Received: September 30, 2009; Revised: October 8, 2009 Accepted: November 16, 2010.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between maternal knowledge of childcare and mother-teacher communication. The participants consisted of 240 mothers whose children were enrolled at seven childcare centers in Seoul. Respondents were asked to complete a series of questionnaires reporting the important aspects of their childcare, the frequency of mother-teacher communication, and individual characteristics. Information about childcare's structural and procedural characteristics were obtained through interviews with the directors of those centers. The results indicated that mothers only answered 45.5% of questions correctly, and reported a lack of knowledge about childcare services in their respective centers. In particular, mothers didn't have information about caregivers (e.g, education, year of job experience, license, etc). Actual maternal knowledge was significantly correlated with the length of time which mothers were associated with their childcare and the frequency of mother-teacher communication. In addition, there were significant differences in the maternal knowledge regarding childcare services according to mothers' educational level. The results of this study imply that effective parent education programs are needed for mothers who want to enroll their children in childcare centers.