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I examined teacher-caregivers' perceptions of toddlers' adaptation to a childcare center in Korea. I also examined their experiences of their current practices related to toddlers' adaptation. Through in-depth interviews with 6 teacher-caregivers, the results showed that although the basic format of the implemented adaptation programs was the same, the teachercaregivers' actual practices differed depending on their perceptions. Some teacher-caregivers believed that their adaptation program allows toddlers to adapt easily to the center, and, thus, emphasized the teacher-caregivers' role as providers of the program. In contrast, other teacher-caregivers focused on toddlers' emotions and ease of transition, and, thus, emphasized the teacher-caregivers' role as sensitive respondents to the toddlers' individual needs for adaptation. Based on my findings, implications are discussed to facilitate toddlers' comfort as they transition to childcare centers.

I recruited a sample of 5 Korean parents to qualitatively explore their perceptions of how their behaviors might impede parent–teacher collaborations, and the reasons that parents behaved in those ways. Individual interviews and field observations were used for data collection. Results showed that being passive, unreasonably demanding, and going directly to a director to protest were considered to hinder parent–teacher collaborations. I also revealed that there is a perceptional gap and limited understanding between teachers and parents regarding the types of behavior needed for effective collaboration. Thus, both parties should develop an understanding based on their views and experiences, which necessitates more opportunities to communicate with frankness and authenticity. This should be the first step in developing parent–teacher collaboration so that both parties are able to reduce misunderstanding, develop mutual consideration, and establish a foundation of trust for their partnership.

We conducted individual and group interviews with six early childhood teachers to better understand their difficulties in establishing parent–teacher partnerships, and to explore the underlying causes of such difficulties. The results show that all the teachers experienced various challenges in their relationships with parents because of fear of conflict, unexpected struggles, parents' distrust, and unreasonable demands. However, these difficulties interconnect with broader sociocultural and structural factors that teachers cannot overcome simply through their individual efforts. Despite this, under the current system, teachers reported that they had to solve problems by themselves, no matter how unreasonable. In conflict with their intention to collaborate better with parents, the teachers became discouraged, passive, and defensive in their relationships, making it increasingly difficult for parent–teacher partnerships to form. The underlying causes that hinder parent–teacher partnerships and the implications of our findings are discussed.