Wellbeing in South Korea

Led by a PhD student, Sooyeon Byun, we investigate wellbeing of families, children, and early childhood teachers in South Korea. 

In 2019, we collected data from early childhood teachers in South Korea to understand the state of their psychological wellbeing and its associations with their professional engagement and classroom quality. The survey was adapted from the US national survey on early childhood teachers’ social-emotional capacity that Dr. Lieny Jeon conducted at The Ohio State University. This project allows us to conduct cross-cultural comparison studies on early childhood teachers’ wellbeing. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, survey and interview data were collected from parents of preschool-aged children in South Korea to understand their experiences. This study revealed that many parents were experiencing household chore and child care related burdens, which were associated with the degrees of their stress and resilience. We also investigate further the way early care and education programs responded to the sudden surge of the pandemic, and how this was related to parents’ wellbeing amid the COVID-19 crisis.