The purpose of this study was to examine the needs of Multi-Cultural families using Child Care Centers for child care service in a bid to help the heads and teachers of Child Care Centers provide quality, nonbiased educare for children from Multi-Cultural families to make a well-round growth.
The subjects in this study were mothers of Multi-Cultural families who resided in Jinju, Hadong, Namhae and Hamyang and used Child Care Centers. After a survey was conducted, the answer sheets from 128 respondents were analyzed. A SPSS 14.0 program was employed to analyze the collected data, and a frequency analysis was utilized to find out their general characteristics. A descriptive statistics analysis was made to grasp their needs, and independent-samples t-testing and one- way ANOVA were carried out to look for connections between their general characteristics and needs for programs. Finally, Pearson correlation coefficient was utilized to check the relationship between their use of the Korean language and needs for programs.
The findings of the study were as follows:
First, regarding the reason for the use the Child Care Centers, they used the Child Care Centers to educate their infants or preschoolers.
Second, concerning the relationship between their own general characteristics and the reason for the use the Child Care Centers, those who were working and who stopped at elementary school used the Child Care Centers for their own reasons. In terms of husband-related characteristics, the mothers whose husbands received middle-school or lower education used the Child Care Centers to educate their infants or preschoolers.
Third, as for needs for child care service, they had strong needs for education programs, parent-teacher communication and maintenance of child care facilities, but they didn't ask a lot for parent education.
Fourth, concerning the relationship of their own, husband-related and family-related characteristics to needs for child care service, there were significant gaps in needs for education programs according to the occupation of their husbands and the order of birth of the children using the Child Care Centers, which were respectively the husband-related and family-related characteristics. The occupation of their husbands, one of the husband-related characteristics, made a significant difference to their needs for parent-teacher communication and maintenance of child care facilities. Their needs for parent education significantly varied with their Korean proficiency and the age, occupation and academic credential of their husbands, which were respectively one of their own characteristics and the husband-related characteristics. Overall, the husband-related characteristics mostly made significant differences to needs for child care service.