유아 창의성 교육을 위한 블렌디드 액션러닝 기반 교사교육에 참여한 교사의 경험

Abstract

This study tried to explore the experiences of six teachers in the process of organizing and progressing the blended action learning (BAL)-based teacher training for early childhood creativity education (ECCE). The purpose of the study is to show a practical example of the BAL-based teacher training for ECCE, by introducing the subject of creativity education and applying the BAL as a method of teacher training.

In order to accomplish research purpose, two research questions were made, as follows: First, how to organize the BAL-based teacher training program? Second, what were teacher’s experiences as participants of the BAL-based teacher training for ECCE?

In order to answer these questions, first of all, the teacher education program was constructed from examining precedent studies about creativity, early childhood creativity, teacher training for creativity, action learning, blended learning, and blended action learning and extracting implications. First to forth sessions, in detail, were designed for helping teachers appreciate the question concerning the ECCE through simple lectures, questions and discussion, or sharing of experiences regarding the education and teaching methods about creativity and early childhood creativity. In following fourth to tenth sessions, the programs, based on the BAL, were organized to make the participants learn by a process of rotated and repeated courses, which configured with clarification of the problems and deduction of the solutions, scheme and action for field application, and reflection and assessment about ECCE. The teacher training was proceeded offline for 2～3 hours at fortnightly, and online café system was used as a supplementary source for insufficient learning activity and data in offline program. In other words, the participants could discuss the solution of the practical question about the ECCE, give each other feedback on their own solution, and share the reflection of experiences they had after practical application in online café system. There were overall 10 sessions, and the program was operated after workday during the semester. Second, the BAL-base teacher training for ECCE, which was designed in this research study, was applied to 6 teachers from child care center and kindergarten who interested in ECCE (April 2017 to July 2017). For analyzing the experiences of the teachers participated in BAL-based the teacher training for ECCE, qualitative analysis, which inductively derives the subject from depth coding process after segmenting and open coding by collecting the text data: recordings, individual interviews, reflection journals, and activity proposals of the participants in the training, and reading the data and transcripts, was used. The 6 teachers showed development by getting the common subject, creativity, extending the understanding of creativity with conversation and discussion, and practicing and reflecting the ECCE in the field. First, the teachers closed the distance on creativity in “meeting the creativity”, starting from the voluntary interest and demand in creativity, reflecting their own perception of it, and grasping the various perspective of sundry scholars about it. Also, the extension of understanding creativity made teachers discover creativities of early childhood they didn’t beforetime and review their classes. Second, “learning the creativity” gave the participant the experiences of identifying the fresh-looking materials in classroom, taking lessons from conversation with other teachers, and studying with researchers via the extended understanding of creativity. Third, the teachers, in “practicing the creativity education”, tried to connect the theory and practice and overcome the difficulties in process of it. In addition, they could revise the curriculum of ECCE and challenge new teaching methods. Finally, in “practicing, reflecting, and developing”, the repetitive process in the BAL-based the teacher training for ECCE of the reflecting their teaching, analyzing the cause of failure together, and searching and practicing the solution inspired the teachers with confidence in their ECCE. Moreover, those were the process of becoming teachers, who consistently consider and practice the ECCE, and growing together. This study organized the BAL-based the teacher training for ECCE and introduced the process of learning the subject of creativity together, practicing the ECCE in field, and reflecting the education. The teachers participated in this research study could reconcile theory and practice for ECCE, recognize the role of teacher, and experiencing change and growth during the reflection and practice. Therefore, this study have thematic and methodological meaning in regard to introducing the subject of ECCE to the teacher education and applying the BAL to the method of the education.