The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of teacher efficacy and teacher disposition upon teacher-young child relations and young child's sociality development, in order to understand the importance of teacher-young child relations and i...
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of teacher efficacy and teacher disposition upon teacher-young child relations and young child's sociality development, in order to understand the importance of teacher-young child relations and improve teaching ability for the development of young child's sociality development. For this, following study questions were established:
First, 'What is the influence of teacher efficacy and teacher disposition upon teacher-young child relations?'
Second, 'What is the influence of teacher efficacy and teacher disposition upon young child's sociality development?'
Study subjects were class teachers who were in charge of children of 3, 4 and 5 years of age at 20 kindergartens in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. Study tool consisted of 4 parts: (1) the first part was to measure teacher's general efficacy and personal efficacy; (2) the second part was to measure teacher disposition; (3) the third part was to measure teacher-young child relations; and (4) the fourth part was to measure the young child's sociality development. Respondents for the above four parts of study tool were class teachers at edu-care facilities.
A questionnaire survey of 90 teachers and 450 young children was carried out by mails over the period from September 13 (Monday) to 24 (Friday), 2010. Responses were collected from 79 teachers and 395 young children. Among them, data of 75 teachers and 378 young children were used in study analysis, except data of 4 teachers and 17 young children of which reliability was problematic.
Data were analyzed with the SPSSWIN 12.0 program and the minimal significant level for verification was set up at a=.05. Following statistical techniques were used in this study: (1) in order to verify the reliability of study tool, Cronbach's alpha was calculated for internal consistency; (2) in order to examine the relationship between teacher efficacy and teacher disposition and young child's sociality, correlation analysis was carried out; (3) in order to examine the influence of teacher efficacy and teacher disposition upon teacher-young child relations and young child's sociality development, hierarchical multiple regression analysis was carried out. The order of inputting variables was teacher efficacy first and teacher disposition next.
Study findings are as follows:
1. The influence of teacher efficacy and teacher disposition upon teacher-young child relations,
First, as for the sub-factors that had influence upon intimacy, when such sub-factors of teacher efficacy as general efficacy and personal efficacy were higher, the intimacy of teacher-young child relations was higher. In addition, when such sub-factors of teacher disposition as activity level, approachableness, flexibility, mood and regularity were higher, the intimacy of teacher-young child relations was higher.
Second, as for the sub-factors that had influence upon conflicts, when such a sub-factor of teacher efficacy as personal efficacy was higher, the conflict of teacher-young child relations was lower. In addition, when such sub-factors of teacher disposition as approachableness, flexibility and mood were higher, the conflict of teacher-young child relations was lower.
2. The influence of teacher efficacy and teacher disposition upon young child's sociality development.
First, as for the sub-factors that had influence upon intimacy, when such sub-factors of teacher efficacy as general efficacy and personal efficacy and such sub-factors of teacher disposition as flexibility, mood and concentration were higher, the intimacy of teacher-young child relations was higher.
Second, as for the sub-factors that had influence upon positivity, when such sub-factors of teacher efficacy as general efficacy and personal efficacy and such sub-factors of teacher disposition as approachableness and mood were higher, positivity was higher. In addition, when flexibility was lower, positivity was higher.
Third, as for the sub-factors that had influence upon expressivity, when such sub-factors of teacher efficacy as general efficacy and personal efficacy and such sub-factors of teacher disposition as activity level and approachableness were higher, young child's expressivity―one of sub-factors of young child's sociality―was higher. In addition, when mood and concentration were lower, expressivity was higher.