Studies on the value, attitude, human right consciousness and sensitivity of childcare teachers who firsthand handle with young children might be carried out in priority, together with exploratory studies on whether childcare teachers perceive young c...
Studies on the value, attitude, human right consciousness and sensitivity of childcare teachers who firsthand handle with young children might be carried out in priority, together with exploratory studies on whether childcare teachers perceive young children as independent holders of human rights. In this vein, this study examined the relationship between childcare teachers’ human right consciousness and sensitivity and their perception of young child abuse. For this, following study questions were established:
Study question 1. ‘what is the correlation between childcare teachers’ human right consciousness and sensitivity and their perception of young child abuse?’
Study question 2. ‘what is the effect of childcare teachers’ human right consciousness on their perception of young child abuse?’
Study question 3. ‘what is the effect of childcare teachers’ sensitivity on their perception of young child abuse?’
A questionnaire survey of 441 childcare teachers working at national/public, private and workplace childcare centers in Gangseo-gu, Yangcheon-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul was carried out. In order to analyze study subjects’ demographic features, frequency and percentage were calculated. In order to verify the reliability of study tools, Cronbach’s ɑ, an internal consistency coefficient of items, was calculated. In order to examine the correlation between childcare teachers’ human right consciousness and sensitivity and their perception of young child abuse, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient was worked out. And in order to analyze the effect of childcare teachers’ human right consciousness and sensitivity on their perception of young child abuse, multiple regression analysis was carried out.
Study findings are as follows:
First, all the sub-variables of childcare teachers’ human right consciousness presented significantly positive correlations with their perception of young child abuse. And all the sub-variables of positive sensibility, a sub-variable of childcare teachers’ sensitivity, presented significantly positive correlations with their perception of young child abuse. And there were significantly negative correlations between positive and negative sensitivity.
Second, childcare teachers’ human right consciousness was significantly related to their perception of young child abuse. And childcare teachers’ human right consciousness had influence upon their perception of young child abuse. Childcare teachers’ human right consciousness predicted their perception of young child abuse by 26.0%. Among sub-variables of human right consciousness, the influence of ‘perception of human right conception (t=8.820, p<.001)’, ‘judgment of human right value (t=6.506, p<.001)’ and ‘whether or not taking action to protect human rights (t=4.701, p<.001)’ was statistically significant.
Third, childcare teachers’ sensitivity was significantly related to their perception of young child abuse. And childcare teachers’ sensitivity had influence upon their perception of young child abuse. Among sub-variables of positive sensitivity, the influence of ‘warmth (t=2.848, p<.001)’, ‘activeness (t=7.080, p<.001)’ and ‘emotionality (t=5.030, p<.001)’ was statistically significant. In addition, among sub-variables of negative sensitivity, the influence of ‘aggressiveness (t=-5.646, p<.001)’ and ‘indifference (t=-2.421, p<.05) was statistically significant.