「2019 개정 누리과정」 모니터링 및 지원방안 연구(Ⅲ)

Abstract

In order for the Revised Nuri Curriculum to be properly settled, it is necessary to monitor how the curriculum is being implemented at kindergartens and childcare centers. In this context, in order to ensure the curriculum to be implemented properly, the Korea Institute of Childcare and Education has planned the "Monitoring and Support Planning of 2019 Revised Nuri Curriculum Research" as a 3 year (2020-2022) project. The present report is the result of the third-year study of the “Monitoring and Support Planning of 2019 Revised Nuri Curriculum”, which evaluates the extent to which field changes have been made according to the direction of innovation in early childhood education, analyzes the policy effect, and based on the results, aims to propose a continuous comprehensive policy support plan.

For this purpose, literature review of Korean and international studies, surveys, and case studies were conducted. Surveys were conducted to delivery system officers, field faculty, and parents. The delivery system survey was conducted to 17 supervisors from 17 local departments of education and 18 Nuri-curriculum related task directors of local Support Centers for Childcare which provide support to childcare centers regarding childcare curriculum operation. The survey of field faculty was conducted to 1,060 directors/vice-directors and 1,068 teachers employed in kindergartens and childcare centers. The parent survey was conducted to 1,000 parents of elementary first graders who experienced the Revised Nuri curriculum while attending a kindergarten or a childcare center. The case study was conducted twice in 4 kindergartens and 4 childcare centers (8 directors and 22 teachers).

The following is a summary of the research results obtained through these research methods.

The Department of Education has had conducted a national level project to enhance the educative power of early childhood education through its “Measures for Early Childhood Innovation” from 2018 to 2020, in order to support the implementation of the kindergarten curriculum. Currently in 2022, as part of the 「National Special Grant Policy Project」 it has been operating the project ‘Future Kindergarten Curriculum Establishment and Operation Support’, along with a project to support the creation of a safe environment for healthy and safe early childhood education, and connective education for bridging education and care, and kindergarten and elementary education. In every local department of education nationwide, a wide range of support projects (supervision of teaching, consultations for Nuri Curriculum implementation, operation of professional learning communities, mentoring, teacher training, selection and operation of demonstrative institutions, selection through contests and sharing of exemplary, development and dissemination of support materials, support for physical environment improvement, provision of play media and materials) have been carried out. The central and local Support Centers for Childcare which are in charge of childcare centers have also been promoting various support projects. The Central Child Care Support Center focuses on providing consultation for childcare curriculum implementation, teacher training, development and dissemination of support materials to support the operation of the Revised Nuri Curriculum. In the local support centers for childcare, the most actively promoted projects in 2021 and 2022 were teacher training (education) and consultation for Nuri Curriculum implementation.

Comprehensively examining the performance of the projects for supporting the proper settlement of the Nuri Curriculum that were carried out over the three years from 2019 to 2021, although each local department of education focused on a different project each year, all 10 projects were actively executed throughout in all local departments. Specifically, the project to ‘support physical environment improvement’ showed continuous expansion. In 2019, 'Class Observation and Feedback', 'Nuri Curriculum Operation Consulting', and 'Demonstrative Institution Selection and Operation' projects were intensively carried out in many local Childcare Support Centers, and since 2020, 'Nuri Curriculum Operation Consulting' and 'teacher training (education)' projects are being carried out steadily in most local centers.

As a result of the survey, parents' expectations for their children's personality and attitude development were most common, followed by ’sociability’ and ‘academic competence’. The directors and teachers reported ‘reactivity’ the highest among the sub-factors of playfulness and ‘spontaneity’ as the lowest. Teachers' awareness of the level of expertise in Nuri Curriculum management was somewhat high, scoring from 3.16 to 3.30 on a 4-point scale. 71.1% of directors and 75.7% of teachers had completed the Revised Nuri Curriculum training. In the case of supervision or consulting, 31.2% of directors and 35.2% of teachers responded that they had experience, and 65.6% of directors and 56.1% of teachers responded that they had experience in learning community. Teachers most frequently participated in internal Self-supervision to enhance their professionalism, and the most desired professional development activity was ‘observation of other institutions’. As a result of examining the operating conditions of the Revised Nuri Curriculum, it was found that childcare centers had a relatively higher rate of indoor play and kindergartens had a relatively higher rate of outdoor play. The planning of yearly weekly and daily plans related to the Nuri Curriculum were higher in childcare centers, while planning of monthly plans were more common in kindergartens. As a result of examining the achievement level of the implementation of the Revised Nuri Curriculum, both the directors and teachers reported ‘flexibility of daily routine’ the highest, followed by ‘communicative organizational culture’ by the directors, and ‘openness of the physical environment’ by the teachers. The director's achievement level of the implementation of the Revised Nuri Curriculum was the highest in ‘democratic relationship with young children’, and the teachers scored the highest in ‘teacher role’. As for the director's awareness of the changes in children through the implementation of the Revised Nuri Curriculum, ‘physical and mental health improvement’ was the highest, and ‘initiative’ for the teachers. Kindergarten directors and teachers rated the changes of children more positively than directors and teachers of childcare centers. Regarding government support policies necessary for the operation of a kindergarten or childcare center curriculum, the response rate of ‘adjustment of the teacher-to-child ratio’ was the highest among directors, teachers, and parents, teachers responding with the highest rate.

As a result of the case study, kindergarten teachers viewed the relationship dynamic between the teacher and child to have changed: while in the previous curriculum the relationship between the child and teacher were viewed as ‘teacher-learner’, in the Revised Nuri Curriculum the teacher and child are ‘co-creators’ of the curriculum. Kindergarten teachers reported that the most change occurred in the level of trust built with the parents mainly through faithfully recording child observations. Kindergarten teachers reported that while the proportion of play in the operation of the curriculum increased, the proportion of activities planned by teachers decreased, and they also recognized changes in the provision of unstructured play and evaluation using various media, etc. In order for the Revised Nuri Curriculum to be properly settled in the field, the directors demanded deregulation of budget use, administrative support, and government-level parent education, while teachers demanded objective evaluation tools and administrative manpower support. Teachers pointed out that the biggest achievements of the Revised Nuri Curriculum were higher awareness of the competence of the children, the operation of distinctive curriculum in each kindergarten or child care center, and the strengthening of teacher autonomy and competency. The limits experienced in the implementation of the curriculum were problems of connectiveness from early childhood education to elementary education, the level of quality in currculum operation according to level of teacher competence. Childcare center teachers recognized that ‘communication’ and ‘cooperation’ between teachers were enhanced through the operation of the Revised Nuri Curriculum, as well as the increase in the ‘activeness’ of the children through playing with children naturally and establishing equal and democratic relationships. By implementing the Revised Nuri curriculum in childcare centers, the proportion of play time increased, like in the kindergartens, and activities were newly recognized as a process for sharing the educational effects of play. The teachers reported that the children themselves led the change in the play space, the teachers provided unstructured play materials and digital materials based on the children's intentions. In order to properly implement the Revised Nuri Curriculum, the directors demanded a decrease of the teacher-child ratio, an increase in childcare budget, and an expansion of legal space standards. Teachers mentioned a decrease of the teacher-child ratio, support for practical teacher training, and parent education to increase their understanding of the value and meaning of play. Teachers cited the qualitative growth of the curriculum and the higher recognition of children’s competence as the results of the Revised Nuri Curriculum. On the limitations in implementing the revised curriculum, teachers reported the gap in the level of execution among institutions and the difficulty in confidently implementing the curriculum due to the ambiguity of the educational goals and evaluation criteria, and the lack of detail in the curriculum handbook. The tasks of the 「2019 Revised Nuri Curriculum」 were identified as raising parents' understanding of children and play, strengthening the connectiveness with the elementary school curriculum, improving the field conditions of kindergartens and child care centers, and overcoming differences in curriculum operation according to teacher competency. The future revision direction of the Nuri Curriculum is to reflect the capabilities required for the future of young children (emphasis on character education and including development of digital competency), reinforce support for children with special needs, strengthen the transition/connection between early childhood education and elementary education, and consideration of stating standards to be achieved through early childhood education.

The policy direction set based on these research results and the direction pursued by the Revised Nuri curriculum is the equivalent as the direction proposed in 2020. First, in order to bridge the educational gap, the quality of the basic curriculum should be guaranteed while diversity in the field is pursued. Second, teacher autonomy should be guaranteed, enhancing their professionalism, and encouraging teacher voluntarily. Third, expanding children's participation in the operation of the curriculum and enhancing children's initiative in play is needed. Fourth, institutions and families need to connect and cooperate by enhancing parents' understanding of the play-centered curriculum. Fifth, support for the operation of the curriculum in line with the purpose of the Revised Nuri Curriculum, accounting social changes in the future such as COVID-19.

According to these policy directions, policy measures and tasks were divided into short-term measures and mid- to long-term measures. First, as for short-term measures, ① continuous efforts to improve teachers' professionalism through support for vitalizing learning communities and linking teachers' autonomous efforts such as establishing a training bank system, etc., ② development of cooperation among delivery systems through forming and operating community of experts, etc., ③ support for enhancing parent competency through training parents as cooperators of implementing the curriculum, etc., ④ reducing gap among the levels of teachers and institutions through providing differentiated support according to regional and institution circumstances and customized support for childrend with special needs etc. are suggested. As for the mid- to long-term measures, ① preparation of the basis for the implementation of the Revised Nuri Curriculum, such as preparing an optimized physical environment standard, adjusting the ratio of teachers to children, etc., ② reorganizing the system to enhance the professionalism of teachers, such as revising the teacher training curriculum etc., and lastly ③ performing detail tasks to establish kindergarten and childcare center status as a school and to reorganize their system as a school are suggested.