This study aims to develop and apply a program to improve the level of knowledge of agriculture so that the importance of agriculture can be recognized from the childhood until its adult age. For this purpose, research was carried out according to two ...
This study aims to develop and apply a program to improve the level of knowledge of agriculture so that the importance of agriculture can be recognized from the childhood until its adult age. For this purpose, research was carried out according to two objectives that were established : 1) development of the agriculture literacy education program for young children, and 2) application of the agriculture literacy education program for young children
1) Development of the agriculture literacy education program for young children
First, the needs of the early childhood teachers was prioritized and Borich analysis was used to reflect them in the program to develop the agriculture literacy education program for young children. Secondly, a focus group interview was conducted with early childhood education professor, early childhood teacher, and agricultural experts to examine the development direction and appropriateness of the draft proposal. Third, the content of the agriculture literacy education program for young children was composed to reflect the developmental stage of young children and NURI-program. Lastly, the program was composed with various instructional media, such as picture book, video, and hands-on experience, that young children may have interest in.
2) Application of the agriculture literacy education program for young children
The study applied the mixed methods research of concurrent embedded strategy that Creswell and Clark(2011) proposed to verify the effectiveness of the program. For the collection of quantitative data, a questionnaire was produced to measure the agricultural literacy of young children with the reference to the prior study on environmental sensitivity, environmentally friendly attitude, and more. In addition, a control group without a program was selected and analyzed using t-verification to better understand the effectiveness of the program of the groups. Qualitative data collection obtained general opinion on the program from the journals of early childhood teacher, who is secondary to identifying changes in the infant not identified by quantitative analysis.
The agriculture literacy education program for young children was applied from the first week of April in 2017 to the first week of August in 2017, and this period includes all 28-sessions of the program along with the post-inspection period of the program. There were significant differences in post-agriculture literacy score by groups(F=961.28, p<.001). As result of covariance of pre-agriculture and environment, pre-agriculture and society, and pre-agriculture and economy, scores of post-agriculture and environment by group(F=302.87, p<.001), post- agriculture and society(F=577.27, p<.001), post-agriculture and economy(F=1441.98, p<.001) showed significant difference. After the initiation of the program, promoted interest and knowledge in agriculture of young children was reaffirmed in the teachers’ journal. The qualitative analysis that was conducted to observe the effectiveness of this program was able to divide into three categories: ‘understanding of agriculture and ecosystem’, ‘traditional cultural experience through agriculture’, and ‘connection of life and agriculture’.
The specific details obtained from the qualitative analysis are as follows : First, based on an understanding of agriculture and the ecosystem, it is important to ensure that young children who live in urban areas have an awareness of the importance of agriculture and the value of agriculture. This experience of agriculture is important to improve the understanding of agriculture and help them recognize the value of agriculture.
Second, the experience of traditional culture through agriculture is not an industry that provides only food but also the role of producing various external effects and functions, such as environment preservation and traditional cultural succession.
Third, as we engaged in agricultural activities, the young children gradually connected their lives with various aspects of agriculture, and this became the motive to build a foundation to study a lifestyle that is concurrent with nature and to have a positive image of rural area where produces food in a situation where the connection between agriculture and life is currently difficult for agricultural and rural communities.