A study on the kindergarten teachers' perception of teaching rights

The purpose of this study was to investigate the overall tendency of and differences in perceptions regarding the concept of kindergarten teacher’s teaching rights, and to identify their perceptions of changes after the revision of the five laws protecting teaching rights. For this purpose, a total of 220 kindergarten teachers in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon were surveyed. The findings are as follows: Firstly, kindergarten teachers had a comprehensive understanding of the concept of teaching rights, including as rights, as authority, and in terms of relationships. There were differences in their perceptions of teaching rights depending on teachers’ teaching experiences and types of institutions. Secondly, kindergarten teachers perceived that the educational field had not changed significantly after the revision of the five laws protecting teaching rights. These results imply that there is a need for institutional and policy-level support to ensure that the laws protecting teaching rights are established in the education field. Also a change in the perception of the educational communities for teaching rights is required.