The Effects of the Professional Learning Environment on Early Childhood Curriculum Implementation
- Mediating Effects of Teacher Competency and Teaching Flow -
** A thesis submitted to the Council of the Graduate School of Kyungpook National University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D in December 2020


JeongAh Yun

Department of Child and Family Studies
Graduate School, Kyungpook National University
Daegu, Korea
(Supervised by Professor Chunghee Chung)


(Abstract)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the professional learning environment on early childhood curriculum implementation and the mediating effects of teacher competency and teaching flow between the professional learning environment and early childhood curriculum implementation.
The subjects were 418 early childhood teachers who are in charge of children age 3 to 5 in kindergartens and day care centers located in Seoul City, Daegu City and Gyeongsangbuk-do.
The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0, descriptive statistics, and were analyzed using AMOS 25.0, statistical program for structural equation modeling, to test whether the model fitted the data.

The results were as following:
First, the results revealed significantly positive correlations among professional learning environment, teacher competency, teaching flow, and early childhood curriculum implementation. It was interpreted as the higher the professional learning environment, teacher competency, and teaching flow, the higher the level of teachers’ early childhood curriculim implementation.
Second, the professional learning environment, teacher competency, and teaching flow directly affected early childhood curriculum implementation. Among them, teacher competency was found to have the greatest influence on the early childhood curriculum implementation.
Third, teacher competency as a mediating variable affected the relationship between professional learning environment and early childhood curriculum implementation.
Fourth, teaching flow as a mediating variable affected the relationship between professional learning environment and early childhood curriculum implementation.
Fifth, professional learning environment affected early childhood curriculum implementation by double-mediation of early childhood teacher competency and teaching flow.

Through the results of this study, this has been confirmed that professional learning environment, teacher competency, and teaching flow are important variables that explain the early childhood curriculum implementation. Therefore, I expect to improve the quality level of early childhood curriculum implementation and provide implications for the direction of the teacher education programs.