Early Childhood Environmental Education in Korea

유치원 환경교육의 현황과 과제 -서울 소재 유치원을 중심으로-

Present situation and problems of environmental education in teacher education of 1079 kindergartens located in Seoul were investigated. More than 90% of kindergarten teacher recognized the need of environmental education in early childhood education of Korea. However, only 65% of kindergarten teachers had experiences of providing environmental education for their children. They complained that they had a poor knowledge about environmental problems and environmental education. They reported that kindergarten had no systematic programs and useful materials for environmental education. Firstly, the emphasis of environmental education in teacher education and on-the-job training programs for kindergarten teachers was discussed. And the development of environmental education programs and educational materials for young children on the basic of national policy was proposed.