보육교사들의 장기근속에 대한 이야기

Abstract

The study aims to explore in-depth perspectives on long-term service through teachers' stories on long-term service for teachers who have been in daycare centers for more than 7 years. It is expected that the research will provide basic data to find practical long-term support plans for teachers in child care sites and promote the quality of child care sites and child care services. The research questions for this are as follows. First, what was the main cause of the long-term service? Second, What are the accomplishment and difficulties you have experienced as a long-term teacher? Participants in this study were eight teachers who had experience in turnover and have been working at daycare centers for more than 7 years. For the study, eight participants were met twice individually from March 6 to April 7, 2023 to conduct in-depth interviews for 40-60 minutes per session. Group interviews were also conducted in two groups for 40 minutes per group through zoom (Internet video conference) in April 2023 to derive more in-depth and multifaceted opinions. The collected data were analyzed through organizing records, organizing data, and analyzing coding processes for records. Through those steps, the results were derived into three categories and four subcategories related to the main cause to do long-term service, and three categories and seven subcategories related to the accomplishment and difficulties of long-term service. The results of this study are as follows. As a result of analyzing main cause of long-term service through teachers' stories, first, teachers gain the power to do long-term service from people they encounter at work such as fellow teachers, directors, and parents. Second, teachers mentioned that they could work while enjoying the childcare work itself because they could handle the work skillfully. Third, they preferred long-term service due to work advantages that differentiated them from other institutions, such as support for assistant teachers and the use of annual leave according to the number of years of service. Finally, it was found that teachers continue to work at the current institution due to their tendency to dislike change or fear of stress experienced in the adaptation process after changing jobs. The results of long-term service found in the accomplishment and difficulties from teachers' experience of the long-term service are as follows. Teachers recognized themselves as essential to the members of the institution and as contributing to the development of daycare centers. On the other hand, as long-term workers, they were feeling that they have to perform the most tasks, and afraid of the pressure of expecting to do well and of not meeting those expectations. They showed an uncomfortable view as long-term service workers, mentioning that they were not respected as a teacher, demanding fair division of work through coordination of opinions with the head of the institution. In addition, it is said that it will be possible to work longer when there is administrative support such as labor cost support and practical education. Finally, they mentioned that it is valuable as a long-term service teacher when teachers make efforts to be reborn as skilled professionals by themselves. In the stories of these teachers, it was able to understand what factors could sustain long-term service and interpret the perceptions they felt as long-term service workers. In addition, it was able to draw implications for support measures to promote the quality of childcare sites and childcare services. Suggestions for follow-up research are as follows. In order to capture the diverse experiences of teachers, it is necessary to expand the number of research participants and conduct a mixed study in parallel with a survey on long-term service awareness and needs. In addition, it is expected that in-depth research will be conducted by observing the working situation at the same time as in-depth interviews at the institution where long-term teachers work. Finally, research needs to be conducted to develop practical teacher education program for long-term service teachers and to verify its effectiveness.