Day-nursery teacher’s salaries have been generally low level since the childcare system reform was initiated in the late 1990s. In this paper, I analyzed the decrease in these salaries since 2000 and the factors underlying this decline. Using a pooled regression analysis with aggregate data of prefectural average salaries surveyed at eight points every 5 years between 1980 and 2015. It has become clear that day-nursery teacher’s salaries have fallen below the average for female workers since 2000. With regard to factors contributing to this decline, salaries growth based on average length of service has been reduced. The above results suggest that it is necessary to recover a national minimum wage according to work experience.

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This year-long study investigated how 5-year-old children regulate emotions based on their past to achieve Setsumen (intersubjectivity between people with emotions) in friendship. Results reveal that Setsumen is accomplished when children try to regulate their own emotions and empathize with the other party. Setsumen requires children to attune their own emotions to those of their friends, which occurs when children play together, face difficulties together, and agree with each other. Over time, emotion regulation related to personal history is created between two friends as they continue their association, gradually becoming aware of, and adapting to, each other’s emotions.

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This study focused on adjacency pairs to investigate how 5-year-old children interacted with one another to create new drawing expressions. Participatory observation was conducted in four certified children’s nursery classes for 5-year-olds over a 1-year period. Data on a drawing activity were collected and qualitatively analyzed using adjacency pairs. The results were as follows: (1) Differences emerged in the object and method of the suggestion-response sequence. Ideas such as shapes and colors were directly incorporated into children’s drawing, while imaginative and emotional themes and motifs were produced when children added their own arrangements; (2) Questions generated from demands and interests in drawing promoted mutual understanding and led to new developments; and (3) A sequence of emotional expressions, such as physical synchronicities and rhythm, led to the generation of new drawing themes.

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This study focused on children’s tasks and perceptions of their daily mealtime experience at ECEC institutions. Twenty-four 5- to 6-year-old children and their educators at two private daycare centers in Tokyo participated in this study. Interviews of the educators revealed that the children participated in four basic tasks at mealtime: 1) engaging with friends (for only institutions where children eat in a lunchroom), 2) concentrating on eating, 3) displaying good manners, and 4) not taking too much time to eat food they did not like (for only institutions where children eat in their own classroom). Children’s drawings and interviews did not reflect their specific activities as described by their educators. On the other hand, one child drew dishes in detail even though her educator stated she was not concentrating enough on eating. This result indicates that there might be a gap between educators’ and children’s perceptions.

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Using the ethnomethodological approach, this paper investigates how children are subconsciously understood by preschool teachers in their daily routine. Ethnomethodology is a way to describe the methodological knowledge that members of a particular community commonly use. To illustrate this, one must observe how everyday activities are organized by the members of the community. Using an ethnomethodological analysis of how a preschool teacher communicates with a child, this paper shows that preschool teachers understand children by referring to the rules of preschool culture; for example, whether or not children are able to wait is an important factor used by preschool teachers to decide whether children comprehend and interpret instructions properly.

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This study focuses on the function of enclosed and narrow spaces for children at nursery school. The research subjects were 1- to 5-year-old children. Data from 843 minutes of observation were analyzed. Observation began when research subjects entered the space and stopped when they left it. Three enclosed places in the garden were used for the study, according to the Grounded Theory Approach. The results generated 26 concepts and 10 subcategories, which were then aggregated into 4 categories. There were 10 storylines. The functions of the enclosed and narrow spaces for children were to repeatedly share and change chances for coincidental interaction among children, in connection with both inside and outside the space.

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What type of attitude is desirable to establish inclusive childcare? It is challenging to provide different treatment for children with diverse needs in the same place in nursery schools, and it is necessary to analyze the process whereby nursery teachers experience this treatment approach. This paper used ethnographic methods to analyze nursery teachers’ inclusion of children with developmental disorders. Teachers’ viewpoints were associated with their instruction strategies. These change were supported by integration of tasks and responsibilities, liberation from implicit norms, and positive feedback from children and parents, which were thought to positively influence nursery teachers’ behavior.

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The objective of this paper was to clarify childcare workers’ supporting skills during picture book reading sessions for 1-year-olds. Natural and spontaneous interactions between child-care workers and children were observed over approximately a 1-year period. The following results were obtained. 1) During the reading sessions, the physical gestures used by child-care workers most frequently served to explain the story content, and eight varieties of gestures were observed, including the use of “hands and feet” and “finger pointing.” 2) Differences in childcare worker–child interactions and child–child interactions were also observed. Child-care worker–child interactions involved a greater variety and frequency of physical gestures. The results of 1) and 2) suggest that the child care worker relies on detailed clues (such as changes in the child’s voice) to adjust and respond to the child during interactions.

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A mother’s role begins when a child is born, but there is no curriculum or school for becoming a mother. In this situation, local community child-rearing support facilities are regarded as places for mothers to refresh themselves. Therefore, I thought it was necessary to investigate the fact that mothers enhance their child-rearing abilities while engaging in situated learning during their interactions at child-rearing support facilities. In this research, I analyzed the words of mothers using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach, and evaluated results using the theory of legitimate peripheral participation. I found that mothers engaged in situated learning about child rearing, and enhanced their child-rearing abilities and self-efficacy in various situations and with different people with whom they interacted at child-rearing support facilities.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the determination process of parents with regard to their continuous involvement in a kindergarten in support of child rearing. The data of this study, which were analyzed by Trajectory Equifinality Modeling, obtained from interviews with four parents who had continuous experiences in parental involvement. The parental decision-making process, from first participation to continuous participation, was clarified. Through parental involvement, the respondents first recognized their child’s situation in the kindergarten. Subsequently, they became aware of other aspects of child rearing and acquired many new insights into child rearing. The respondents regarded continuous parental involvement as a means to maintain a balance in their involvement with their own children.

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The purpose of this study was to examine ways in which preschool and elementary school teachers utilize the unified Yoroku (each child’s cumulative records) and to identify prospects for its future use. Questionnaires were distributed to all preschools and elementary schools in Sasebo city, and the data were analyzed qualitatively. While teachers differed in their opinions of how the unified Yoroku should be utilized and understood, it was newly suggested that the unified Yoroku could help teachers understand and observe children’s long-term development. Preschool teachers in particular identified the unified Yoroku not only as a method used for smooth transitions between preschools and elementary schools, but also as a record to improve the quality of these schools’ practices.

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The purpose of this study was to examine ways in which preschool and elementary school teachers utilize the unified Yoroku (each child’s cumulative records) and to identify prospects for its future use. Questionnaires were distributed to all preschools and elementary schools in Sasebo city, and the data were analyzed qualitatively. While teachers differed in their opinions of how the unified Yoroku should be utilized and understood, it was newly suggested that the unified Yoroku could help teachers understand and observe children’s long-term development. Preschool teachers in particular identified the unified Yoroku not only as a method used for smooth transitions between preschools and elementary schools, but also as a record to improve the quality of these schools’ practices.

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This Paper revealed the whole picture of the ECEC reform in China with looking back on the history of 40 years of reform form 1978 to 2018, focuses on ECEC system (the ECEC system change and ECEC activity in Preschool), the reform of ECEC teacher’s education (educational system and development of ECEC curriculum) and ECEC quality improvement initiatives (history of quality improvement through ECEC research activities and creation of new educational practices), based of recent research and surveys by the author. In addition, as a future subject, the dissemination of preschool education for children over 3 years old, the guarantee of quality and quantity of ECEC teacher’s education, the ECCE system creation for children under 3 years old, and training of ECCE teachers under 3 years old were pointed out.

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