영유아 교사의 유보통합 ‘학습공동체’ 사례연구 = A Case Study of an Infant Class Teachers’ ‘Learning Community’ for the Integration of Early Childhood Education and Care

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This case study explores the experiences of infant class teachers participating in a ‘learning community’ focused on the integration of early childhood education and care. One teacher from a detached kindergarten, two from private kindergartens, two from public daycare centers, and one from a workplace childcare center in Gyeonggi-do participated in the research. After explaining the purpose of this study to the research participants and obtaining their informed consent, data were collected over approximately 6 months, from October 2024 through March 2025. The results of the research revealed that the infant class teachers shared various knowledge and information regarding the desirable direction of integrated early childhood education and care, forming a shared value centered on promoting infants’ happiness. Through the learning community, they recognized and embraced differences between daycare centers and kindergartens by ‘understanding each other through differences. Experiences such as attending academic conferences and institutes on integration deepened their understanding of the curriculum of care as practical teacher knowledge. Finally, the teachers demonstrated more professional behavior and support in play facilitation to realize the ‘happiness of infants’. This study is significant in that it suggests multifaceted insights into the direction for the integration of early childhood education and care to make infants happy, identified through teachers’ experiences of a learning community.