This researcher emphasized a teacher's prescribing for education by seeing the educational environment as the instrumental function or the expedient function in order to maximize efficiency, thereby having had a significance in being conducive to ove...
This researcher emphasized a teacher's prescribing for education by seeing the educational environment as the instrumental function or the expedient function in order to maximize efficiency, thereby having had a significance in being conducive to overcoming the restrictive understanding about a meaning of experience in children who live at this place. To do this, this researcher selected the medium as the quest for a significance that children's secret places have at kindergarten. Through this study, it was regarded as an opportunity in understanding their experience at kindergarten more deeply and multi-dimensionally. In order to analyze the significance that children's secret places have at kindergarten, the problems were elicited such as first, in which situation do children at kindergarten search for a secret place? Second, what about children's behavior and conversation, which were shown at the secret place made by children at kindergarten?
To do this, this researcher performed the non-participant observation totalling over 103 times from October 2006 to September 2007, targeting the class with fully 5 years old(28 children) at K kindergarten(private kindergarten) which is located in Seoul. In order to reduce an error that may be caused when collecting materials only with non-participant observation, the method of the unstructured interview out of triangulation, which was suggested by Denzin(1978), was additionally used. By categorizing and analyzing materials collected here through referring to the grounded theory in Strauss and Cobin(1998), the following research contents were described and interpreted.
Children's secret places at kindergarten were existing, and were being made mainly during the free-play period. These children formed the secret place at the secluded site where others, namely, teachers or peer children are difficult to see easily. The specific locations were being indicated in 1) a gate which is located on the left side of a classroom, namely, Nabi-class gate for going upstairs, and the children's individual cabinet (having a height level with an adult's chest), 2) the cornered space in language dominance which is situated on the right side of the classroom, 3) washroom and toilet room, 4) the inner space at the surface of a wall that is concealed by the cabinet and another teaching-tool cabinet, 5) the space between play-material chests that were displayed to distinguish coat hanger and doll-house dominance, 6) doll-house dominance, 7) the corner by the stairs connected to the 2nd floor and the outdoor playground, 8) under a desk within a classroom.
Given examining of the findings according to the research problems, these are as follows.
1. Situation that children come to search for a secret place at kindergarten
Children were searching for a secret place in relation to the teacher's intervention process, class rule, and educational activity suggested by the teacher.
First, children sought for the secret place when the dissatisfaction was caused in the process of teacher's intervention given the occurrence of a conflict between peers. When the conflict between children comes to occur often at Nabi class, the conflict was well finished mostly by the teacher. In any case at this time, there was a case that children have discontent with the teacher's intervention, and at this time, children sought for a secret place.
Second, children at Nabi class sought for a secret place when desiring to do activity contrary to the class rule. Children sought for a secret place even by violating rules when bringing the play material or object brought from home to kindergarten, and introducing it to peers or playing together, when playing in the play space that is not allowed at Nabi class, when having a wrestling bout or doing gun-play, when playing knife battle, namely, doing prohibited play. When the teacher observed that children searched for a secret place and behaved contrary to rule, the teacher could be observed to block this behavior.
Third, when doing another activity without participating in the educational activity suggested by the teacher, a secret place was sought. During the free-play period, the teacher suggested the activities that children need to perform obligatorily, namely, activity of preparing the reading card after reading in the language dominance, activity of making a birthday card collectively to a friend, and activity a part that is suggested by the art dominance, and at this time, children sought for a secret place. By the way, this was the activity that is being equally applied to the whole of kindergarten, and even at Nabi class, this activity was being continued consistently. Given the activity that children should perform compulsorily, it was difficult to observe granting a right of selecting activities to children.
2. Children's behaviors and conversations that were indicated at a secret place made by children at kindergarten
Children were showing the secret behaviors and conversations, which were not revealed at the open place, at the secret place made by them.
First, at a secret place, children were showing behavior of keeping a secret similar to adults. In other words, children indicated behavior of keeping a secret by allowing the permitted others to join, or showed behavior of making the linguistic promise connected to keeping secret with others who share the secret place, and of avoiding other's approach and sight through marking the secret-place domain. Also, when the behaviors and conversations, which were being shared at the secret place, came to be caught by others, children also showed behavior of not expressing what actually happened in the situation, and of being silent.
Second, children showed behavior that is connected to solidarity in friendship relations with peers. Here, children planned a play after returning home, or also planned an event play for the outdoor play. Children also expressed intimacy by having the medium of the play material brought from home. By allowing only close friend's coming and going, children showed behavior of solidifying mutual friendship. Through this, children could be discovered to sustain or further strengthen their friendship relations.
Third, children were expressing the interests different from the main-subject activity that is progressed within class. Children shared a conversation related to a secret part of the body, or also shared the behavior and conversation of drinking alcohol and smoking conducted by adults.
Fourth, children were secretly expressing the emotion that was experienced in the family relations. Children could be seen in the behavior of secretly expressing the displeased emotion experienced by reasons such as being scolded roundly by their mother, due to the mother's being not at home (being distressed at mother's going to a different place), due to quarreling with an elder brother, due to desiring to see their mother who lives away, due to disliking a father(parents quarrelled with each other, and the angry emotion at the father was expressed to the researcher). Thus, they were expressing a discontented emotion, which they experience outside the kindergarten, by having objects as a medium, or directly to the peers.
Fifth, children showed behavior that gives the individual significance to the specific object. Children showed behaviors of giving the individual significance of a conflict with an elder brother to a robot, of yearning for parents to a hairpin, of the mind to desire to live with their mother together to an accessory, of mother's role to the doll, and of gratitude for parents to the carnation
Last, the children showed the behavior related to an individual's rest. Children showed behavior of searching and entering a secret place alone even while participating in an educational activity at kindergarten. Here, children could be observed behaviors of not playing while observing other children's play, and of touching their own body or looking at the ceiling while lying on the floor without allowing peers to participate in this place.
Based on the above findings, the synthetic conclusions can be made as follows.
First, the children's secret places at kindergarten can be said to be a place that allows children to actually experience the meaning of a secret, which exists in the relevance of being human. Children at kindergarten could be observed to perceive a fact that is possible when taking precautions against another person when the secret experience is formed even if being a child. This point infers that even children previously understand to some extent about the property of a secret, which is the relative concept about human relations.
Second, children's secret places are a site of making discoveries that there is difference between the teacher's expectation of children's experience and the children's desire to experience. Children were having a secret experience of not showing superficially to the other by avoiding the eyes of the teacher or peers. Namely, through the research, the experience in different dimensions could be discovered to be formed from children's experience that is expected by the teacher through the formal curriculum that is performed at kindergarten.
Third, the children's secret places can be said to be a space that privacy can be respected. Children were expressing behavior of giving the individual significance to specific objects. Children were doing the behavior connected to individual rest at the secret place, and were secretly expressing the individual emotion that was experienced in the family relations. These matters made it conceivable that children probably require a private space through having a secret place, even if not having the security of a positively reinforced private place from the kindergarten.
Fourth, within the class that the formal curriculum is conducted, it can be seen to be a place that has an opportunity to exercise their own free choice. Children were secretly expressing an interest different from the main-subject activity that is undertaken formally. Children performed other activities at the secret place without participating in the educational activity that the teacher suggested children to implement obligatorily. And, children were making another selection when desiring to behave contrary to class rule. This aspect seems to indicate insufficiency only with our formal educational activities.
Fifth, in the children's human relations, children's secret places can be seen to be a place that has a significance to catalyze confidence or eases conflict. Through this place, children were here solidifying the friendship relations or dissolving a discomfortable sense from the teacher, and expressing the displeased experience connected to their family.
It was said that, in this aspect, children's secret places are seen to be a medium that allows children to experience another important existential significance to life that is reflected on the outside. Entering modern times, the school, the government, and the nation, in which media, popular value, and system existence, have made more exposed and open public places. And, by exerting unspoken power here and then exercising pressure upon individual life and upon all the matters performed by community, the individual's private place is being infringed(Manen & Levering, 1996). Given seeing with this ground, children's experience in their secret places is seen to function as an important education in a sense that creates new private life in the institutional life in the place of education. They can be seen to be creating the secluded actual existence in the base of reality, which is revealed diversely and explicitly in the existence of school life while experiencing a secret when striving to keep their inside at the educational institution, when being difficult to have acceptance of other people, or when feeling any boundaries(wall) that exists between self and the world to which self belongs(Manen & Levering, 1996). At this time, the teacher has a necessity to change this into the positive awareness even if the formation of a secret place, which is related to their secret experience, happened to be observed, and seem not to have necessity of urging direct interception or its extinction. And, if this phenomenon was observed, the teacher is thought to have necessity of regarding it as an opportunity of collecting the reference materials on what the voice is that the teacher failed to be heard directly from them, which difference there is between their experience and the teacher's perception, and what its educational proper function is that the formal curriculum can overlook. Furthermore, their experience is seen to become a medium that allows a fact to be perceived that there is multi-dimensional characteristics more than what is revealed visually. Namely, the teacher will need to recognize that the significant experience may exist for maturity of their sense of existence even if in their experience that seems to have no relationship with the formal curriculum during a daily lesson at kindergarten.
In this aspect, the teacher's role is aimed to be suggested in order to understand more broadly children's experience at kindergarten.
First, the teacher needs to be able to recognize that the children's world of experience, which is revealed superficially, may be uncertain rather than definite.
Second, the teacher should be able to have more interest in children's individual life. That is because the experience of education meaningful to an individual may be restricted if the teacher comes to do educational activities with focusing on the children's group.
Third , the reconsideration is needed on the application range and the level of teacher's control at the class.