Effect of the Ecological Horticultural Activity Program of the Nature School on Elementary School Student's Self-esteem and Sociability

Abstract

In this study, we conducted pre- and post surveys on the nature school program implemented at Songchon-ri Camp Ground in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, organized by the Institute of Light Finders, targeting as treatment group, 73 elementary school students who participated in the horticultural activity program through weekend nature school in the wild and the control group, another 73 elementary students who did not participate. After an examination of self-esteem and sociability in treatment group and control group pre- and post-horticultural activity program, both self-esteem and its sub-areas in the control group improved at the P<0.05 level (p=0.161) but exhibited no statistically significant difference while both self-esteem and its sub-areas in the treatment group improved at the P<0.05 level (p=0.000), indicating a statistically significant increase. While sociability in the control group showed a statistically significant difference (p=0.025), there was no statistical difference in the three sub-areas of sociability -confidence, sociability, interpersonal relations (P>0.05). On the other hand, there was a statistically significant increase at the P<0.05 level in the treatment group in sociability and its three sub-areas (p=0.000). As a result, the weekend nature school's horticultural activity program was evaluated and analyzed as being effective for children's positive development of self-esteem and sociability. Also, we discovered that children's horticultural activity is more beneficial when it occurs in the early stage of their development because that is when children's emotional scope expands and view widens.