숲유치원 운영실태 및 운영방안에 대한 연구

A study on the Management State and Methods of Forest Kindergarten

본 연구는 유아교육기관의 원장 및 교사를 대상으로 숲유치원 운영실태 및 운영방안에 대한 요구를 살펴봄으로서 숲유치원의 활성화를 위한 기초자료를 제공하는데 그 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 숲유치원을 운영하고 있거나 운영할 계획을 가지고 있는 유아교육기관 중 각 기관을 대표하는 원장이나 교사가 각 1부씩 작성한 162부의 설문지를 분석하였다. 연구결과 운영실태에 있어서는 숲유치원을 준비 중에 있는 유아교육기관이 많았으며, 숲유치원을 운영하는 기관은 ‘1년 미만’, ‘주 1회’가 가장 많았다. 안전문제에 있어서는 대체로 안전하다고 나타났다. 운영방안에 있어서는 모든 유아교육기관이 적합한 연령은 ‘만 3세부터’로, 적합한 형태는 ‘숲유치원 활동과 유치원이나 어린이집 활동을 연계한 생활형 숲유치원’을 제시하였다. 일일 활동시간은 ‘2시간 내지 3시간’으로, 적합한 교사로는 ‘숲 관련 연수를 받은 유치원교사 및 보육교사’이었다. 연수의 내용은 숲유치원을 운영하는 기관은 ‘숲유치원에 대한 이해와 필요성’, 운영하지 않는 유아교육기관은 ‘안전교육과 응급처지’를 요구했으며, 운영시 고려할 사항은 ‘편하게 갈 수 있는 접근성’과 ‘위험요소나 유해요소와 관련된 안정성’이 가장 많았다. 산림청과 지방자치단체에 바라는 점은 ‘숲해설가의 지원’, ‘안전’, 그리고 ‘숲과 숲유치원의 홍보’ 등이었다.

The purpose of this study was to examine the state of management in forest kindergartens and the needs of principals and teachers of early childhood education institutions for their management in an attempt to provide some information on the development of a Forest kindergarten. The subjects in this study were the principals and teachers of early childhood education institutions who took training courses at the Forest Kindergarten Association. After a survey was conducted, 162 answer sheets from 162 early childhood education institutions were analyzed. As a result, it s found that many of the early childhood education institutions were getting ready to run forest kindergartens, and the largest number of the institutions run forest kindergartens for less than a year and once per week. The Safety Problem is mostly safe in the forest. In terms of management, every institution considered it advisable for preschoolers to start experiencing a forest kindergarten at the Western age of 3. As to the appropriate form of a forest kindergarten, every respondent replied that a combination of forest kindergarten activities and regular kindergarten or daycare center activities would be appropriate, which could be called a forest kindergarten linked to daily routine life. Concerning appropriate hours of daily activities and teachers in charge, they pointed out two or three hours of activities per day and kindergarten teachers or daycare teachers who completed all the related training courses. As for the content of training, the institutions that run forest kindergartens wanted to have the right understanding of a forest kindergarten and its necessity, and those that didn t run forest kindergartens asked for safety education and first-aid education. As a result of asking what should be noted in operating a forest kindergarten, the largest group called for good accessibility and safety. Finally, they expected Forest Service and local governments to provide personnels who could explain about forest, to help guarantee the safety of preschoolers and to publicize forest and forest kindergartens.