영아교사로서의 삶에 대한 교사인식 연구 = A Study of Teacher Recognition on Life As an Infant Teacher

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to shed the light on the lives of infant teachers, who are the most important human resources in the field of infant care, based on their stories about their experience in teaching infant classes. The rewarding experiences of the infant teachers are expected to result in joyful experiences of the infants in their care.

For this, study questions were established as follows.
First, 'What do infant teachers find rewarding and enjoyable?'
Second, 'What are the difficulties faced by infant teachers?'
Third, 'What is desired by infant teachers?'

In order to achieve the study goals, in-depth interviews with 30 teachers in charge of the infant classes at 19 day care centers located in K city, North Gyeongsang Province, were conducted as one of the qualitative research methods.

Study findings are as follows.
First, with respect to the aspects that infant teachers find rewarding and enjoyable, there were four types of rewarding feelings: the first rewarding feeling felt in relationship with infants, that is to say, a rewarding feeling when observing the positive changes in the infants, a sense of satisfaction from developing a stable bond and attachment with the infants, and the second rewarding feeling felt in relationship with parents, that is to say, a rewarding feeling when developing a cooperative ties with the parents, and the third rewarding feeling felt in a working condition, that is to say, a sense of joy resulting from an improved working environment, a rewarding feeling resulting from good relationships with colleagues, and the fourth rewarding feeling felt in personal living, that is to say, a sense of satisfaction from their individual circumstances as an infant teacher, a sense of joy through growth as a teacher.

Second, the interviewees were found to face the following four types of difficulties: the first type of difficulties felt as infants teacher, that is to say, difficulty in communicating with the infants in their care and instructing the infants in class, a sense of burden felt when giving safety instructions, and the second type of difficulties felt in parents relationship, that is to say, unreasonable demand and mistrust of parents, and the third type of difficulties felt in a working environment, that is to say, the physical challenges of a care-provider, a sense of burden in trying to handle multiple situations occurring simultaneously, lack of social awareness, and the fourth type of difficulties felt in the personal life, that is to say, difficulties as an unmarried female teacher, and difficulties from their individual situations.

Third, there were four desires indicated by the interviewees: educational support to enhance their teaching expertise, adjustment of teacher-infant ratio, improvement of working conditions (working hours, wages, welfare) and a change in the public perception of teachers as a specialized profession.

The results of this study showed a need for institutions and society to provide various types of support and cooperation to the teachers, and a need to improve the professional expertise of teachers through education and training and to establish a value system. Also, it was found necessary to change the public perception to ensure that the infant teachers' role as care-providers is regarded as that of a professional, and that it is essential for infant teachers to feel a sense of vocation and value as the rewarding and joyful experience of the teachers arise from a sense of duty. The findings also showed hardships were present along with the rewarding and joyful feelings experienced by the teachers. There has been an increasing number of infant teachers with a more positive perception of their occupation compared to the past, when many assumed that teaching infants was a tough job. This is regarded to have resulted from a combination of policy support and the active efforts made by the infant teachers themselves.
The implication of this study is that although the treatment of childcare teachers has gradually been improving through policy changes, there are still many areas requiring improvement through the introduction of new policies.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 서론 1
• 1. 연구의 필요성 및 목적 1
• 2. 연구문제 5
• 3. 용어의 정의 5
• Ⅱ. 이론적 배경 6
• 1. 영아보육의 필요성 및 중요성 6
• 2. 보육교사 8
• 3. 선행연구고찰 12
• Ⅲ. 연구방법 18
• 1. 연구 참여자 18
• 2. 자료 수집 방법 20
• 3. 자료 분석 22
• Ⅳ. 연구결과 24
• 1. 영아교사로서의 보람과 즐거움 24
• 1) 영아와의 관계에서의 보람 24
• 2) 부모와의 관계에서의 보람 27
• 3) 근무환경 개선으로 인한 즐거움 29
• 4) 동료와의 관계 속에서의 보람 30
• 5) 개인적 삶에서의 보람 32
• 2. 영아교사로서의 어려움 35
• 1) 영아와의 관계에서의 어려움 35
• 2) 부모와의 관계에서의 어려움 40
• 3) 근무환경에서의 어려움 44
• 4) 사회적 인식 부족의 어려움 46
• 5) 개인적 삶에서의 어려움 47
• 3. 영아교사로서의 바램 50
• 1) 교사의 전문성 향상을 위한 교육적 지원 50
• 2) 영아 대 교사 비율의 조정 51
• 3) 근무조건(근무시간, 임금, 복지)의 향상 53
• 4) 전문직으로서의 교사에 대한 인식 변화 56
• Ⅴ. 논의 및 결론 59
• 참고 문헌 70
• 부 록 77