Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the opportunities for change from the narratives about the change of
"understanding of children" of the skilled preschool and nursery teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted about practical childcare activities and events to date that produced changes in the understanding of children. The linguistic data that were obtained were analyzed using the Step for Cording and Theorization (SCAT) and described theoretically. The results indicated 22 theoretical descriptions. The five main descriptions were as follows. ① Changes occur after realizing the difficulties in dealing with children and objectively reflecting on own abilities and methods of interacting with children. ② Changes occur when experiencing positions other than that of a preschool teacher and playing different roles. ③ Information sharing by the whole school, improving support systems, and cooperating lead to changes when individual preschool teachers find it difficult to cope. ④ Observing the practices of skilled preschool teachers as models and listening to their advice gives opportunities for change. ⑤ Teaching content of practical training provided at preschool teacher training schools and high-quality encounters with the human environment provides the basis for understanding children.
