자유선택활동에서 유아의 선택의 의미 = The Significance of Choice in Free-Choice Activities

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Using the ethnographic inquiry methods of participant observation, in-depth interviews and collected documentation, this research investigates young children`s choice of play during free-choice activity time and analyzes the situational context of free-choice play in terms of its educational significance. Subjects were three year old children from three kindergarten classrooms. Analysis reveals that those children who had considerable experience in choosing and planning for an activity on their own demonstrated more self-regulatory behavior and more engaged participation in the activity they chose than did children with less experience. The situational context of such free-choice play was highly correlated with three factors: the child`s inner spontaneity, support from the teacher and the physical environment of the classroom. The implications of this study are as follows. First, teachers need to develop strategies for assisting those children who have difficulty in spontaneously choosing their play activities. One such strategy might be to help the children form peer relationships. This strategy and all such strategies would involve observing and carefully assessing children`s needs and individual characteristics. The second implication is that young children need lots of guided opportunities in making decisions and planning the steps they will use during their free choice activity. Lastly, the study makes clear that teachers must prepare a variety of free-choice activities from which to choose. The choices offered an individual child should reflect the teachers careful assessment of that child`s needs, interests and capabilities. To insure maximum educational values for each choice, all of the activities presented to the child as possible choices should be in a well-structured and safe physical environment.