< VOLUME 49, No.3 > Koga Matsuka. What Is the Difficulty of Daycare of 1-Year-Old Children at the Nursery Center?. Research on Early Childhood Care and Education in Japan, 2011, 49(3), 248-259. The purpose of this study is to examine the structure of difficulty in the class of 1-year-old children from the viewpoint of the nursery teachers. Twelve nursery teachers participated in the research interviews. As a result, it was found that the difficulty is constructed from three frameworks; the conditions of the characteristics of the daycare of 1-year-old children, the recognition of the point of daycare and its effective ways, and nursery teachers’ thoughts regarding the daycare of 1-year-old children. From the analysis of the relation of the three frameworks, the nursery teachers are in “the dilemma of the intention to give high-quality daycare which is based on the characteristics of the daycare of 1-year-old children and difficulty with practice because of the structure of the daycare”. Keywords: daycare of 1-year-old children, nursery teacher, the minimum standards of child welfare institution, dilemma —————– Yamada Emi. Promotive Interaction between Spacial Settings and Children’s Activities in Kindergarten : Action Research on Library Corner Space. Research on Early Childhood Care and Education in Japan, 2011, 49(3), 260-268. The purpose of this study is to examine the learning center spatial conditions which activate young children’s activity in early childhood education. This study explores some practical conditions of constructing a library center in the classroom of the kindergarten, through an action-research method. Daily, as children get used to the library center, the way of children’s picture book reading is modified (eg. read more communicative with peers). This study figured out some important points in regards to organizing the library center such as: dividing the center into spaces that are not too big, having a table of the size which is enough to share a book with peers, and presenting the front page of the book. Keywords: learning center setting, action research, library center —————– Toyoda Kazuko. A Study on Discussions and Accomplishments over the “Educational Quality” of the German Kindergarten : Focus on the Studies by Tietze. Research on Early Childhood Care and Education in Japan, 2011, 49(3), 269-280. This paper aims to clarify the recent research trends on the theme of “educational quality” in the German kindergarten. I especially examine the accomplishments by Tietze, W. study-group (Berlin Free University). Their research has two significant success points. The first is the proposal of “good-seal (Gutesiegel)”. This contains 4 educational qualities. (1) the educational idea, (2) the educational structure, (3) the educational process, (4) the cooperation with family. The second significant point is of the publication of the “national standard catalog for the educational quality of kindergarten (the third edition, 2007). This catalog composes 21 areas and 6 important view-points. This is used to plan for securing and improving the educational quality in each kindergarten. I think that these accomplishments by the Tietze, W. study-group are, as a step in pre-school education, significant in giving a new social function for the kindergarten. Keywords: educational quality, German Kindergarten, Tietze, Good-seal（Gutesiegel）, national standard catalog —————–