The Effects of Childcare Centers Accreditation on Teachers' Utilization of Activity Materials and Interaction with Children

보육시설 평가인증이 보육교사의 보육활동 자료활용 및 유아와의 상호작용에 미치는 영향

Recently, many childcare centers have actively participated in assessment accreditation. 115 teachers who did participate or did not participate in the accreditation process completed a structured questionnaire, We examined differences between teachers in accredited centers and in non-accredited centers in terms of their individual characteristics, work environment, the utilization of activity materials and the interaction with children. In addition, using the regression model, we analyzed the effects of several characteristics of teachers and childcare center's accreditation on the utilization of activity materials as well as the interactions between teachers and children. The main results of this study are as follows. First, overall, the level of work environment of non-accredited centers was lower than that of accredited centers. Second, compared with teachers in non-accredited centers, teachers in accredited centers used more and higher levels of activity materials, and demonstrated a higher level of interactions with children. Third, including accreditation, use of helpers had a significant effect on the interactions between teacher and children. Forth, not only the accreditation system, but also work hours, work experience, children's age and use of helpers had a significant effect on using materials in childcare activities. Conclusively, understanding the experience of teachers in accredited centers is important hi terms of facilitating the quality of activities and the interactions with children.