Understanding Young Children during Practice Teaching by Students of Nursery Teacher Training Courses

－Comparison with Child-Care Worker－

Abstract

Abstract How do students of two year system childcare worker training school perceive “Little child understanding”, and is there any deference between the first grade and the second grade in perception? With an aim to clarify how it is different from childcare worker, research was done. It turned out that students have less consciousness to enthusiastically engage in and understand “children with special needs” than childcare workers. Nevertheless, they felt they understood “children with special needs” better than childcare workers. Some students see “children with special needs” as observation object only, and it can be said lots of them do not have attitude to have expansivity and responsibility to positively participate as childcare workers. Some of the first graders recognize that knowing wants and requests of children means they can understand them. And some do not comprehend actual meaning of “understand feeling”. On the contrary, the second graders show will to positively engage in “children with special needs” to establish trust relationship with knowing their characteristics and they are close to consciousness of childcare workers who look for the way suitable for the child.