Children's Experiences of Using an Interest Center Choice Name Tag during the Free Choice Activities

Children's Experiences of Using an Interest Center Choice Name Tag during the Free Choice Activities

The purpose of this study was to recognize children’s experiences of using the name tag, which is used to choose an interest center, by doing participant-observation during the free choice activities. The subjects of this study were 24 children who were 5 years old at G kindergarten. The children's experiences of using the name tag were as follows. According to educational intention of the teachers, children used the name tag. In other words, there was a rule on the number of children who could enter each interest center - the name tag played a role in making them follow the rule. Children could select the play, which they wanted truly, and could practice the planned play by themselves and could experience various plays. However, atmosphere of the classroom was competitive between the children who wanted to go into an interest center. The free play for the children was limited by the rule in relation to the name tag. Therefore, the children couldn’t do the play that they wanted. In addition, children couldn’t do integrated activities by using the name tag in interest centers. Lastly, this study showed that children practiced the free play while children violated the rule being associated with using the name tag in the class. The results of the study suggest that the teachers in the education field need to use Interest Center Choice Name Tag more carefully after comprehensively analyzing the educational effects and effective utilization method of it and observing children's experiences.