• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.229-242
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• 2008

This study examined foodservice management performance in child-care centers and suggests ways in which meal service quality can be improved. Questionnaires were distributed to 51 child-care facilities. The majority of respondents were facility directors (dietitians) and their facility type was tax-paid (92.2%). The dietitian response rate was 51.0%, and the majority (96.2%) were hired with co-management status, visiting a facility once a week (76.0%). Only 52.1% of the facilities had menu planning by a dietitian, and improvements were needed in terms of planning menus with standardized recipes, especially for infant meals. The monthly food cost per child was 47,394 won, and the labor cost for a co-management dietitian was 3,670 won per child, indicating 21.8% and 1.8% of the tuition fee, respectively. Other necessary improvements included: more reliable food purchasing management, securing additional foodservice equipment, and better sanitation management. In addition, respondents rated the following as requirements to ensure high quality meal service: 'modernized foodservice equipment and facilities', 'government financial support', and 'information on nutrition and foodservice management provided by dietitians'. Based on the study results, the following are recommendations for improving meal service quality in child-care centers: Dietitian placement should be extended to facilities of over 50-capacity in addition to their current placement in facilities of over 100-capacity, and co-management dietitians should have their control span restricted to two facilities instead of five. Finally, nationwide nutrition support plans and nutrition education programs should be developed and implemented by dietitians, and their roles should be extended to foodservice mangers as well as nutrition teachers.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.577-586
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• 2011

This study was carried out to investigate food service management practices in various operation types of child care center in Gyeonggi area of Korea, and to provide basic information for improving food service management policies at child care centers. Self-administrated questionnaires were collected from 102 child care center directors. The statistical analysis was completed using SPSS ver. 18.0 program. Approximately 97.1% of the directors were women. The number of total children were difference in public, private and home care centers respectively (p<0.001), and time of operation was significantly (p<0.01). Only 8.9% of the centers employed a dietitian, whereas 92.5% of the centers employed cook or assistant cook, thus food service was not managed by professionals in most centers. All of the centers had been self-operated and meals were prepared in a conventional manner. In approximately 89.2% of the centers servings snacks twice a day. Menu planner of the centers which have no dietitian was the child care information center (47.5%) or the director (34.7%). In most centers, the directors was also purchasing manager and 36.0% of the center purchased food every day. These results indicated that food service management guidelines need to be established by the child care center type with the government control and financial support. We recommended that they furnish the efficient food service program for food service management.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.527-539
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate the satisfaction and current conditions of playground environment in kindergartens and child care centers in Daejeon. Data were collected from 112 directors of kindergartens and child care centers through a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using of frequency, percentage, mean, reliability analysis, crosstab, independent sample t-test, multiple regression. The major results showed the following. 1) 89.3% of subjects(100.0% of kindergartens and 79.7% of child care centers) have a playground. Most of playgrounds were located in the front yard. The playground's play equipments/areas were usually composed of slides, sand play areas, benches, empty playing fields, swings. Flowers/plants, shrubs were most of the natural factors of the playgrounds. 2) Slides and swimming pools of play equipments/areas were rated highest on the satisfaction level. Grass, flowers/plants, and shrubs as the natural factors of the playgrounds, were rated highest on the satisfaction level. 3) The playground was divided into 5 categories, which were made of manufactured play equipment settings, manipulative settings, rest settings, natural settings, adventure settings. Manufactured play equipment settings were rated highest on the satisfaction level. 4) Among 5 categories of the playground's play area, manufactured play equipment settings showed valid variables to playground's satisfaction level.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.57-84
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of early childhood educators about the role of middle managers in daycare centers. Methods: A survey was conducted with 254 educators including directors, middle managers, and teachers working at daycare centers located in Jeonbuk. An interview was then conducted with 18 educators working at six different centers. IPA for the survey and thematic analysis were performed for the interview contents. Results: The results show that all the participants perceived that communication among managers, daycare staff, and related organizations should be improved most urgently; in the interview, middle managers as a solver of the uncomfortable relationship between directors and teachers and as a linker between generations were emphasized. Also, the directors and middle managers recognized that the skills to have as middle managers needed to be improved most urgently, and the teachers recognized nothing needed to be improved urgently. Different emphasis for the need of supports for environment and systems was made in the interview by each position. Conclusion/Implications: The study discussed the necessity of the official position of middle managers in a daycare center to promote the professionalism of early childhood educators.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.17-36
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between structural and process difficulties experienced by childcare center directors in operating childcare centers and to explore characteristics of childcare centers that affect the path. Methods: The participants were 309 childcare center directors, and data were collected through a mobile survey method. Descriptive statistics and SEM were implemented using SPSS and AMOS. Results: Unsupported childcare centers and capacity aggravated structural difficulties in operation of childcare centers, while the number of enrolled children and the enrollment rate reduced such difficulties that were reported by directors. In the case of labor cost supported centers and childcare centers with a high enrollment rate reported a high level of process difficulties. Because the effect of structural difficulties on process difficulties were significant, the indirect influences of structural difficulties that mediated the influences of general background characteristics on process difficulties were also significant. Conclusion/Implications: This study shows that difficulties in operating childcare centers could be considered in terms of structure and process aspects. This study is also meaningful in that it suggests that the characteristics of individual childcare centers should be emphasized in a customized way to alleviate such difficulties.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.39-51
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• 2016

This pilot study examined programs for early childhood education and care in three Chinese cities. The samples for this study were one university-based kindergarten, one private kindergarten (rural area), and one public kindergarten (urban area). Six types of instruments were used to assess early childhood education and care services regarding quality matters. Most questions asked were open-ended; consequently, the interview answers by kindergarten directors or teachers (as well as observations made by the researcher) formed the basis for collecting the data. Quality components for each program were determined by a comparison method. The comparison allowed the researcher to understand the range of quality education and care available as well as the variability of existing kindergarten programs in China. The findings of the investigation revealed important information on; (a) demographic information (fees, class hours, total weeks of class, vacation, number of children and staff, class size, and teacher-child ratio) (b) teacher characteristics, (c) health practices, (d) safety practices, (e) work environment, (f) physical settings, (g) play materials, (h) parent involvement, (i) nutrition, (j) daily schedule. Implications within the Chinese context for quality practices and issues to further develop and strengthen early childhood education and care systems are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.37-78
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• 2013

This study aimed to analyze the operating expenses and to estimate the standard child-care service cost in family childcare centers. The subjects were 442 family childcare centers in Korea and the data were analyzed with descriptive statistics by using SPSS 18.0 programs. The main results were as follows. Firstly, as the result of operating expenses analyses of family childcare centers, monthly average staff wages were 5,120,000 won and average general operating costs per month were 5,114,170 won. Therefore, monthly average operating costs of family childcare centers were totally 10,234,170 won. Secondly, the four standard child care service costs were calculated on the basis of the directors holding an additional teacher's position concurrently, whether the additional cooking staff were employed or not, and the type of lunch/snack materials.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.129-137
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to understand the present condition about the space planning of the nursing rooms at the child care center in U.S.A. The researchers investigated the physical conditions of the centers through sketching, measurement, taking pictures and observation. On the other hand, to understand the user's needs, the interview to the directors of the centers was performed. As a result, the followings were proposed. The grouping of children depending upon the age has to be more classified according to the development period. And the guideline for the space areas has to be improved to a larger standard than present regulation. And the most impressive characteristic of the center in U.S.A. is the functional space design. The space such as toilet, washing room, kitchenet are well organized into the nursing rooms for children. Various ideas for arranging above functions in the small nursing rooms have to be developed in Korea. And the dynamic space arrangement of nursing room is also impressive. The material of the floor has to be considered variously for the comfort of the children.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.75-89
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to understand the physical accessibility of the child care centers for disabled children in Japan. Fifteen centers located in Tokyo, Japan were surveyed through sketching, measuring, taking pictures, and observation. To understand the user's needs. the directors of the centers were interviewed. As a result,the followings suggestions were proposed. First, when the entrance of the center is close to the road, careful design for the entrance area is required to secure the safety of children using wheelchairs. If possible, a fence or door between the corridor and entrance is necessary. Second, most aspects of accessibility are pretty well designed. But a canopy over the entrance area is required to escape the rain. Third, a wider corridor space is desirable for storing and driving wheelchairs and for special equipment for the disabled. Forth, because the emergency exits were installed but not used, the new and safer emergency exits should be installed. These results will be a good case reference for developing Korean design guidelines for the children with disabilities.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.11-16
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to verify the effect of the multicultural competence of the daycare center directors on their organizational effectiveness. A total of 359 child-care center directors studying at C university in Seoul were randomly selected and interviewed. The study results were as follows: a) with respect to job-satisfaction, multicultural skill had a positive influence, multicultural knowledge had a negative influence, and multicultural perception and attitude had no significant influence on job satisfaction; b) with respect to organizational adaptation, multicultural perception and attitude and multicultural skill had positive influences, but multicultural knowledge found to have a negative influence; c) with respective to organizational commitment, multicultural perception and attitude and multicultural skill had positive influences, but multicultural knowledge had no significant influence. The results implicate the fact that there need to be more practical programs for child-care center directors in which they can facilitate their multicultural perceptions, attitudes and develop practical skills.