Early childhood development after COVID-19 through Kindergarten teachers' perceptions in Gangwon State

Objectives This study investigated the status of early childhood development after COVID-19 based on teacher perception. Methods To this end, 173 public and private Gindergarten teachers located in G-do were surveyed, and the collected data were analyzed through frequency analysis, multiple response analysis, independent sample T-test, variance analysis, and mean difference test using SPSS 21.0. Results 81% of public and private Kindergarten teachers working in G Province recognized that COVID-19 had a significant impact on early childhood development, and the main factors affecting early childhood development were “wearing masks” and “social distancing.” Specifically, mask-wearing has caused direct difficulties in communication, social distancing, non-face-to-face distance learning, and the reduction in the number of Kindergarten attendance days. As a result, among the five Kindergarten curriculum areas, the areas that were most affected can be seen as the ‘communication domain’ and the ‘social relations domain’. Conclusions The measures to support early childhood development suggested by this study include the operation of various programs in each area, strengthening early childhood-connected integrated education, and administrative support in terms of personnel, budget, and structure. In addition, it was suggested that longitudinal studies for preemptive and preventive policy support, community cultural studies to strengthen communication and cooperation among early childhood education officials, and basic research to secure policy independence of early childhood education institutions need to be activated.