ABSTRACT

The Development and Effects of the Program for Promoting
Young Children''s Participation Rights Based on Decision-Making
Learning Model



Name: Park Tae-Soon
Academic Advisor: Kim Seung-Hee
Department of Early Childhood Education
Graduate School of Gwangju University



The purpose of this study was to develop the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model and analyze its effectiveness. For this purpose, two questions were set and the details of these questions are as follows:

[Question 1〕What is the composition of the program for promoting young
children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model?
[Question 2〕What are the effects of the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model?


The procedure and methods of this study are as follows:
To answer the first question, the objective and goals, teaching contents, and teaching-learning methods of the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model were chosen through literature review regarding young children''s participation rights and decision-making learning model as well as through a survey on the requirements for promoting young children''s participation rights in professionals and incumbent teachers. On the basis of the chosen objective and goals, teaching contents, and teaching-learning methods, 20-session activity was designed and a method of evaluating the program was developed. The draft program was examined for applicability to early childhood education before the final plan for the program was developed.

To answer the second question, the effects of the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model on young children''s participation rights and decision-making ability were analyzed. The 20-session activity was performed in an average of two sessions a week for 12 weeks from November 12, 2018 to February 15, 2019 in the experimental group of 15 five-year-old children at S Nursery and the control group of 15 five-year-old children at N Nursery in G City. The program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model was run in the experimental group and the general Nuri curriculum was performed in the control group. The adaptations of the contents related to children''s human rights education in the Young Children''s Attitude Regarding Human Rights Inventory developed by Kim, Kim, and Jang (2008) and the Daily Kindergarten Teaching Plan developed by Kim, Park, and Cho (2009) were used to measure young children''s participation rights and Park''s (2012) Young Children''s Decision-Making ability Inventory in three- to five-year-old children was used to measure decision-making ability. With the scores in the pretest of the experimental and control groups as covariates and those in the post-test as dependent variables, ANCOVA was carried out to test the effects of the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model on young children''s participation rights and decision-making ablity.

The results of this study can be summarized as follows:
First, the objective of the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model was to allow young children to ''perceive themselves as the subject of their own life, understand the roles as the subject of rights in many different situations, and improve the ability to participate personally in decision-making processes and make a choice and decision'' and the specific goals were to ''express their own thinking and feelings clearly and freely,'' ''recognize many different problem situations and participate spontaneously in a decision-making process to solve a problem,'' and ''realize a life exerting their own right completely in work and activity.'' The teaching contents of this program were six provisions related to the participation right in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: ''expression of intention,'' ''freedom of expression,'' ''freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,'' ''freedom of gathering,'' ''privacy,'' and ''information access.''
The teaching-learning principles of the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model were ''spontaneous participation,'' ''mutual respect,'' ''practice,'' and ''rational decision-making.'' The teaching-learning of the program was in the cycle of ''motivation'' in the 1st phase, ''problem-setting'' in the 2nd phase, ''problem-solving'' in the 3rd phase, ''alternative-setting'' in the 4th phase, ''alternative evaluation'' in the 5th phase, ''decision-making'' in the 6th phase, and ''presentation and consolidation'' in the 7th phase. Teachers'' roles were chosen, focusing on an ''empathic supporter,'' a ''participation right promotion facilitator,'' a ''decision-making facilitator,'' and an ''advocate of children''s right.'' Assessment was developed in such areas as the goals, contents, and methods of the program.
Second, as for the effects of the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model, the children in the experimental group showed statistically significantly better attitude toward their participation rights in general and some of its sub-areas, such as ''expression of intention,'' ''freedom of expression,'' ''freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,'' ''freedom of gathering,'' ''privacy,'' and ''information access,'' than those in the control group. The children in the experimental group were statistically significantly better at decision-making in general and all of its sub-areas, such as ''self-regulation,'' ''situation analysis,'' ''emotional utilization,'' ''problem-coping,'' and ''referential communication,'' than those in the control group.
In conclusion, the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model contributed to the improvement in young children''s participation rights and decision-making ability. These results demonstrate that the program for promoting young children''s participation rights based on decision-making learning model can present systematic and specific roles of participating in many different problem situations or decision-making processes for young children and be run as an effective on-site program.