유아교사의 공감능력 및 교사-유아 상호작용과 유아 또래놀이 상호작용 간의 구조적 관계 분석

Abstract

Objectives To set the empathic ability of early childhood teachers, which affects young children's peer play interactions, as an independent variable and teacher-child interaction as a mediating variable, and to analyze the structural relationship between the variables.
 Methods A survey was conducted targeting 91 early childhood teachers and 343 5-year-old children located in S City, G Province, K City, and J Province to confirm the structural relationship between variables related to children's peer play interaction, and the collected data conducted path analysis using structural equations with PASW 24.0 and AMOS 18.0.
 Results As a result of confirming the structural relationship according to the research question, first, there is a positive correlation between the independent variable, the early childhood teacher's empathy ability, and the mediating variable, teacher-child interaction, and the independent variable, the early childhood teacher's empathy ability, the mediating variable, teacher-child interaction. Among children's peer play interactions, there was a positive correlation with the dependent variable ‘play interaction’, a negative correlation with ‘play disruption’, and no correlation with ‘play interruption’. Secondly, The influence of this dependent variable on children's peer play interaction was confirmed to have a larger indirect effect than a direct effect when mediated by teacher-infant interaction. In addition, it was confirmed that the early childhood teacher's empathy ability showed only a direct effect on teacher-child interaction, and that the mediating variable, teacher-child interaction, also had a direct effect on the dependent variable, children's peer play interaction.
 Conclusions Although the early childhood teacher's empathy ability is significant as a variable that affects children's peer play interactions, it can be predicted that teacher-child interaction is a variable that has a more meaningful impact. This suggests that re-education of teacher-infant interaction that can be practically used in the field is necessary to improve the quality of children's peer play interactions.