보육서비스 질 제고를 위한 어린이집 평가 연계 컨설팅 지원 방안 연구

Abstract

Quality monitoring for child care service and center is the foremost important and impending issue in child care policy. While the accreditation of child care centers has been main quality monitoring system, the accumulated fatigue within ECEC staffs and the overlapping function of monitoring, accreditation, and other administrative management control were pointed out as a limitation and lacking in current accreditation-leading system. There were many issues and suggestions for new agenda for quality control: more supportive, mutually enhancing, and self-motivated system for staffs and leaders in centers. The purpose of this study was to invent a new model of child care center consulting for ECEC quality monitoring and apply it to the field. Securing a new approach for supporting management of child care center and personnel motivation and competence, were main theme of this study. CARE consulting model was based on the business management consulting concept (i.e. organization culture) and behaviorism in psychology. The staffs and a leader in child care center were asked to participate in the consulting process voluntarily by drawing their own consulting agenda and key pinpointed behaviors for themselves’ changes and center’s improvement. The induced behaviors are based on accreditation results and discussions of impending issues, tasks, and lackings in center. CARE consulting model was named and structured representing main organization factors of C (Common values), A (Ability), R(Resources), and E (Empowering). Staffs and the leader diagnose center’s C.A.R.E. and share the outcomes together with the accreditation results. When the model was applied to the field for 90 child care centers, the pre-post tests have shown the significant increase and enhancement of staffs’ and leader’s pin-pointed behaviors and management. The changed behaviors had very interesting, meaningful impacts on the culture and communication of organization, eventually to all participants in center – parents, children, staffs, and the leader. This study has shown the importance and the effect size of quality monitoring system of consulting, as followed and carried out together with inspections - the accreditation. Study results have proved and propose new agenda for child care policy for quality control and enhancement. The main theme for quality ECEC is not inspection but supports for personnel via mentoring such as consulting.