Korean early childhood educators' beliefs and best practices : the impact of education, experience, and teaching context

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean early childhood teachers' self-reported beliefs and their relationship to self-reported practices by using Korean translations of research instruments used frequently in the research of teachers' beliefs and practices in the U.S. (Teacher Belief Scale and Instructional Activities Scale). These instruments allowed the researcher to look closely at Korean teachers' strength of endorsement child-development oriented versus a more traditional, teacher-directed or didactic philosophy of practice.
Nine hundred fifty five Korean teachers were invited to participate in this study. All participants were asked to complete a structured Teacher Beliefs Scale, an Instructional Activities Scale, and a Demographic Background Information Questionnaire. Ten additional Korean teachers completed the above questionnaires and were interviewed.
A moderate positive correlation was found between Korean teachers' self-reported beliefs and self-reported practices in this study. Korean teachers' strength of beliefs and practices were significantly impacted by school type (teachers at public schools held stronger beliefs and practices than those in private schools), setting (kindergarten professionals scored higher in both beliefs and practices than those in day care centers), age (older teachers expressed stronger DAP practices than younger), education (those with more education held stronger beliefs; those with four-year college degrees or higher had stronger practices scores than those who held high school or two-year college degrees), and specialized training (professionals with ECE/CD had stronger beliefs and practices than those with non-educational majors).

목차 (Table of Contents)

• ACCEPTANCE PAGE WITH SIGNATURES = ii
• COPYRIGHT PAGE = iii
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS = iv
• ABSTRACT = vi
• TABLE OF CONTENTS = viii
• LIST OF TABLES = xi
• LIST OF FIGURES = xiii
• CHAPTER 1 Introduction = 1
• Korean Teachers' Beliefs = 5
• Rationale = 7
• Theoretical Framework = 10
• CHAPTER 2 Literature Review = 15
• Early Childhood Education in Traditional Korean Society = 15
• Emerging Issues in Early Childhood Education in Korea = 18
• Different Types of Korean Early Childhood Education Programs = 20
• Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs in Korea = 21
• Mediators of Early Childhood Education Teachers' Beliefs and Practices = 23
• CHAPTER 3 Method = 30
• Participants = 33
• Measures = 38
• Procedures = 56
• CHAPTER 4 Results = 61
• Strength of Endorsement of DAP Philosophy = 61
• Effects of Background and Contextual Factors on Beliefs and Practices = 80
• The Consistency Between Self-reported Beliefs and Self-reported Practices 90
• Primary Influences on Practices = 93
• CHAPTER 5 Discussion = 105
• Summary of Results = 105
• The Impact of DAP on Korean Early Childhood Professionals = 106
• Cultural Factors Underlying the Philosophies of Korean ECE Professionals = 110
• Congruence Between Korean Teachers' Beliefs and Practices = 111
• Mediators of DAP Beliefs and Practices = 113
• Primary Influences on Korean ECE Professionals' Practices = 117
• Limitations = 120
• Implications = 121
• REFERENCES = 125
• APPENDICES = 134
• Appendix A Teacher Beliefs Scale = 135
• Appendix B Teacher Beliefs Scale (Korean Translation Version) = 138
• Appendix C Instructional Activities Scale = 147
• Appendix D Instructional Activities Scale (Korean Translation Version) = 150
• Appendix E Demographic Background Information Questionnaire = 154
• Appendix F Demographic Background Information Questionnaire (Korean Translation Version) = 157
• Appendix G Interview Questions and Protocol = 160
• Appendix H Interview Questions (Korean Translation Version) = 163
• Appendix I Study Information Sheet = 165
• Appendix J Study Information Sheet (Korean Translation Version) = 167
• VITA = 170