ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

This study aimed to classify early childhood teachers’ subjective perceptions of the difficulties they experience in performing counselor roles during parent consultations in early childhood education settings and to explore the characteristics of each identified type. To achieve this purpose, an initial Q population was developed through a review of relevant literature and in-depth interviews, and 40 statements were finalized as the Q sample following expert review. The participants consisted of 40 early childhood teachers working in kindergartens and childcare centers who had experience conducting parent consultations. A forced-distribution Q sorting procedure was administered, and the collected data were analyzed using factor analysis with the QUANL PC program. The analysis identified three distinct perception types regarding difficulties in parent consultations. The parental emotional sensitivity type was characterized by heightened sensitivity to parents’ emotional responses and the consultation atmosphere, accompanied by difficulties in emotional regulation and boundary setting within relationships. The consultation workload burden type experienced challenges in maintaining the counselor role due to procedural and administrative demands, such as consultation preparation, documentation, and communication. The parental evaluation pressure type perceived parent consultation situations as contexts in which their professional competence was being evaluated and tended to experience psychological burden associated with low counseling self-efficacy. These findings suggest that early childhood teachers’ difficulties in parent consultations are structured along three dimensions: emotional factors, procedural and structural factors, and perceptions of professional competence. The results provide foundational data for the development of training programs and support systems aimed at enhancing parent consultation practices and counseling professionalism among early childhood teachers.

키워드