초등환경교육 현장의 쟁점적 질문: 전문가집단토론(FGD)의 결과와 함의 = Critical Questions from the Field of Elementary Environmental Education: Results and Implications from Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study aims to identify and systematize the critical issues that elementary teachers encounter in the everyday practice of environmental education in Korea. Using focus group discussions (FGDs), This study elicited teachers’ issue-based questions through interactive dialogue. This backward-mapping approach prioritizes field-based research, positioning teachers—understood as reflective practitioners and mediating professionals—at the center of making latent educational problems visible. The findings are as follows. First, the issues raised in Korean elementary environmental education were organized into seven categories: (1) the meaning and goals of elementary environmental education; (2) content; (3) teaching and learning methods (and assessment); (4) environmental learners; (5) environmental teachers; (6) teaching materials; and (7) activation and support. Second, the issues were concentrated in categories related to the internal consolidation of practice, whereas relatively few were associated with the institutionalization and systematization of the subject. Third, throughout the discussions, participating teachers repeatedly confronted fundamental questions about the identity and future direction of elementary environmental education, resonating with recent efforts to articulate what is distinctive about the field (“elementary environmental education-ness”). Fourth, the issues observed in the field have evolved over time through the complex interplay of multiple factors; thus, meaningful improvement requires first mapping the overall landscape and systematically articulating the issues, ensuring an understanding of their underlying contexts. We expect that the framework developed in this study will provide a foundation for further advancing elementary environmental education.