부모와 교사가 지각한 유아품성에 관한 연구

A study on the character of young children as perceived by parents and teachers

본 연구는 유아품성에 대한 부모와 교사의 지각을 알아봄으로써 유아품성에 대해 이해하는데 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 부산·울산 및 경상도에 소재한 유아교육기관의 만 3~5세 유아의 부모 300명과 담임교사 30명을 대상으로 질문연구를 실시하여 그 응답내용을 긍정심리학의 품성분류체계에 비추어 분석하였다. 그 결과, 24개의 품성 외에 ‘세심함’이 발견되었으며, 유아품성으로 친절, 호기심, 활력이 가장 많이 나타났다. 만 3세에서는 호기심이 가장 많이 나타난 반면, 만 4, 5세에서는 친절이 가장 많이 나타났고, 남아의 경우 호기심이 가장 빈번하게 나타난 반면, 여아의 경우 친절이 가장 빈번하게 나타났다. 이러한 결과를 바탕으로 유아품성의 특징에 대해 논의하였다.

In total, 275 parents and 30 teachers of young children aged three to five years, attending kindergarten and a childcare center in Busan, Ulsan, and Kyeongsang-do, participated in this study. Initially, the participants’ responses were classified according to character strength, which included references to “meticulous.” The frequency analysis results, showing the classification of the young children’s characters, are presented below. First, “kindness,” “curiosity,” and “vitality” were most common in early childhood, whereas fairness was not found in early childhood. Almost all the virtues, except for temperance, were highly ranked. “Curiosity” and “kindness” was ranked top in the character strengths, “curiosity” was ranked highly among three-year-olds, and “kindness” was ranked highly among four- and five-year olds. Curiosity was ranked as a top character strength among boys, whereas kindness ranked top among girls. Second, both parents and teachers most often perceived kindness among young children. Among the character strengths ranked highly among young children, those perceived by teachers were virtually the same as those perceived by parents; however, the teachers did not perceive “spirituality.” Lastly, young children ranked “curiosity,” “kindness,” “persistence,” “vitality,” and “citizenship” highly among parents, regardless of the latter’s occupation and educational background; however, the ranking levels differed. “Kindness” was ranked highly among housewives, employees, and executive managers. “Curiosity” was ranked highly among teachers and professionals, among others, as well as among high school graduates. “Vitality” was ranked highly among college graduates, 부모와 교사가 지각한 유아품성에 관한 연구 ․ 67 whereas the same was true for “kindness” among university graduates. Among teachers, “curiosity,” “kindness,” “vitality,” and “citizenship” were highly ranked character strengths on the young children’s list, regardless of the teachers’ educational career; however, the ranking differed. “Vitality” was ranked top among teachers with an educational career of less than three years, whereas “kindness” was ranked top among teachers with an educational career spanning more than three years.