The Effects of a Tea Culture Etiquette Education Program on Cultural Acceptance Competence in Multicultural Young Children Seo Jeongin Advisor: Prof. Han Jongwan Ph.D. Department of International Tea and Coffee Culture Graduate School of Chosun Univer...
The Effects of a Tea Culture Etiquette Education Program on Cultural Acceptance Competence in Multicultural Young Children Seo Jeongin Advisor: Prof. Han Jongwan Ph.D. Department of International Tea and Coffee Culture Graduate School of Chosun University The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated multicultural education program mediated by Korean traditional tea culture and etiquette and to examine its effects on enhancing the cultural acceptance competence of multicultural young children. Three research questions were addressed: (1) what is the structure of the tea culture and etiquette education program for multicultural young children, (2) how do teachers perceive this program, and (3) what effects does the program have on the cultural acceptance competence of multicultural young children. For Research Question 1, the program was developed through a systematic process comprising a literature review, a needs-assessment survey, expert interviews, a pilot study, and content validity verification. The program was aligned with the play- and experience-based Nuri Curriculum and employed a four-phase instructional model (introduction, development, wrap-up, and evaluation). Five teacher roles were delineated: encourager, supporter, demonstrator, evaluator, and environment organizer. The content validity index rated by an expert panel yielded a mean score of 4.64 out of 5.00. For Research Question 2, a survey was administered to 301 teachers at national public kindergartens across 14 metropolitan cities and provinces. Across all domains, an overwhelming majority of respondents selected "agree" or "strongly agree." A limitation of the teacher survey was the regional concentration of respondents, with 67.8% drawn from the Jeonnam province. For Research Question 3, the program was implemented with 17 five-year-old multicultural children (N = 17) at S Kindergarten in J Province over 18 sessions across 18 weeks. A single-group pretest–posttest design was employed. cultural acceptance competence were measured using a five-point rating scale developed by the Korea Youth Activity Promotion Agency (2025), comprising 10 items per domain (maximum score of 50 per domain). Data were analyzed using paired-samples t-tests in SPSS. The results of the paired-samples t-tests revealed statistically significant improvements in all five cultural acceptance competence domains (df = 16, p 〈 .001 for all comparisons). Table 1 presents the detailed results. Table 1 Paired-Samples t-Test Results for cultural acceptance competence Domains (N Specifically, Communication increased from M = 31.94 to M = 43.88 (t = − 6.791, df = 16, p 〈 .001); Social Interaction from M = 32.59 to M = 44.18 (t = −6.384, df = 16, p 〈 .001); Self-Understanding/Self-Esteem from M = 34.35 to M = 44.18 (t = −6.193, df = 16, p 〈 .001); Cultural Understanding/Diversity Acceptance from M = 33.53 to M = 44.65 (t = −7.330, df = 16, p 〈 .001); and Citizenship/Social Norms from M = 32.71 to M = 43.82 (t = −7.171, df = 16, p 〈 .001). Synthesizing these results, it was confirmed that the tea culture etiquette education program, which utilizes traditional Korean tea culture Competency Domain Pre-test M Post-test M t df p Communication 31.94 43.88 -6.791 16 〈 .001 Social Interaction 32.59 44.18 -6.384 16 〈 .001 Self-Understanding/ Self-Esteem 34.35 44.18 -6.193 16 〈 .001 Cultural Understanding/ Diversity Acceptance 33.53 44.65 -7.330 16 〈 .001 Citizenship/ Social Norms 32.71 43.82 -7.171 16 〈 .001 and etiquette, is effective in enhancing five cultural acceptance competence of multicultural young children—communication, social interaction, self-understanding/self-esteem, cultural understanding/acceptance of diversity, and citizenship/social norms—and that it has value as a practical alternative for early childhood multicultural education. In addition, in-service teachers perceived the necessity and appropriateness of the program positively, indicating a high level of applicability in educational practice. Several limitations should be noted. First, the teacher survey was geographically concentrated, with 67.8% of respondents from the Jeonnam province, thereby limiting the national representativeness of the findings. Second, the single-group pretest–posttest design lacked a control group, making it difficult to rule out maturation effects and other confounding variables. Future research should employ quasi-experimental or randomized controlled designs with nationally representative teacher samples to strengthen causal inferences. Keywords: multicultural young children, cultural acceptance competence, tea culture etiquette education program, communication, social interaction, self-understanding/self-esteem, cultural understanding/acceptance of diversity, citizenship/social norms