본 연구는 유아교육 관련 학회지에 수록된 논문을 중심으로 유아교사관련 연구경향을 탐색해 보는데 그 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 유아교사관련 논문 366편을 연도별로 연구주제, 연구대상, 연구유형, 관련변인 및 변인 수, 자료수집 및 분석 방법으로 나누어 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 연구주제로는 교사의 효능감이나 직무만족도, 인식과 실태를 포함하는 교사의 행동에 관한 연구가 가장 높은 비율을 차지하고 있었다. 연구방법에 있어 연구대상으로는 보육교사에 비해 유치원 교사를 대상으로 하는 연구가 많았으며, 표집 크기는 양적 연구에서는 201～300명이, 질적 연구에서는 6～10명이, 연구자 수는 2인의 공동연구가 점차 증가하는 추세를 보이고 있다. 연구유형으로는 양적 연구가 주류를 이루고 있으나 최근 들어 질적 연구의 비중이 늘었고, 관련 변인으로는 교사 개인 내 변인과 유아를 관련 변인으로 하는 연구가 많았으며, 변인 수는 1개가 가장 많은 것으로 나타났으나 최근 들어 다변인으로 연구하는 경향이 나타났다. 자료수집 방법 중 양적 연구에서는 질문지가, 질적 연구에서는 심층면접이 자주 활용되었고, 차이분석을 자료 분석 방법으로 실시하는 논문이 많은 것으로 드러났다.

This study explores general research trends in early childhood teacher education from 1978 to 2006, through an examination of 336 early childhood teacher's articles from 4 Korean academic journals, categorizing each article according to research themes, research subjects, research types, related variables, data collection methods and data analyses. The results of the study are as follows: The most prevalent research theme was teacher behavior, including teacher efficacy, work satisfaction, recognition and practice. The subjects generally were early childhood teachers. The number of subjects showed an increase from 201 to 300 subjects in quantitative research and from 6 to 10 subjects in qualitative research. Studies with more than two researchers also increased. Under research types, quantitative studies accounted for the largest portion. With regard to related variables, teachers and young children were most frequently studied, and the number of variables generally used was one. In collecting data, questionnaires were most frequently used for quantitative research, and in-depth interviews were most frequently applied in qualitative research. A majority of the studies used verification of differences as their data analysis method.

This study explores general research trends in early childhood teacher education from 1978 to 2006, through an examination of 336 early childhood teacher's articles from 4 Korean academic journals, categorizing each article according to research themes, research subjects, research types, related variables, data collection methods and data analyses. The results of the study are as follows: The most prevalent research theme was teacher behavior, including teacher efficacy, work satisfaction, recognition and practice. The subjects generally were early childhood teachers. The number of subjects showed an increase from 201 to 300 subjects in quantitative research and from 6 to 10 subjects in qualitative research. Studies with more than two researchers also increased. Under research types, quantitative studies accounted for the largest portion. With regard to related variables, teachers and young children were most frequently studied, and the number of variables generally used was one. In collecting data, questionnaires were most frequently used for quantitative research, and in-depth interviews were most frequently applied in qualitative research. A majority of the studies used verification of differences as their data analysis method.