The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the mood of the end of environmental fairy tales on elementary school students’ environmental sensibility and environmental attitude and to provide suggestions for the selection of educati...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the mood of the end of environmental fairy tales on elementary school students’ environmental sensibility and environmental attitude and to provide suggestions for the selection of educational materials and the improvement of environmental education methods that can enhance students’ environmental sensibility and environmental attitude in a desirable direction.
For the study, 102 students who are the fifth grade of elementary schol located in Seocho-gu, Seoul were divided into two experimental groups and a control group, and after the preliminary test with the inventory with regard to environmental sensibility and environmental attitude, it allowed one experimental group to read 8 environmental fairy tales with a positive ending mood and the other experimental group to read 8 environmental fairy tales with a negative ending mood for about three weeks, respectively, and then the post test was conducted to compare and analyze the results.
The mood in the end of environmental fairy tales was classified into a positive ending mood and a negative ending mood depending on how students feel after reading the contents of the ending. Environmental fairy tales that create a positive ending mood end with contents such as the overcoming of environmental problems and living together with people and nature(animals and plants), which makes readers feel positive emotions such as satisfaction, hopefulness, and happiness. Environmental fairy tales that create a negative ending mood end with contents like that nature is destroyed, or characters become unhappy due to human greed, making it possible for readers to feel negative feelings such as angry, hopeless, and depressed.
The results of analyzing the study and post-test between the two experimental groups showed that there was a statistically significant difference in environmental sensibility and environmental attitude. First of all, environmental fairy tales that create a positive ending mood were more effective in enhancing the overall environmental sensibility and environmental sensibility by category. In terms of the environmental attitude, the environmental fairy tales with a positive ending mood influenced the overall environmental attitude and the changes in the environmental attitudes of each area in a more favorable direction. On the other hand, in the environmental attitudes of each subject, the environmental fairy tales with a positive ending mood were more effective in the general environment, environmental pollution, energy, and water resources, and those with a negative ending mood were more effective in the recycling. There was no statistically significant difference in animal protection-related topics, meaning that the mood of the end of fairy tales did not have a great influence on the formation of attitudes toward animal protection.
In conclusion, the mood of the end of environmental fairy tales had an influence on the environmental sensibility and environmental attitude of elementary school students. Therefore, the inclusion of proper environmental reading materials according to the learning theme or target within or outside the environment-related classroom will likely enhance students’ environmental sensibility and environmental attitude in a positive direction, and if students continue to do activities about reading environmental books, it is thought to ultimately increase students’ practical orientation.