The Early Childhood Teacher’s Images of Pre-service Teachers, Kindergarten Teachers, and Daycare Center Teachers

The purpose of this study is to examine the image of teachers for pre-service teachers, kindergarten teachers, and daycare center teachers, and to see if there is a difference in the image of teachers they think. To this end, a survey was conducted from April 11 to April 29, 2022 on students enrolled in the Department of Early Childhood Education at vocational colleges in Gyeonggi-do, Seoul, and kindergarten and daycare center teachers. The mean, standard deviation, and Cronbach α coefficients were calculated for the final 214 out of 250 questionnaires, and the data were analyzed through one-way random analysis and Scheffe post-verification. As a result of the study, first, the overall average for the image of early childhood teachers was found to be moderate or higher, and the average value of the image of teachers considered by prospective pre-service teachers was the highest. Second, the image of pre-service teachers, kindergarten teachers, and daycare center teachers differed according to their educational background, career, and working institution. These research results can provide basic data on how to improve the image of early childhood teachers, and can help early childhood teachers to be recognized as professionals by establishing a desirable teacher image.