Analysis of the characteristics of questions about teaching life of prospective elementary school teachers of the digital native generation

Objectives Current prospective elementary school teachers are part of the Digital Natives generation, who have grown up surrounded by various digital media including the Internet since birth. This study aims to provide basic data necessary to build a customized teacher education and support system that reflects the generational characteristics of prospective elementary school teachers, and ultimately to contribute to finding teacher training and support methods suitable for the changing digital age. Methods Sixty-three prospective teachers belonging to the digital native generation were collected through an open-ended survey method with questions related to their overall teaching careers. The collected data used a qualitative content analysis method, and the question content data was classified by common elements by topic, content, and interest through the stages of transcription, classification, organization, and editing, and the generational characteristics of prospective elementary school teachers were synthesized based on prior research data. Results The questions on prospective elementary school teachers’ teaching careers were classified into six categories: teacher-student and parent relationships, life guidance and discipline, teacher welfare, teacher administrative work, psychological burnout, and others. The classified contents confirmed the generally presented characteristics of the digital native generation, such as ‘individualization, autonomy, emotional pursuit, and digitalization.’ Through the analysis of the question contents, it was confirmed that the characteristics of the digital native generation were also reflected in the questions on elementary school teachers’ teaching careers. Conclusions IIn seeking teacher support measures necessary for the digital age, we identified the generational characteristics of prospective elementary school teachers and the areas that require improvement and reflection in the teaching profession. In accordance with the changes in the digital age and educational policy, we should emphasize that prospective elementary school teachers should have the ability to utilize digital technology, but we should also focus on improving interpersonal relationships and emotional management skills between educational entities and on changes in human communication and communication methods with elementary school students. We need personalized learning experiences and educational methods that respect autonomy for prospective elementary school teachers, and furthermore, we need to observe the overall actual teaching performance process of teachers in the changed educational field in the long term and analyze the impact of their generational characteristics and the educational methods they pursue on students.