Collaborative research on the seemingly close but dominant relationships in infancy

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18661
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Education and related fields
• Research Institution: Kyoto Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: HATTORI Keiko 京都府立大学, 公共政策学部, 教授 (70324275)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 幼児期 / 親密性 / 支配的な関係 / 集団づくり

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In study 1, nursery teachers in charge of 2-5 year-old or 3-5 mixed classes responded to the questionnaire that inquired about their recognition of “Controlling relationship” among children. Analysis of 312 follow-up answer sheets revealed that nearly 70% of 5-year-old teachers recognized the controlling relationships and the rate was significantly higher than the other classes. In 3-5 year-old classes, the relationships were found to be apt to last. It became clear that high percentage of 3 year-old class teachers kept watching the state calmly for a while, on the other hand, many of 5 year-old class teachers had made efforts but it was hard to change the relationship.
In study 2, through participant observation and hearing from class teacher, the process became clear with a condition for the other children to become able to show their true feelings.

Free Research Field

保育学、発達心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、幼児期における支配的な関係が保育者にどのように認知されているかについて300名以上を対象に追跡的な分析を行うことができた。その結果、３歳児クラス以降に認知される「親密にみえる支配関係」は、「様子をみる」だけでは持続する傾向があり、５歳児クラスになってその関係を変えようと働きかけても変わりにくいことが明らかになった。こうした関係の問題性を感じながらも「どうしたらよいかわからない」という保育者が多く、子ども自身も葛藤を抱えていたことから、研究者との協働によって関係改善に向かった過程を分析し、具体的な方法と変化の要因のいくつかを明らかにできた意義は大きい。