The purpose of this study is to explore the practical knowledge and educational significance of teachers based on their experiences of reflecting on and reconstructing observation and documentation within a learning community, in order to support ‘i...
The purpose of this study is to explore the practical knowledge and educational significance of teachers based on their experiences of reflecting on and reconstructing observation and documentation within a learning community, in order to support ‘infant learning through play’ for age-0 class teachers.Research Question: What are the experiences of a learning community for supporting ‘infant learning through play’ for age-0 class teachers? The participating institution of this study is a workplace childcare center located in B-gu, Gyeonggi-do. The research period was conducted for approximately eight months, from April 2025 to November 2025. In the research process, the research plan was established and a literature review was conducted in April 2025; in May, the learning community was formed, participants were selected, and the operation plan for the learning community was established. Research data were collected while operating the learning community for 12 sessions from May 2025 to September 2025. Data collection included transcripts of the learning community and activity materials, photographs and videos of infant play, journals of research participants, teacher meeting minutes, researcher notes, childcare journals, observation logs, and CCMS mobile announcements. In addition, data were collected using online platforms such as ClovaNote, Google Workspace, Zoom, and Webex. For the analysis of the study, as a qualitative research analysis process, the collected data were read repeatedly to identify meanings and analyzed through open coding. Through this process, data were organized and summarized, and similar concepts were categorized to derive major categories. To broaden the scope of understanding by analyzing the selected categories from various angles, a process of reinterpretation was conducted by assigning meaning to the changes in teachers through the learning community. The research results are as follows:First, age-0 class teachers re-recognized infants as active agents of learning through the learning community. In other words, the experience of ‘re-viewing’ infants allowed them to be re-recognized as competent agents of learning rather than immature beings in need of protection.Second, age-0 class teachers expanded their perspectives on reading infant learning through observation and documentation with the views of ‘frequent viewing’ and ‘collaborative viewing’ through the learning community. While existing observation and documentation were procedural acts to check developmental progress, in this study, infant learning was supported through observation and documentation that viewed infant experiences as an ‘event’ and interpreted the meanings within them. Third, age-0 class teachers expanded their interpretation of learning through the practice of understanding and supporting infant learning within the learning community. This process led to the formation of teacher identity, and they began to read infant learning through non-verbal expressions such as gestures, gaze, movement, and vocalization within contexts, moving beyond supporting development. Furthermore, age-0 class teachers implemented a curriculum that supports infant learning and discovered through observation and documentation that infants are active beings who construct play in their own ways while interacting with the environment.This study is significant in that a teacher learning community was actually operated to more deeply understand and support learning through infant play in the field of childcare. For age-0 class teachers, the learning community experience provided an opportunity to interpret infant learning from various perspectives. Additionally, the methods for supporting infant learning were reconstructed centered on infant play through the process of observation and documentation. Furthermore, as agents of implementing the childcare curriculum, teachers reflected on their practices and experienced becoming competent teachers who support infant learning through the experience of creating a curriculum suitable for the field.