돌봄 교실 아동의 정서지능과 또래유능성에 미치는 원예활동의 효과

The Effects of Horticultural Activities on the Emotional Intelligence and Peer Competence of Care Class Children

This study attempted to examine the effects of horticultural activities based on various techniques on care class children’s emotional intelligence and peer competence and to analyze the correlation between the two factors. For this study, an experiment was conducted with 12 care class students who were 1st~2nd graders at P Elementary School in D Metropolitan City. The horticultural activities consisted of plant growing, horticultural arts, and flower arrangement, and each activity was applied five times in a repeated pattern. After the horticultural activities, the children’s mean emotional intelligence was improved significantly from 26.7±6.7 to 30.8±6.9 (P=.007). In particular, empathy and emotion regulation ability showed a remarkable improvement. Peer competence was also improved by 3.9 points from 47.9±13.7 to 51.8±9.3 after the horticultural activities, but the difference was not significant (P=.255). However, a correlation was not observed between the two factors.