본 연구는 유치원에 다니는 만 3세 유아를 대상으로 자유선택활동 시간에서의 놀이선택이 어떤 상황에서 어떻게 이루어지며 그 교육적 의미는 무엇인지 분석하고자 문화기술적 접근을 적용하였다. 연구결과, 자유 의지에 따라 계획적인 선택을 많이 경험한 유아는 그렇지 못한 유아들에 비해서 자신을 조절할 수 있었으며 놀이에 좀 더 적극적으로 참여하고 있었다. 자유선택활동 시간에서의 놀이선택이 나타나는 맥락적인 상황은 유아의 내적인 자발성, 교사의 지원, 물리적인 환경에 대한 지원과 관련이 있는 것으로 나타났으며, 이러한 각 상황들이 교육적으로 의미하는 바가 무엇인지 함께 분석되었다.

Using the ethnographic inquiry methods of participant observation, in-depth interviews and collected documentation, this research investigates young children`s choice of play during free-choice activity time and analyzes the situational context of free-choice play in terms of its educational significance. Subjects were three year old children from three kindergarten classrooms. Analysis reveals that those children who had considerable experience in choosing and planning for an activity on their own demonstrated more self-regulatory behavior and more engaged participation in the activity they chose than did children with less experience. The situational context of such free-choice play was highly correlated with three factors: the child`s inner spontaneity, support from the teacher and the physical environment of the classroom. The implications of this study are as follows. First, teachers need to develop strategies for assisting those children who have difficulty in spontaneously choosing their play activities. One such strategy might be to help the children form peer relationships. This strategy and all such strategies would involve observing and carefully assessing children`s needs and individual characteristics. The second implication is that young children need lots of guided opportunities in making decisions and planning the steps they will use during their free choice activity. Lastly, the study makes clear that teachers must prepare a variety of free-choice activities from which to choose. The choices offered an individual child should reflect the teachers careful assessment of that child`s needs, interests and capabilities. To insure maximum educational values for each choice, all of the activities presented to the child as possible choices should be in a well-structured and safe physical environment.