Teachers’ Experiences and Needs for Supporting International Kids’ Adaptation to the Childcare Center
AUTHOR : 홍예지,김유미
INFORMATION : page. 185~204 / 2023 Vol.30 No.3
ABSTRACT
The study aims to examine the foreign children's adaptation process to childcare centers and to find a direction to support them. Focus group interviews (FGI) were con-ducted twice using the photo-voice method for seven teachers having experienced in car-ing of foreign children as homeroom teachers at S Childcare Center, a university-affiliated center located in Seoul. The results of the study are as follows. The childcare teachers re-called that they felt difficulties and burdens while recognizing that there was always a need for support in the process of supporting foreign children to adapt to the childcare center, and that they had to spend more attention and time for them. Moreover, the teach-ers repeatedly and continuously provided efforts to communicate with foreign children and their parents, and the children gradually adapted to the childcare center. Furthermore, for future support methods for teachers, the necessity of developing guidelines for pa-rents and teachers for guiding foreign children and expectations for having sufficient sup-port for auxiliary personnel regarding language and play in each class, and support for im-proving teachers' abilities are needed. This study can be used for establishing a system-atic and practical multicultural education program to realize a multicultural society that our society aims for.