본 연구의 목적은 유아들이 유치원 인근 숲에서 자유로운 탐색, 오감각으로 체험, 생태강사와 함께 놀이를 중심으로 한 자연체험 활동에 참여하면서 나타나는 유아들의 경험이 어떠한지를 알아보는 것이다. 이를 위해 경기도 광주시 N병설유치원의 만 5세 유아 6명을 대상으로 연구자가 생태강사 1인과 함께 16회에 걸쳐 자연체험활동을 실시하였고, 녹화자료의 전사, 사진, 연구자의 기록, 메모, 유아들의 작품 분석 등 자료를 수집, 분석하였다. 연구결과, 연구초기 유아들은 숲과 활동에 대한 낯설음과 두려움을 나타냈고, 점차 자연과의 교감을 경험하였다. 또한 유아들은 적극적인 탐색활동을 통한 다양한 표현활동과, 숲 속에서 친구와의 다양한 경험을 나타냈다.
This study was to find out the experiences of young children who participated in nature-experiencing activities which comprised searching freely, experiencing by five senses, and playing with eco-staffs in the wood neighbouring their kindergarten.
For the purpose, following research question was set up.
1. What experiences do young children have during nature-experiencing activities in the wood which neighbors their kindergarten? Participants for this study were six five-year-old children attending a kindergarten attached to N primary school in Gwangju, GyeongGi. This kindergarten is characterized by its attending children who moved to the area in order to get education in the nature-friendly environment.
The 16 study sessions had been conducted in the wood near Namhansansung which neighbors N primary school every Wednesday and Friday for eight weeks from October 6th to November 26th, 2010. The researcher and an eco-staff led each theme-specified session from 13:00 to 14:30. The nature-experiencing activities consisted of one or two sessions on 11 themes covering the Namhansan wood in fall and winter. Children searched the wood freely, experienced the objects in nature by touching, smelling, hearing, and/or feeling, and enjoyed the play activities with eco-staffs.
To increase validity and reliability, data were collected by triangulation method (Merriam, 1988/1994) including transcribing video-recoded documents, picturing, recording and memo-taking, and analysing young children's works. Collected data were then processed by organization, area analysis, classification and category analysis, result interpretation.
Results of this study were as follows: The experiences which young children had during nature-experiencing activities were 'unfamiliarity with nature and related activities,' 'sympathy for nature which children experienced,' 'the wood in fall and winter presented by movements, drawings, songs, and natural objects,' and 'the wood where children played with friends.' First, children experienced unfamiliarity with and fear about nature and related activities. During the early stage of this study, children expressed their unfamiliarity with and fear about nature and related activities, were reluctant to the activities, showed interests in other topics. As sessions were conducted, however, children participated in the sessions actively.
Second, children experienced sympathy for nature. They showed various curiosities and gradually felt familiarity with nature by sympathizing for nature. Additionally, children felt the coziness which nature provided with, the beauty of nature, and the feeling of achievement as they continued to visit the wood and participate in the nature-experiencing activities.
Third, children showed various expressions by active searches. They expressed nature by using movements, drawings, and songs while searching the wood in fall and winter. Some children even showed creative expressions using objects found in the wood.
Fourth, children had various experiences when they played with friends in the wood. Children got related with classmates whom they were not friends with in classroom or participated in the activities with them. Children helped and cooperated with friends in need, apologized to friends and solved problems when they were in trouble. Children made up a creative play with friends or showed a play which represented friends and natural objects.
