Development and application of sustainable development education programs for young children: Focusing on the ｢Soop-i Orae Kids Academy Ⅰ｣Program

Objectives This study developed and applied a 6-session continuous education for sustainable development (ESD) program for children based on terrestrial ecosystem conservation (SDG15), one of the sustainable development goals. Through this, the purpose is to analyze the effect on cultivating children's ecological literacy and to spread sustainable development education programs based on terrestrial ecosystem conservation (SDG15) to domestic arboretum and botanical garden education. Methods A pre-survey and a post-survey were conducted after applying the ESD program to 114 children in kindergartens and daycare centers at 8 institutions located in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do to determine the effect of cultivating ecological literacy. Results We planned a sustainable development education ESD program focusing on terrestrial ecosystem conservation (SDG15) with four people, including a science education expert, a forestry education expert, and an early childhood education expert. Seven instructors with an average of 12.5 years of forestry education experience conducted the training from April to October, and a survey on ecological literacy was conducted before and after the training to determine its effectiveness. Pre- and post-analysis examined the difference in means, t-test mean (M), standard deviation (SD), and significance probability, and Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine the relative influence between questions to determine the correlation between the two variables. I looked into it. Conclusions In this study, we developed and applied an ESD program based on terrestrial ecosystem conservation (SDG15) targeting young children. Through this, it was found that children's ecological knowledge was cultivated. As a result of checking the average difference in ecological literacy according to age, the average in the post-survey increased in all items compared to the pre-survey, and in particular, the reverse scoring question, Governance of Nature, showed the largest increase. As for the results according to gender, the pre-survey showed significant differences in six items excluding ecological development and control of nature, while the post-survey showed significant differences only in control of nature. In terms of age, it was found that ecological literacy was significantly improved in 7-year-old girls rather than 6-year-olds, and in gender, 6-year-old girls. Therefore, this educational program was effective in cultivating children's ecological literacy.