A longitudinal study of transition to nursery school by newly enrolled children in a remote island and an urban area

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K21789
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 9:Education and related fields
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Negayama Koichi 早稲田大学, 人間科学学術院, 名誉教授 (00112003)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 外山 紀子 早稲田大学, 人間科学学術院, 教授 (80328038) ; 石島 このみ 白梅学園大学, 子ども学部, 講師 (70735117)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 保育園入園 / 環境移行 / 乳児 / 位置移動 / モノ / 保育士 / 身体接触 / 抱き

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Entering a nursery school is the first experience for a child to be away from home and spend a long time under the aromatherapy. This research was to compare his initial situation on a remote island (Tarama Village, Miyako District, Okinawa Prefecture) and urban Kanto areas (Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture), but due to the corona pandemic we were forced to concentrate on the urban area. As a result of our studies in Kanto areas, it was found that entering kindergarten is a stressful experience for the newly enrolled children, and physical contact, especially hugging, by nursery nurses plays an important role in relieving it, and that the presence of objects (toys) also has great significance. The nurses encouraged contact with objects while in holding the children, which, together with the development of locomotor behavior and autonomy in children, promoted play and adaptation to the situation, which supports their environmental transition from home to a day nursery.

Free Research Field

発達行動学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、新規入園という場面に焦点化し、家庭からの環境移行における子どもの適応能力を明らかにすることができた。特に保育士の果たす役割ならびに子どもにとってポータブルな私的モノ環境、いいかえると「お守り」としての玩具の役割に光をあてることができ、家庭での親による保護から保育園での保育士によるアロマザリングへの環境移行におけるヒトとモノの複合システムが果たす役割について新たな観点を生み出すことができた。このことは発達心理学的に貴重な知見であるだけでなく、保育実践にも重要な示唆を与えるものである。