Development of Group Counseling Program Based on TCIT(Teacher-Child Interaction Training) to Improve the Communicative Ability of Early Childhood Care Center Teachers

Objectives The purpose of this study is to develop a group counseling program based on Teacher-Child Interaction Therapy (TCIT) to enhance the communication skills of early childhood daycare center teachers and to verify its effectiveness. Methods The needs of 215 early childhood daycare center teachers nationwide were surveyed, and the program was designed based on the ADDIE model. The designed program was applied to the experimental group, and its effects were analyzed by comparing it with a comparison group and a control group using the Communication Ability Scale (Fritz et al., 1999). Quantitative analysis was conducted using SPSS 27.0, and qualitative analysis was performed using session feedback reports, comprehensive feedback reports, and participants’ application logs from the experimental and comparison groups. Results For the development of the program, directions for the design, as well as the purpose and objectives of the program, were established. Subsequently, session-specific activity goals, content, and operation strategies were designed. The final program was completed through an expert validation process. When the final program was applied to the experimental group, the overall scores and sub-factor scores of the communication scale for the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the comparison group and the control group. In particular, qualitative analysis revealed that the sub-factors of memory, concentration, comprehension and interpretation, response, and analysis and evaluation improved among participants in the experimental group. Conclusions This study developed and applied a TCIT-based group counseling program, verifying its effectiveness in enhancing the communication skills of ealry childhood daycare center teachers. By demonstrating greater effectiveness compared to a comparison program (TA), the study highlights the potential applicability of this program in practical settings. Given the notable lack of effective programs aimed at improving the communication skills of preschool teachers, this study significantly increases the potential for future utilization of the developed program.