The Effects of Early Childhood Teachers' Multicultural Sensitivity and Multicultural Acceptance on Multicultural Teaching Competency

This study is to examine the effects of multicultural sensitivity and multicultural acceptance on multicultural teaching competency among early childhood teachers. The study targeted 280 early childhood teachers working in 54 early childhood education institutions in Gyeonggi Province, and data were collected through self-reported surveys. A total of 240 responses were used for analysis, and data processing was conducted using SPSS 22.0, including correlation analysis and regression analysis. The results showed that, first, there is a positive correlation between teachers' multicultural sensitivity, multicultural acceptance, and multicultural teaching competency, indicating that these three variables positively influence each other. Second, the analysis revealed that multicultural acceptance partially mediates the effect of multicultural sensitivity on multicultural teaching competency. Based on these research results, specific action plans were presented to improve multicultural education, such as developing multicultural education training programs, activities linked to family centers, development of multicultural-related textbooks and teaching materials, and spreading multicultural awareness using media. In addition, academic ideas such as digital platform design and case-based practical guidelines for strengthening multicultural education were presented, suggesting the need for efforts to improve teachers' sensitivity and acceptance and multicultural education capabilities.