Abstract
This chapter provides a review of the historical accomplishments and the current challenges for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Early Childhood in the Korea. Specific references are made to progress being made with regard to environmental education, economic education, and education for social equity. The chapter also reports on the research trials carried out using the Environmental Rating Scale for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood (ERS-SDEC) instrument that was developed by the authors in collaboration with international colleagues in the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP).
In Korea a total of 37 preschools were involved in the trials, and educational provisions for environmental education and economic sustainability were found to be relatively good although the children enjoyed little opportunity to participate in decision making. While Korea has an ECCE curriculum that gives strong support to ESD, the ERS-SDEC trials found that educational provisions for social and cultural sustainability were the weak and in need of further development. The development of a more integrated national curriculum for ESD and education related to social and cultural sustainability were identified as specific priorities for curriculum development.
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Acknowledgments
The authors of this chapter are sincerely grateful to teachers and directors of 37 kindergartens and childcare centers who participate in pilot study of building Environmental Rating Scale for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood. In a process of collecting data from those institutes, Yung-Eui Yoo (Soon Chun Hyang University), Won-kyung Sung (Woosong University), Eun-Jung Kim (Jeju International University), and Gyoung-Suk Ahn (Howon University) gave us great help. We deeply appreciate efforts of those professors for us. We specially thank the teachers and children of Ewha Institute of Childhood Education and Care, Ewha Womans University, who share their cases and pictures related to ESD with us for inclusion in this chapter.
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Park, E., Shin, E., Park, S. (2016). Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Development in Korea. In: Siraj-Blatchford, J., Mogharreban, C., Park, E. (eds) International Research on Education for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42208-4_6
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