보육교사의 공감능력 및 직무스트레스가 교사－영유아 상호작용에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of early childhood teachers’ empathy ability and job stress on the teacher-children interaction. The surveyed group of this study are 212 teachers working at the day care centers in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do and Incheon. The findings of the study were as follows. First, there were significant differences in empathy ability according to type of institute and ratio of teacher vs child, and teachers’ job stress according to age of the class in charge and presence/absence of assistant teacher. Second, there was a positive correlation between empathy ability and teacher-children interaction, and a negative correlation between job stress and teacher-children interaction. Third, empathy ability and job stress had a statistically significant effect on teacher-children interaction. In conclusion, this study found out that cognitive empathy is a factor that improves the quality of teacher-children interaction, and suggested the need for strategic support in leadership, administrative support, relationships.