쌍둥이 아동의 학급배정에 관한 연구

A study of the classroom assignment for twins

현재 우리나라를 비롯하여 세계적으로 쌍둥이 출생이 급격하게 늘어나고 있다. 본 연구의 주목적은 우리나라 쌍둥이 아동들의 학급 배정에 관한 실태 및 학급배정에 따른 쌍둥이들의 생활 적응상황에 관해 조사하는데 있다. 연구의 목적을 달성하기 위해, 서울시의 초등학교에 재학하고 있는 쌍둥이 384명에게 생활적응설문지를 실시하고, 그 부모 161명과 전화인터뷰를 하였다. 응답을 분석한 결과, (1)고학년일수록, 남자일수록 쌍둥이들이 서로 다른 반에 배정되는 경향이 있었고, (2)학급배정 상태는 쌍둥이간의 상호협동, 의존, 경쟁과는 상관이 없었으며, (3)학급배정 할 때에 쌍둥이나 교사들보다 부모들의 의견이 많이 반영되었고, (4)쌍둥이들이 서로 다른 학급에 배정될수록 교우관계의 폭이 넓은 것으로 나타났으며, (5)쌍둥이들이 다른 반보다 같은 반에 배정되었을 때 부모들로부터 더 많이 비교되는 것으로 나타났다.

Recently, twinning rates have been increased worldwidely. The main purposes of the present study were to survey the current classroom assignment of the twin children in elementary schools and investigate the relationships between twin children‘s psychological adjustment and their classroom assignment status. Three hundred and eighty-four twin children completed a questionnaire that includes questions on twins' adjustment. One hundred and sixty-one parents of the twins completed a zygosity questionnaire and a telephone interview. Data analyses yielded five main findings. First, more boys than girls and higher graders than lower ones tended to be assigned in different classrooms. Second, whether twins were assigned in separate classrooms or not was not related to twins' competition, cooperation, or dependence on each other. Third, opinions of parents of twins rather than those of twins or teachers were most reflected in the decision of the classroom assignment. Fourth, twins tended to have diverse friends when they were assigned in separate classrooms as compared to they were assigned in the same classrooms. Finally, parents tended to compare their twin children more when their twin children were assigned in the same classroom than in different classrooms.