Environmental education has so far dealt mainly with cognitive areas. The ultimate goal of environmental education or ecological education is not limited to knowledge but to induce environment·friendly behaviors. To achieve the goal, students need to...
Environmental education has so far dealt mainly with cognitive areas. The ultimate goal of environmental education or ecological education is not limited to knowledge but to induce environment·friendly behaviors. To achieve the goal, students need to have new perception on nature and the environment. They should see the environment not as a physical being but as a living organism, and see it not with their eye but with their mind.
The present study examined environmental sensitivity, which is an affective area that bases responsible environmental behaviors. Many of previous researches on the environment attempted to induce environmental behaviors by making children have more knowledge about the environment, but contrary to the existing approaches, it has been found that activities cultivating sensitivity have positive effects on environmental behaviors. Thus, in order to cultivate environmental sensitivity, the present study developed a program designed to be executed for 2 years (3 semesters), and applied it to an environmental extracurricular activity class.
Based on the results of this study, environmental sensitivity can be summarized into affective perspective taking, and aesthetic understanding-appreciation-expression abilities. Affective perspective taking is an ability to consider and understand others’ situation or position first, and aesthetic understanding-appreciation-expression abilities are abilities to feel beauties and express the feelings in a sensible way.
In order to cultivate environmental sensitivity, we designed an environmental education program to be executed for 2 years (3 semesters). The theme of the 1st semester program is plant. The program was designed to stimulate children’s interest in natural environment through showing animations related to trees, and the ‘My Tree’ project was linked to programs ‘Adopting a Tree’ and ‘Talking with Trees’. In addition, plant map making is an activity to examine plants, aiming at cultivating environmental sensitivity. The theme of the 2nd semester program is animal. This program was designed to make children familiar with and interested in animals by showing movies related to animals and to cultivate sensitivity through animal-related song singing and making activities. The 3rd semeser program was designed to lead children to come closer to the natural environment using soil easily found around us, and to cultivate environmental sensitivity through drawing characters of sunlight, air, water, etc., making environmental newspapers, and so on.
The results of this study are summarized as follows.
First, while doing the 1st semester activities related to students’ environmental sensitivity, students began to perceive plants, which had not been significantly meaningful to them. They came to watch trees and flowers with interest, and showed keener curiosity about trees, flowers and wild plants that they had failed to recognize before. As a result, plants, which had looked unremarkable, gradually emerged as meaningful objects.
Second, in the 2nd semester program related to animals, students began to attach meanings to living organisms. They felt with their mind and saw with their eye that plants and animals are not separated from them but are living together with them in the same space and time. They showed interest in ants that they found on their way home, and were excited with animals and insects, to which the children had not paid attention before. They came to feel interest in the world out of their understanding that the world is beautiful because all in the world have life.
Third, with the 3rd semester activities, when the children were asked about what they had seen and felt on their way to school, they began to make expressions not only on plants and animals but also on their surprise at bright sunshine in the morning, their thanks to clean air, their interest in the changing shape of clouds in the sky, etc.
The program developed in this study led learners to see nature as a life and view and understand it with their mind. In addition, it had positive effects on the students so that they could find the beauties of the environment. The results of this study imply that education in the environment, by the environment and for the environment should cultivate environmental sensitivity, which is an ability to find changing beauties in the environment itself and share such feelings.