• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.53-62
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• 2020

Play areas of childcare facility capable of stimulating the interests of children is extremely important. However, Childcare facility play areas in Korea are often placed in 'leftover' spaces due to institutional inadequacies. As a result, unlike the diverse play areas found in other countries, play areas in Korea have a standard appearance. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the specific causes of the physical differences in the childcare facility play areas of Korea and other countries. This study compared regulations, handbooks and guidelines and examined case studies of childcare facility play areas outside of Korea. Five institutional-level differences related to play areas between countries were identified as a result of this analysis. Suggestions for improvement at the institutional-level were proposed to each of the identified categories. This study focuses on the play areas of childcare facility and suggests directions for the improvement of play areas that are both institutionally and physically realistic.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.9-16
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• 2020

The trend emphasizes children-oriented, play-oriented ecological education programs for children's ecological education. And most of these nature -friendly and eco-friendly education takes place outdoors. Therefore, outdoor space planning is important in childcare facilities. This case study aims to analyze the actual conditions of outdoor spaces in daycare centers and to provide standard data for outdoor space planning. In order to provide basic data on the improvement direction and planning standards of outdoor spaces, this present study conducted the composition, utilization status and related problems of outdoor spaces for nature -friendly ecological education in childcare facilities. Accordingly, outdoor space planning for ecological education should consider outdoor space characteristics such as free and easy accessibility between indoor and outdoor spaces, openness of space, flexibility, dynamic/static space, and nature affinity. Therefore, for an ecological education environment, children should be able to freely approach nature and play in the natural environment without any restrictions and artificial controls. Also, in urban areas, natural environment such as parks and open spaces should be considered as outdoor play spaces for children.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.41-57
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderate effect of the physical environmental-level between infant teachers' positive play beliefs and teacher-infant interaction. Methods: The subjects of this study were 483 teachers in charge of one-year-old and two-year-old infants in child care centers located in metropolitan areas. The data were collected by asking the teachers to respond to a questionnaire and the data collected were analyzed through correlation and hierarchical multi- regression analysis. Results: First, the positive play beliefs of the infant teacher, the physical environment level, and the teacher-infant interaction showed significant proportional correlations. Second, the physical environment level moderated the influence of the teacher's positive play beliefs on teacher-infant interaction. In particular, results showed that functional interior space configuration, outdoor playground composition and facilities among the sub-variables of the physical environment level had a moderating effect. Conclusion/Implications: The results of this study show that teachers with positive play beliefs have positive teacher-infant interaction when there is sufficient space available for infants and teachers. This indicates that the human and physical environments of child care centers can promote teacher-child interaction.