30년 이상 고경력 국⋅공립 유치원 교사의 교직 생애 경험의 의미

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was to study the life and teaching experiences of high-career kindergarten teachers in national and public kindergartens and explore their meaning.
 Methods To this end, in-depth interviews were conducted for 5 teachers with more than 30 years of experience in national and public kindergartens in Gyeongsangnamdo for two sessions each from early January ~ early April 2023, and additional data were collected through phone calls and messages and the interview data of the research participants were conducted in open coding using the nomadic analysis method. Afterward it was categorized by topic, and the process of research results and interpretation was carried out through an iterative comparison process and an inductive process.
 Results The participants experienced setbacks and conflicts as they began a grueling first-time teaching career without a mentor, but they found it rewarding and grew as teachers. In response to the change from an authoritarian era to an era where individual rights are valued, high-career national and public kindergarten teachers have made efforts to adapt to changes in their relationships, curricula, and educational environment with the people they meet in the educational field, and sometimes their professionalism is shaken. It was also seen that institutional support needed to be provided to overcome problems such as the fall of the teaching authority and the heavy administrative workload.
 Conclusions The teaching life experience and significance of high-career national and public kindergarten teachers is the history of the educational field in Korea, and it was the basis for understanding the field of early childhood education and what kind of efforts and institutional support are needed for the development of kindergarten teachers.