that lived in Gwangju and Jeollanamdo participated in this study. They were asked to answer two survey questionnaires for two infants. The data were analyzed using analysis of frequency, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: The main results are as follows. First, teacher-infant relationships partially mediated the relationship between teacher efficacy and two sub-factors (prosocial behavior and day work adjustment) of adjustment in child care centers. Unlikely as it was, several sub-factors such as positive emotion, peer adaptation, and self-strength were fully mediated by teacher-infant relationships. Conclusion: The present study suggests that it is necessary to improve teacher-infant relationships with teacher efficacy in order to improve infants' adaptation to daycare. In addition, it should be understood that the structural relationship of the influence factors is different depending on the sub-factors of the child care adjustment.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.381-390
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• 2013

This research is to verify the effects of infant massage on teacher-infant interaction and nursery adaptation. The subjects were 20 infants younger than one year of age, and the experimental group and the control group were randomly assigned. I developed an infant massage activity and trained an infant teacher to do it with 30-hours workshop. The massage was accomplished a total of 18 times, 3 times a week for 6 weeks. The research tools employed are the Caregiver Interaction Scale(CIS) which was developed by Arnett(1989) and employed by Kim(2009) and the Preschool Adjustment Questionaire(PAQ) which was employed by Yang(2005). They were modified and supplemented for this study to serve as a teacher rating scale. The collected data was analyzed after the experiment service through the t-verification. The results showed that the experimental group that took the infant massage scored higher than the control group in both teacher-infant interaction and nursery adaptation. Therefore, it demonstrated that infant massage has an effect on positive and permissive interaction in teacher-infant interaction and nursery adaptation.