A comparative study of ECEC practitioners’ perceptions of children’s well-being and their roles in South Korea and Norway

Abstract

This comparative study investigated how early childhood education and care practitioners in South Korea and Norway perceive the concept of children's well-being and their own roles in supporting and facilitating children's well-being. Data were collected through online questionnaires from 198 practitioners and analysed utilising chi-square analyses. The results showed that South Korean practitioners perceived the cognitive and economic domains as more important than Norwegian practitioners. Meanwhile, the practitioners from Norway perceived the social domain as more important than South Korean practitioners. Norwegian practitioners perceived physical needs, need for affection, and enjoyment as more important than Korean practitioners. Norwegian practitioners also monitored every child's well-being and more actively encouraged positive interactions and child-initiated activities. Meanwhile, Korean practitioners perceived the need for safety as important and believed that environments were not safe enough for children's health and well-being. These findings suggest that the educational approaches and sociocultural contexts of the two countries influence children's well-being.

Ansattes vurdering av barns trivsel i barnehagen

“…Resultatene fra en komparativ studie mellom barnehageansatte i Norge og i Sør-Korea viste at en større andel av barnehageansatte fra Sør-Korea enn andel av barnehageansatte fra Norge vurderte kognitive og økonomiske forhold ved barns trivsel som svaert viktig. En større andel av barnehageansatte i Norge vurderte sosiale forhold og fysiske behov som svaert viktig sammenliknet med barnehageansatte i Sør-Korea (Nah et al, 2020). Hvordan ansatte vurderer trivsel er sammensatt og påvirkes trolig av både kulturelle og miljømessige faktorer.…”

“…En kvantitativ tilnaerming ble benyttet med utarbeidelse av felles spørreskjema om temaet trivsel. De komparative resultatene fra barnehageansatte i Sør-Korea og Norge er publisert i tidsskriftet European Early Childhood Education Reseach Journal (Nah et al, 2020). I denne artikkelen presenteres nye analyser fra det samme datamaterialet, men kun med data fra ansatte i de norske barnehagene.…”