유아의 놀이 및 놀이중심 교육과정에 대한 유치원 교사의 인식

Abstract

Play is the most effective tool for children in terms of educational and developmental aspects. In the light of this, the importance of play is continuously emphasized in early childhood education and recently revised nuri curriculum is focused on young children’s play. The revised nuri curriculum emphasizes children’s play and the connection to learning, and teachers need to play a role as a supporter. To conduct the revised play-centered curriculum, teachers need to understand about it so that they can be ready to develop the force in execution. Thus, this study will examine the perception of kindergarten teachers who are conducting the revised nuri curriculum by listening their story about play and play-centered curriculum. The research questions for the purpose are as follows: First, what is the perception of kindergarten teachers about young children’s play? Second, what is the perception of kindergarten teachers about play-centered curriculum? Participants for this study were 8 kindergarten teachers who are conducting the revised nuri curriculum and with teaching experiences over 3 years. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with three participants at a time. The collected data were analyzed to identify the main keywords and central words following themes. According to the analysis, eleven subtopics were categorized under the two themes as ‘kindergarten teachers’ perception about young childrne’s play’ and ‘kindergarten teachers’ perception about play-based curriculum. Results for this study are as follows. First, kindergarten teachers conceptualized about young children’s play as ‘play is ambiguous’ and ‘play is dynamic.’ They mentioned that the immersion and freedness is important in young children’s play. Also, they perceived that the play space to effectively support young children’s play and teachers’ proper intervention are necessary. Second, kindergarten teachers conceptualized about play-centered curriculum as ‘the curriculum’s subject is a young child.‘ Kindergarten teachers perceived their role to conduct play-based curriculum as a person to deepen children’s play and play observer. Also, about conducting the play-based curriculum, they showed the fearness to trial and error as well as anticipation of potentialities. The results of this study provide the practical implication about the force in execution of play-based curriculum in early childhood education field by identifying kindergarten teachers’ understanding about young children’s play and play-based curriculum.