The purpose of this study was to clarify the impact of the revision of Hoiku Yoryo (Childcare Guidelines) to Yochien Kyoiku Yoryo (Kindergarten Education Guidelines) by comparing two curriculums that were prepared by the Kindergarten attached to the Shizuoka University Faculty of Education in 1950 and 1957. The results revealed a gap between “understanding of the basic spirit of the guidelines” and the “creation of the curriculum according to the guidelines” in each curriculum’s creation.
Early childhood care and education teachers revised the curriculum based on their own practice according to the context of their times. These were born from the independent attitude of the early childhood education teachers who sought to express the uniqueness of that could not fit into the curriculum format of other school types.

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This study aimed to clarify the beliefs and practical knowledge of childcare workers about their practice through visual narraive analysis of image-drawing. Belief images drawn by 29 childcare workers were analyzed to obtain their beliefs related to childcare practices. The results revealed the following three characteristics typical to their belief images drawn by childcare workers: (1) being at the same eye level as children, (2) accepting diversity, and (3) maintaining a protective stance of watching over children. Our visual narrative analysis of belief image drawn by childcare workers enabled us to gain insight into their beliefs about their occupation.

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In this study, we observed 2- to 3- year-olds while playing in a nursery school over a 6-month period and investigated how they interact with each other focusing on goal sharing. We found that reciprocal imitation was observed throughout the 6-month period. In reciprocal imitation, children can feel sameness and contact each other by behaving similarly to their peers without paying attention to the shared goal. In the latter 3 months, the children collaborated to achieve the shared goal by making verbal interaction in make-believe play and joint construction. These results clarified peer relationships, agreement, and self-development.

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This study investigated the relationship between the development of socio-emotional abilities of 1- to 2-year-old children and the environment of childcare centers. Participants were 829 parents and their children (median age = 25.7 months old) and centers and 378 childcare teachers in 57 public childcare. Children’s socio-emotional characteristics (i.e., social competence and problem behaviors) were rated by their parents, and the environment of childcare centers was rated by childcare teachers. The results revealed that the good play environment of childcare centers contributed significantly to low problem behaviors among 1- to 2-year-old children even when child factors (i.e., age, sex, and birth order) and family factors (e.g., family income, parents education levels, and parent’s nurturing attitude) were considered. In particular, the environment of childcare centers had a pronounced effect if parents were less responsible for child rearing. Our study suggested that the environment of childcare centers is important for children who spend long hours there.

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This study aims to examine the production and dissemination of explicit and implicit knowledge in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Japan. In addition, this study analyzes how ECEC practices, ECEC organizations, and researchers influenced institutional and administrative movements focusing on collaboration and transition between ECEC and elementary school education. We found that continuity, transition period and cooperative learning were embodied in practice and that the government adopted these ideas. In the background context, interactions among ECEC practicioners, researchers, organizations, and administrators were suggested to produce and disseminate the knowledge toward creating part of the Japanese early childhood education system.

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This study clarified how caregivers support parents who have children in the self-assertion stage using communication notebooks. The content of a communication notebooks used by a pair of parents and a child over a 2-year period was analyzed. The results identified three categories of support strategy followed by caregivers, namely “interacting with parents and children on the basis of childcare practice,” “clarifying the background of self-assertion perceived based on the child’s point of view,” and “elucidating how to interact with the child.” The results revealed that childcare staff helped the parents finding the best method of child-rearing on their own. The staff relied on the established relationship with the children in practice and provided support in a child-centered way.

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This study sought to clarify nursery school directors and early childhood education and care center directors who have experience in infant care select infant care staff and identify the underlying concepts of the director’s selection process. By evaluating the interactions and causal relationships among the concepts, we identified what kind of expertise the directors expected for infant care staff. Specifically, using a semi-structured interview, we identified the directors’ criterion for selecting infant care staff; as well as their awareness and intention concerning the selection process. Grounded theory approach analysis of the data visualized their tacit knowledge regarding the expertise of infant care staff.

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In this study, we sought to collect primary data for fostering the relationship between children and nature. We examined kindergarten children’s understanding of 15 typical insect species including small arthropods and spiders, commonly found in a kindergarten. We interviewed 91 children aged 3, 4, and 5 years old and presented them with pictures of insects. We asked them if they knew the names of the insects, had seen them, liked them, or could touch them. Responses indicated that the percentage of correct answers for insect names increased with age. Additionally, while 3-year-olds generally liked insects, 5-year-olds, particularly girls, increasingly disliked them. Namely, negative feelings toward insects were shown to increase already at the preschool age. Finally, we found that insects such as roly-poly bugs, ladybugs, and butterflies were familiar and liked, whereas spiders, stink bugs, and mosquitoes were disliked. Consequently, we categorized these findings on children’s understanding of insects into five types for further discussion from an educational perspective.

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This study was designed to examine the nursery school teachers’ view on the characteristics of parents whom nursery schoolteachers found difficult to deal with and on those of their infants, and to evaluate the relationships between these characteristics. Four hundred fourteen nursery school teachers responded to the survey, all of whom had more than 5 years of childcare experience as well as experiences dealing with difficult parents. The result of the factor analysis identified three factors concerning the characteristics of difficult parents and their infants: “rejective attitude toward childcare,” “excessive demands toward nursery school,” and “explosion of uncontrolled anger” for parents; and “aggressive attitude,” “avoidance and low motivation,” and “filthy and abnormal appetite” for infants. The parents’ rejective attitude concerning child-rearing negatively affected their infants, leading to their aggressive attitudes, decreased motivation, avoidance of others, and abnormal appetite.

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In this study, we developed a self-assessment scale for nursery teachers who provide nursery training to improve the training quality. In Study I, we first selected 60 candidate factors on the basis of a free-response questionnaire administered to 298 nursery school teachers concerning anxieties and difficulties during nursery training. In Study II, we conducted a factor analysis to create a self-assessment scale for teachers of nursery training comprised of 34 items and 5 factors “respectful relationships with trainees,” “understanding nursery training principles and ideals,” “instruction utilizing nursery competency,” “ensuring time for lesson plans and training records,” and “teacher’s attitude toward nurseries.” This scale was then assessed for reliability and validity. Finally in Study III, we evaluated the association between the mastery level of teachers of nursery training and the five factors. Development process of this scale revealed challenges for nursery training and implications for their resolution. It was suggested that using this scale will contribute to the career development of nursery teachers.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the background factors of collaborative learning in the 5-year-old class and its relation to the quality of early childhood education. A questionnaire survey was conducted among directors of kindergartens, daycare centers, and centers for early childhood education and care in the Tokyo metropolitan area data from 820 respondents were used. Structural analysis of covariance was performed using a model that examines how the directors management is related to the educators’ relationship with children, the activities of the 5-year-old class, and the quality of education. The results confirmed that promoting collegiality among the staff and ensuring time to review childcare practice increased the responsiveness of educators to children, supported collaborative learning based on child-autonomous activities, and enhanced the quality of education.

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This study reviewed the literature to extract the expertise of childcare workers in pediatric wards and evaluate the expertise of childcare workers who do not hold medical childcare specialist certificates. Six items regarding expertise (“attitude toward children,” “medical knowledge and skills,” “cooperation with other professions,” “developmental support,” “livelihood support,” and “professional responsibilities”) were identified from the literature review. Then a survey regarding these six expertise items was distributed to hospitals with pediatrics across Japan. The results were evaluated by t-test and analysis of variance. It was indicated that childcare workers without the certification emphasized the importance of expertise regarding “attitude toward children,” “medical knowledge and skills,” “cooperation with other professions,” and “developmental support,” while they thought less importance regarding “livelihood support” and “professional responsibilities.”

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This study aimed to clarify the awareness of nursery teachers about childcare who worked in Fukushima, a prefecture that was severely impacted by the radiation disaster due to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. To this end, quantitative, free-description, interview surveys were conducted in Fukushima and other non-impacted prefectures. The results revealed that nursery teachers in Fukushima had a lower degree of negative awareness about childcare than those in the other prefectures. In addition, nursery teachers in Fukushima mainly worried about children’s growth. By contrast, nursery teachers in the other prefectures were largely distressed by relationship with parents and other nursery teachers. In turmoil immediately after the earthquake, nursery teachers in Fukushima stayed close to parents and overcame the difficulties by cooperating with co-workers.

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This study aimed to shed light on how middle leader’s perceptions of childcare change through relationship with junior staff. The analysis focused on reviewing individual’s life history in detail and evaluating its temporal changes by TEM (Three Layers Model of Genesis). In addition, TLMG (Trajectory Equifinality Model) analysis was conducted to deepen understanding of how the middle leader’s perceptions have been changing. The results revealed that middle leader’s perceptions of childcare changed through interaction with junior staff. Specifically, their perceptions of childcare in terms of “interacting with children” shifted from “based on my own experience” to based on the relationship with junior staff.

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This study sought to clarify how the emergent curriculum research developed in the United States has been connected to and influenced by the early childhood education practice in Reggio Emilia. After dividing the developmental process of emergent curriculum study into three periods: the 1970s, the 1990s, and the 2000s, I analyzed how Reggio Emilia Approach is seen from the perspective of the emergent curriculum research in each period.
From the perspective of emergent curriculum research, Reggio Emilia was considered to be and cited as a model of emergent curriculum after the publication of Emergent Curriculum (1994). However, in recent years, it has become clear that the position of Reggio Emilia has been changing. This study also suggested that this change has been in the same direction as the changes from the first to the third editions of The Hundred Languages of Children, which are symbolic publications of Reggio Emilia in the United States.

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Japanese guidelines recommend that parents with foreign roots introduce their family cuisine to children at schools as a method that provides an opportunity for children to recognize and respect differences in nationality and culture. However, previous studies have pointed out that activities to introduce foreign-root family cuisine may pose a risk of falling into the tourist curriculum, which can lead to misunderstanding and prejudice. This study investigated activities that introduce family cuisine of parents with foreign roots at school lunch by considering the risk of the tourist curriculum. Semi-structured group interviews were administered to preschool teachers and nutritionists. The results indicated that activities of introducing the parents’ dishes at school lunch were categorized into the following three processes: (1) asking parents for their recipes, (2) cooking parents’ dishes at school lunch, and (3) introducing the dishes to children. In the discussion, we examined points to be noted to avoid the tourist curriculum in terms of anti-bias education for each activity process.

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