The purpose of this study is to examine what differences the facilities of family
daycare centers and caregiver characteristics make to the quality of daycare service,
and to help improve the family daycare service. The subjects in this study were 40
family daycare centers and their main caregivers located in Seoul. To assess their
quality of service, a survey was conducted and Harms and Clifford's rating scale
was employed. The facility characteristics are shown to make significant difference
according to the size of the facility. The caregiver characteristics are found to
significantly depend on their academic backgrounds, specialties, supplementary
education experiences, as well as membership of supporting organizations. Moreover
the caregiver characteristics turn out to be one of the most important factors
determining the quality of family daycare service.
Consequently, the system of family daycare centers should be improved in light of
the features of facilities and teachers to boost their performance, and diverse efforts
should be put into elevating the expertise of teachers from various perspectives.