The purpose of this study is to find the actual situation as a whole how the science education in kindergarten is operating in the field and to find what differences exist according to teacher's academic background and career.
For this purpose, the f...
The purpose of this study is to find the actual situation as a whole how the science education in kindergarten is operating in the field and to find what differences exist according to teacher's academic background and career.
For this purpose, the following research questions were set;
1. What is the purpose of the science education in operating science education in Kindergarten and does it differ according to teacher's academic background and career?
2. What are the contents of the science education in operating science education in Kindergarten and do they differ according to teacher's academic background and career?
3. What are the teaching methods and teacher's role in operating science education in Kindergarten and do they differ according to teacher's academic background and career?
4. What is the configuration of science education's environment in operating science education in Kindergarten and does it differ according to teacher's academic background and career?
5. What is the way of assessment of the science education in operating science education in Kindergarten and does it differ according to teacher's academic background and career?
The survey was conducted with questionaries for "A Study on the Reality of Operating Science Education in Kindergarten" distributed to 400 teachers(250 teachers of public kindergartens & 150 teachers of private kindergartens) randomly selected from teachers in public & private kindergartens located in Chung-Buk Province. The questionnaires were developed by the researcher through the study of literatures, the preliminary research, and verification of validity level of the contents.
For the overall analysis of the actual operating conditions of science education by kindergarten teachers, the percentage and frequency were used as and(Chi-Square) test was used to analyze the difference in the actual operating conditions according to teacher's academic background and career.
The findings of this study are as follows:
First, as the purpose of education, the kindergarten teachers showed the high response of 51.3% to a question, 'the attitude of quest for things and the natural environment with interest and curiosity.' Next, they showed responses: 'basic knowledge about things around'(21.3%) and 'ability and attitude of problem-solving' (17.3%). No significant difference appeared among the different groups according to teacher's academic background and career.
Second, for the contents of science education, the kindergarten teachers showed the highest response of 74.2% to 'living theme' and the next highest of 14.8% to 'interest-centric.' The teachers who graduated from vocational colleges showed response of 'interest-centric.' and the teachers whose experience is ranged between 1 and 5 years responded to 'living theme-centric'(61.5%) and 'interest-centric.' (23.0%) The survey showed that the contents about 'cherishing life things and the natural environment' were more treated than any others and the sub-contents about 'learning about objects and materials' were least treated among the sub-contents of 'developing the basic scientific abilities.'
Third, as for the method of establishing teaching plan for the science education, the kindergarten teachers responded the highest of 53.5% to 'based on the publication data of the Ministry of Education,' and the next highest to 'based on the commercialized products of the science programs'(14.8%). The teachers whose experience is less than 5 years highly responded to 'based on the commercialized products of the science programs'(21.4%)(X² =31.681, df= 18, p< .05). No significant difference appeared among the different groups according to teacher's academic background. And as for the number of science education class operated, they responded the highest of 72.5 % to 'once a week.' And it showed that the teachers whose academic background is more than college graduate level and career experience is more than 6 years operated twice or three times a week'( =13.427, df= 6, p< .05). As for the type of group activities for science education, the result showed 39.1% for 'small group activities' and 30.8% for 'large group activities,' and 25.7% for 'free choice activities.' The teachers whose academic background was the graduate of vocational colleges responded 59.0% for 'large group activities' and those who graduated from colleges responded 45.9% for 'free choice activities'( =64.576, df= 9, p< .05). The teachers whose career experience is less than 5 years responded 49.6% for 'large group activities,' and those whose career experience is more than 16 years responded 42.9% for 'free choice activities' ( =49.451, df= 9, p< .05). And as for the teaching method of science education in the kindergartens, the experimental approach(38.0%) and the integrated approach(37.3%) were operated in a similar level. In case of the teachers of the college graduates, the integrated approach appeared to be the highest( =17.699, df= 8, p< .05), and in case of the teachers whose experience was less than 10 years, the experimental approach and in case of more than 11 years, the integrated approach appeared to be operating. And as for the most important role of teachers in the kindergartens science education, 'environmental provider,' who motivated scientific curiosity and interest, showed a high response(58.7%). The teachers who were the graduates from graduate schools responded highly to 'environment provider'(46.9%), and 'activity promoter'(42.0%)(x²=18.806, df=6, p< .05). Also in the case of more than 11 years' experience, 'activity promoter' received high response( =30.191, df=9, p< .05). As for the operating time of science education in the kindergartens, they responded the highest to 'once a week,' although no difference appeared among the different groups. The teachers appeared mainly to take a role of environment provider through the integrated approach.
Fourth, As for the configuration of science education environment by the kindergarten teachers, 'per living theme' showed the highest response(57.3%) for the time of changing the texts and tools for the science education. The teachers whose academic background was the graduate of vocational colleges highly responded 21.1% for 'once a month' and 17.1% for 'always placed'(X² =20.364, df= 8, p< .05), however no significant difference among the different groups according to career experience. In addition, although no significant difference among the different groups in preparation of the texts and tools for science education, it appeared that the texts and tools and their environmental configurations are changed per living themes once a week.
Fifth, as for the kindergarten teacher's assessment of science education, 'the assessment of suitability for the development of infants' appeared to receive the highest response of 48.6%, and then 'the assessment for the selection and organizing the contents and activities of science education' was the second highest(21.7%), and 'the assessment for adequacy and utilization of the material used' was the next(20.3%). And as for the evaluation of children's science education activities, 'children's end-products and portfolio' received the highest response (55.4%), and 'behavioral observation' as the second highest(28.6%). The teachers whose academic background was the graduate of vocational colleges appeared to take the method of behavioral observation'(X² = 27.410, df = 8, p <.05), and especially for less than five years' experiences, 'children's end-products and portfolio'(39.4%) and 'behavioral observation'(37.5%) had the highest responses(X² = 25.349, df = 8, p <.05). No significant difference appeared among the groups in the evaluation period of the children's activities.
Sixth, as for the difficulties of kindergarten teachers in science education operation, 'lack of proper texts and tools for the science education activities' received the highest response(36.6%), and it was followed by 'lack of teacher's professional knowledge' (33.3%), 'lack of training experience'(17.9%), and 'too many numbers of children a class'(17.9%). The teachers whose academic background was the graduate of vocational colleges appeared to highly response to 'too many numbers of children a class' and those who graduated from colleges appeared to respond highly to 'lack of proper texts and tools for the science education activities'(X² =32.695, df=8, p< .05). If less than five years experience, 'lack of proper texts and tools for the science education activities' received response of 29.2%, and 'too many numbers of children a class' received 25.5%, and 'lack of training experience in science education' received 23.6%. had the highest response. If less than 6-10 years, 'the lack of specialized knowledge about science education' received the response of 34.1%, and for more than 11 years' experiences, 'lack of proper texts and tools for the science education activities' received the highest response(X² =28.772, df=12, p< .05).
The result shows that although the kindergarten teachers recognize the purpose of science education correctly, however they are operating the science education by changing the texts and tools per the living themes and configuring the contents once a week based on the publication data of the Ministry of Education due to lack of proper texts and tools for science education, and lack of professional knowledge and training for the science education.