This study sought to examine the impact of social support and happiness on the job satisfaction of early childhood teachers in order to propose ways to support the improvement of their job satisfaction. To this end, surveys were administered to early childhood teachers working at daycare centers located in the Seoul metropolitan area, and the results were obtained by analyzing 208 copies of the collected surveys. The data analysis showed that first, there was a significant positive correlation among the social support, happiness, and job satisfaction of early childhood teachers in the workplace. Second, both social support in the workplace and the happiness of early childhood teachers affected job satisfaction, and social support in the workplace was found to have a greater impact on job satisfaction than happiness. As a result of the study, it was confirmed that support at the macro, social, and national levels―along with the efforts of individuals and institutions―should be supported to improve the job satisfaction of early childhood teachers. Based on this, specific proposals to enhance the job satisfaction of early childhood teachers are made.

The purpose of this research was to verify the effects of teaching flow and happiness of experienced teacher on teacher-child interaction. The sample comprised 115 experienced teachers who are currently working for 3-5 years old children in childcare centers located in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon. In order to measure the teaching flow of the experienced teachers, Flow State Scale 2(FSS-2) was used. Happiness was measured using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), which was developed by Hills and Argyle (2002). The measurement tool for teacher-child interaction is a self-reported rating scale. That scale was initially invented by Song Geun-young (2017). Pearson's coefficient-of-correlation was used to investigate the correlation between measurement variables. A multiple regression analysis were conducted to investigate the relative influence of experienced teacher teaching flow and happiness on the teacher-child interaction. The results of this study are as follows. Firstly, there was no difference in teaching flow, happiness, and teacher-child interaction according to their level of educational attainment, career, and the children's age whom the teachers are taking care of. And according to the type of childcare centers, the quality of teacher-child interaction showed statistically significant differences.. Second, the teaching flow, teachers' perceived happiness, and the quality of teacher-child interactions have statistically significant relationships each other, except for the 'loss of self-consciousness' and 'the feeling of time being changed', which are sub-elements of teaching flow. Third, the effects of teaching flow and teacher's perceived happiness on the quality of teacher-child interaction was found. It means that the higher experienced teachers perceived happiness, the higher the quality of the teacher-child interaction was. Interestingly, experienced teachers' perceived happiness was a variable that predicted teacher-child interaction and showed a significant influence when it was applied alone, but it was a variable whose influence became insignificant when introduced together with teaching flow.

The purpose of this study is to develop a parent education program for the happy life of mothers and their young children. In order to develop this program, the preceding studies and literatures have been reviewed. For the development of the parent education program for promoting happiness, a pilot program was made through the literature reviews, the interviews with mothers, two surveys on the request of educational specialists, and two council meetings with five experts on education. PERMA of positive psychology, is composed of positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning, accomplishment, and character strengths. A detailed pilot program was based on the needs of 10 mothers interviewed and 60 early childhood education specialists surveyed. To review the suitability and likelihood of application of the pilot program on-site, the program was implemented to 11 mothers whose children were attending C child care center in C-city. Before and after the program, a happiness of the mothers and children was explored to find out the effectiveness of and satisfaction with the program. The collected data which are open ended survey, researcher journals, transcripts of observation during the program, and records of program staffs meetings, were analyzed into categories. A happiness of the mothers and children was significantly promoted. The analysis of the mothers' evaluation on satisfaction by session and observations on the formal and informal conversations among the mothers have showed that PERMAS had been enhanced. A virtuous cycle is expected through parents who can improve their children's happiness and, consequently, re-confirm their happiness through their growth as a child caregiver.

This paper attempted to define dialogue and explore its significance in the practice of early childhood education from the perspective of Bakhtin. At the same time, it examined Bakhtin's dialogism through its key terms such as otherness, polyphony, chronotope, carnival, and identified researches on Bakhtin in early childhood education. Based on this work, we suggested that Bakhtin's dialogism offers the following implications for the practice of early childhood education. Firstly, early childhood teachers should respect the various voices of all the participating children in light of otherness and polyphony of Bakhtin's dialogism. Secondly, in implementing the Revised Nuri Program for young children in which children are given the subjective role and play is accommodated, Bakhtin's term of carnival that captures the world through laughter deserves more attention. Lastly, the theoretical ground for the academic understanding of the individuality and communality in the field of early childhood education can be found in Bakhtin's dialogism.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of spirituality and religious activities on the life satisfaction of elderly women living alone in rural areas, and to verify the mediation effect of the sense of loss. The survey was conducted on 250 elderly women aged 65 above living alone in rural areas. The results of this study are as follows; First, religious spirituality, existential spirituality, and religious activities had a positive effect on life satisfaction and a negative effect on the sense of loss. Second, the sense of loss had a negative effect on life satisfaction. Third, the sense of loss had a complete mediation effect in the relationship between religious spirituality and life satisfaction. Fourth, the sense of loss had a partial mediation effect in the relationship between existential spirituality and life satisfaction. Lastly, religious activities had only a direct effect on life satisfaction. Based on these results, in order to improve the satisfaction of the elderly women living alone in rural areas, it is necessary to alleviate the sense of loss through intervention in the practice of welfare for the elderly based on spirituality.