Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' safety education activities to determine the significant educational diagnosis variables and to identify their needs of safety education in early-child care centers based on the PRECEDE model. Methods: A total of 304 teachers in early-child care centers participated in this study selected by a multi-stage stratified sampling method considering 11 regions in Seoul, Korea. Self-report type questionnaires were posted to all teachers in 220 early-child care centers by ground mailing service and the 304 teachers completed the questionnaires. The participants' responses were anonymously coded into and analyzed in SPSS program. Results: 'Scratch or bite' was the most frequent accident type(78.3%) and the frequent accident places were 'classroom(88.8%)' and 'playground(67.8%)'. The most frequently conducted safety education activities were 'reminding children their safe behaviors at the beginning and the end of daily class' and the next was 'saving a special time for safety education.' For educational diagnosis factors, related to safety education activities, teachers' safety education activity was more frequent when teachers' safety knowledge was high(p<.001), when teachers had good application skills of their knowledge to their teaching activities(p<.001), when they had strong needs on safety training opportunities(p<.05), and their interests on safety education(p<.001). For enabling factors, class preparation by safety education guide-book review(p<.001), by development of educational materials(p<.001), and by search for the related reference (p<.001), and by participation to safety education training programs for teachers(p<.01) were the significant enabling factors on teachers' safety class activities. For the reinforcing factors, the center-wide support of safety education brochures to children (p<.001), the concerns of centers utilizing safety education specialists(p<.001), and the concerns about safety information collection out of centers(p<.001) were significant factors related with teachers' safety education activities. Conclusions: The significant educational and institutional factors on teachers' safety education activities were teachers' concerns on safety education, their interests on safety knowledge, and the strong concerns on child safety education from the centers.
