• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.5-28
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• 2014

South Korea has strengthened the eligibility criteria for childcare teachers while amending the Infant Care Act in January 2005 in order to improve the quality of childcare services. Since then, there was a change in the legal basis related to childcare staff such as introduction of national certification of childcare center directors, name change, strengthened qualification standards for directors and teachers, training system maintenance and repair, strengthened credit standards of teachers' care related qualification courses, and maintenance provisions of continuing education nursery teacher qualifications. And that is because childcare staff are closely related to the quality of childcare, and a very important variable who has direct influence on infants. This study, through literature research and analysis, describes the status and development direction of childcare staff. This study covers three main aspects. First, the relevant historical flow was reviewed and the concepts of the role, expertise, and legal status of childcare staff were investigated. Second, staff training institutions, emissions certification, employment, and the status of treatment were investigated. Third, development direction for the training system, eligibility criteria, continuing education and its training system, and treatment improvement were proposed.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.65-79
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• 2023

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the importance and performance of the evaluation indicators of the childcare center evaluation system among childcare center staff and to find ways to improve the evaluation indicators of the childcare center evaluation system. Methods: A survey was conducted among 296 directors and teachers of childcare centers located in Busan and Gyeongnam. The collected data were analyzed using a paired sample t-test and an IPA analysis with SPSS 23.0 and Excel 2010. Results: There was a difference between the perceived importance and performance of childcare staff for the overall evaluation indicators, and significant differences were found in all areas and nine evaluation indicators except for "childcare environment and operation management". According to the IPA analysis, Health and Safety fell into quadrant 1, Staff into quadrant 2, and Child Care Process, Interaction, Child Care Environment, and Operations into quadrant 3. This distribution resulted in 6 indicators in quadrant 1, 4 in quadrant 2, 7 in quadrant 3, and 1 in quadrant 4. Conclusion/Implications: This study provides essential data for exploring ways to enhance the evaluation indicators of the childcare center evaluation system, with the goal of improving the quality of childcare services. Additionally, it offers policy implications.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.129-145
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• 2018

The main subjects of this study is to study the qualification and in-service education policies of the child care center staff and to suggest a desirable direction of policy. The main subjects of this study are child care staff policies and related laws. The results of this study shows that the philosophy, developmental psychology and some social backgrounds are the stantards required when designating the child care curriculum and essential subjects for attaining class 2 childcare teacher certificates. This study arises the needs of adjustment of the fields of the childcare curriculum contents, change between mandatory and elective subjects, and renewal of the subject title. The standards for competency in provision of childcare services of National Competency Standard(NCS) has to be considered in the adjustment process. The integrated teacher's certificate for teachers training system is needed in the reserve integration process. The systematization of the data and operating system is needed to manage the target of education efficiently, in order to develop childcare center staff's strengthening ability and professionalism. For in-service education, the diversification of the main body of operation, a periodical monitoring of the content, administrative and financial support are needed. Voluntary participation of in-service education, and the childcare center staffs professional development policy making supported by the government and parents is needed.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.137-152
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the childcare environment on childcare efficacy of childcare teachers. Methods: The participants in the study were 274 childcare teachers working at childcare centers. The childcare environment was divided into physical environment and the work support environment. Results: The results of this study are as follows. First, there was a significant difference in childcare efficacy depending on the age and career of the childcare teacher. Second, the childcare environment of the childcare center showed a static correlation with the childcare efficacy of the childcare teacher in both the physical environment and the work support environment. Third, the physical environment of the day care center had an affect on child care efficacy. Among the subfactors, furniture for routine care, play and learning had a significant impact. Fourth, the work support environment of the childcare center had an affect on childcare efficacy of the childcare teacher. Among the subfactors, staff interaction and cooperation, and opportunities for professional growth had a significant impact. Conclusion/Implications: In order to enhance childcare efficacy of childcare teachers, a high quality childcare environment should be established.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.26-34
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• 2024

In this study, the food service management levels of cafeterias in childcare facilities were investigated based on the number of meal recipients and the working status of the kitchen staff. The study included 199 childcare facilities nationwide that received food supplies from the food ingredients distribution company, Pulmuone Foodmerce, from 2021 to 2022. The assessment was conducted using 61 inspection items. The analysis revealed that, as the number of meal recipients and kitchen staff members decreased, the documentation of inspection results was less likely to be conducted (P<0.05). Facilities with fewer meal recipients showed less adequate health status checks for kitchen staff, and those with fewer kitchen staff showed insufficient compliance with hygienic clothing (P<0.05). Additionally, facilities with fewer meal recipients showed a higher frequency of lapses in checking the expiration dates of stored ingredients (P<0.05), requiring increased management attention. They also exhibited the absence of internal temperature measurement records during heating processes (P<0.05). Furthermore, facilities with fewer meal recipients demonstrated inadequate maintenance of kitchen facilities (P<0.05). Significantly higher adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels were detected on the hands and cutting boards of the kitchen staff in facilities with fewer meal recipients and fewer kitchen staff (P>0.05). Overall, facilities with fewer meal recipients exhibited insufficient infrastructure management for kitchen operations and inadequate hygiene management. These results are expected to provide foundational data for the selection of national support programs for childcare facilities in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.287-294
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• 2018

Children's food allergies are increasing every year, and the proportion of children who go to childcare centers is also on the rise due to the increase of women's social activities. In this study, the directors of home childcare centers in C city was supposed to investigate the current status of food allergy management and its knowledge, attitude, and practice, and to prepare basic data for safe feeding of children. The study found that there were not many opportunities for teachers and cooking staffs to learn about food allergies compared to the director of childcare center, and that the directors with experience of education are desirable in knowledge, attitude and practice of food allergy management. Therefore, the government should provide education on food allergies by using various contents and media tailored to each level of directors, teacher, and cooking staff, and provide continuous promotion and support to ensure proper management of food allergies in childcare centers.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.691-711
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• 2011

This study examines the preliminary license and approval facilitation standards for improvements in quality for childcare centers focusing on the number of children, building space standards, facilities and equipment, and childcare program. Data from 48 caese was collected from childcare centers nationwide in Korea through a questionnaire and building plan. The first step for starting care licensing is to work out the ages and numbers of children within four or five age ranges. The second step is to work out the number of children as small, medium, or large considering staff to child ratios and building size. The Nnext step is to make a choice about childcare service quality classification as minimum, fair, or good, considering space requirements per child for the building, the classroom and the outdoor playground. The next step is to make a choice of space organization relating to service programs, considering the sleeping and eating area, indoor play area, toilet & washing facilities, classroom layouts such as cluster type, double zone type, single zone type, and others. Also, each room and entrance, office, kitchen, storage, laundry, teacher's area, and chilldren's area, need to be checked for space requirements and performances. The last step is to arrange the childcare program with the building and site plan. In conclusion childcare service quality will get better by upgrading of license regulation especially in minimum space requirements per child, corresponding with an increase in GNP and housing area per person. This is needed for childcare licensing in order to determine the quality level of childcare service.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.864-873
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• 2009

Objectives : This study was to collect data about oral health to develop preschool children' oral health program. Methods : This research was from July 20th to August 20th, 2008 with self-administrated questionnaires by post and e-mail. The response rate was 57.6%(144 of 250). Results : 1. Daycare center provided fruit(64.6%), bread(56.9%), milk(82.6%), yoghurt(47.9%). daycare center tend to provide cariogenic snacks and drinks such as bread, yoghurt. 2. 73.6% of teachers said they reward children with sweets for good behavior. 3. Activities related to oral health was done in daycare center were : children brush their teeth with fluoride toothpaste(79.9%), catering staff receive the education about nutrition(79.2%), children participate in the activities and training related to food(78.5%), using sugary food at a birthday party(77.3%), annual dental health check-up by a dentist(65.3%). 4. The percentages of guiding principles based on documentation in the topic of the oral health were : coping with a situation where a child injured his or her teeth(76.4%), annual dental health checkup by a dentist(72.2%), teachers supervise children's tooth brushing using a fluoride toothpaste(70.8%). 5. Documented guide or course for oral health includes the following; training for coping with tooth damage(76.4%), annual dental health check-up(72.2%), and coaching children to brush their teeth with toothpaste that contains fluoride(70.8%). Conclusions : It is believed that for better children's oral healthcare, childcare teacher should be given a range of in-depth oral health program. Furthermore, through detailed analysis on the documented guide of oral health, cooperation from the associated organization will be required to have the guide placed at the childcare center.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.767-781
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to derive key evaluation indicators to improve the quality of daycare centers by identifying the relationships among the 18 evaluation indicators of the daycare evaluation system using the DEMATEL technique. Methods: In this study, the questionnaires are completed by 17 daycare center directors who have received accreditation of daycare center. They are requested to consider the level of direct influence between two evaluation indicators. A DEMATEL analysis was conducted based on the survey results. Results: The result of the study shows that the most important indicators of daycare center quality are directors leadership, institutional operations and professionalism of staff. Among evaluation areas, educational childcare curriculum & interactions is affected by all areas, and staff area affect all areas. Conclusion: The evaluation areas and indicators of the daycare center are judged to be well-balanced. It is expected that the findings of the key evaluation indicators that should be prioritized among the evaluation indicators will be helpful to those preparing for the evaluation of the daycare center.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.149-166
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine child care center directors' personalities in different types of institutes and teaching experiences. Methods: A cluster random sampling of 236 child care center directors in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do was taken. The participants answered a set of questionnaires measuring child care center directors' personalities. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA analysis, and $Scheff\acute{e}$ test. Results: The results of this study were as follows. First, national and private child care center directors' personalities were rated higher than family child care center directors' personalities. Second, child care center directors with more than of 16 years of experience were rated higher than child care center directors with 6-10 years experience in regards to personality. Conclusion/Implications: Academic and educational systematic support is needed to cultivate the personality of the child care center director, who has to perform various roles for young children, infants, parents, staff, and the community.