Lecture
The theoretical foundations of environmental education are set out in the “Concept of General Secondary Environmental Education” (1994) - the authors are I. D. Zverev, A. N. Zakhlebny, I. T. Suravegina, T. V. Kucher, L. P. Saleeva and others.
Environmental education is understood as a continuous process of learning, education and personal development, aimed at forming a system of scientific and practical knowledge, value orientations, behavior and activities that ensure a responsible attitude to the surrounding socio-natural environment.
Environmental education aims to create a responsible attitude to the environment, which manifests itself in three aspects: in relation to the natural environment; to your own health and the health of others; in active creative activity on the study and preservation of the surrounding socio-natural environment.
The "Concepts" formulated the basic principles of environmental education for schoolchildren:
• principle of science;
• principle of humanization;
• interdisciplinary approach to the formation of ecological culture;
• the principle of predictability;
• systematic and continuous study of environmental material;
• the unity of the intellectual and emotional-volitional beginnings in the activities of students to study and improve the environment;
• interrelation of global, national and regional disclosure of environmental problems in the educational process.
Preschool childhood is the initial stage in the formation of a person’s personality, its value orientation in the surrounding world. During this period, a positive attitude is laid towards nature, towards the “man-made world”, towards oneself and towards other people.
Environmental education of children of preschool age is a priority in the system of continuous environmental education, a prerequisite for sustainable development of the country, ensuring continuity between all spheres of the social formation of the individual (family - kindergarten - school - university - professional activity).
• formation of a system of elementary knowledge of natural and transformed human nature (first of all, the immediate environment);
• developing skills in environmentally sound and safe behavior and elementary ideas about the dependence of human health on the state of the environment and one’s own behavior;
• formation of elementary ideas about a person as a biosocial being and environment of his life;
• fostering conscious attitude towards objects of nature and objects of the man-made world;
• the formation of the foundations of ecological culture;
• formation of skills and desire to predict their actions in relation to the environment, etc.
The content and methodology of environmental education for preschoolers are presented in a number of partial author programs: “WE” by N. N. Kondratieva and others; "Young Ecologist" S. N. Nikolaeva; “Our home is nature” by N. A. Ryzhova, “The Planet is our home” by I. G. Belavina and N. G. Naidenskaya, “We are Earthlings” by N. N. Veresov, “Seven-colored” by V. I. Ashikov and S.G. Ashikova et al.
The authors of the program "WE" believe that "... the core of the content of ecological culture is the ecological understanding of animals, plants, people as living beings" [25; four].
The idea of the unity and interconnection of the living and nonliving is revealed at the level accessible to preschool children. It explains the relationship of the organism with the environment, manifested in specific forms of adaptation of a living being to its conditions. It gives an idea of how living things are adapted to the environment, about changes in their livelihoods depending on seasonal changes. Understanding this connection ensures the development of a child's elementary ecological notions and creates the basis for environmentally appropriate behavior.
The key to the program is the concept of "living organism". Living are people, animals and plants. All living things move, breathe, feed, feel. Living beings live, which means: they satisfy their needs, grow, develop, give birth to the same as themselves. A living thing can exist if its main organs are not damaged, the links with the environment are not broken; if the environmental conditions correspond to his needs and possibilities of adaptation.
In the “Concept of the environmental education of preschoolers” (S. N. Nikolayeva, 1996), environmental education refers to the process of forming the beginnings of environmental culture, that is, the formation of a consciously-correct attitude directly to nature itself in all its diversity, as well as to people creating based on its wealth material and spiritual values. It also relates to oneself as a part of nature, an understanding of the value of life and health and their dependence on the state of the environment. This awareness of their skills constructively interact with nature.
S. N. Nikolaeva believes that living organisms can be considered from an ecological point of view, in their interaction with the environment. Therefore, the first ecological concept is the concept of "the relationship of a living organism with its environment." It is due to the fact that any living organism has needs that are satisfied by environmental factors (nutrients, water, oxygen, etc.).
The next important concept - “morphofunctional adaptation (adaptation) of the organism to the environment” - reveals the previous, that is, the mechanism of the relationship of a living being with the environment.
A concretization of the first concept is the concept of "habitat". It is possible to discuss with children what is necessary for the life of a plant or animal (water, air, food, certain temperature conditions, etc.). These concepts, according to S. N. Nikolaeva, express the first and main ecological idea: any organism, through its needs, is associated with the environment through adaptation to certain conditions of life.
According to S. N. Nikolaeva, the content of environmental education covers the following range of knowledge:
• relationship of plant and animal organisms with the habitat, morphofunctional adaptation to it; relationship with the environment in the process of growth and development;
• diversity of living organisms, their ecological unity; communities of living organisms;
• man as a living being, its environment, providing health and livelihoods;
• use of natural resources in human activities; environmental pollution; protection and restoration of natural resources.
Thus, the basis of the environmental education of preschoolers is children's mastering of knowledge about various relationships and relationships in nature. Scientific studies and the practice of preschool education show that the upbringing of ecological culture is possible only under the condition that children form ideas about plants and animals as living beings. Environmental perceptions are viewed by researchers not as an end in themselves, but as a necessary condition for the development of the personality of a preschooler child, of becoming the beginnings of environmental culture.
One of the important conditions for environmental education and training in pre-school institutions is the proper organization and greening of the developing subject matter environment.
According to S. N. Nikolaeva, the main feature of such an environment is the introduction of objects of living nature into it. The variety of flora and fauna on the site of the kindergarten, ecologically correct, the organization of the nature zone in the preschool premises constitutes a developing ecological environment necessary for the upbringing of children. It is this environment that creates conditions for the formation in the child of the fundamentals of ecological consciousness, elements of ecological culture, and the realization of new ideas about the universality and intrinsic value of nature.
N. A. Ryzhova notes that from the point of view of environmental education and upbringing, the environment in a pre-school institution should create conditions for:
- cognitive development of the child (creation of conditions for his cognitive activity; opportunities for experimenting with natural material, systematic observations of objects of animate and inanimate nature, to search for answers to questions of interest to the child and the formulation of new questions);
- the ecological and aesthetic development of the child (drawing attention to the surrounding natural objects, developing the ability to see the beauty of the surrounding natural world, the diversity of its colors and forms, to give preference to nature objects over artificial objects);
- health of the child (use of environmentally friendly materials for interior design, toys; assessment of the environmental situation of the territory of the preschool institution; competent gardening of the territory; creation of conditions for excursions in the fresh air);
- the formation of the moral qualities of the child (the creation of conditions for the daily care of living objects and communicating with them; the formation of the desire and ability to preserve the surrounding natural world;
- fostering a sense of responsibility for the state of the environment, an emotional relationship to natural objects);
- formation of environmentally literate behavior (development of environmental management skills; care for animals, plants, environmentally literate behavior in nature and in everyday life);
- ecologization of various types of child's activities (conditions for independent games with natural material, the use of natural material in classroom activities, etc.).
Any ecological environment consists of various elements. Each of them performs its functional role.
Ecological room (class, room of nature). This element of the ecological environment is intended for carrying out complex classes in ecology, relaxation goals, independent work and independent children's games. In an optimal variant (depending on the size), the room is divided into a number of functional zones, for example, a learning zone, a collection zone, a relaxation zone, a library zone. The design of the ecological class should serve as an example of a safe and aesthetically sound design of the premises, and contribute to the development of environmentally correct behavior of children and adults in everyday life. From this point of view, only natural materials are used here.
The living corner is a fairly traditional element of preschool institutions, but its design and content at the present stage acquires a new specificity related to the tasks of environmental education and upbringing. Animals and plants in the area are selected taking into account educational and educational goals.
The winter garden is also a fairly common element of the environment. The variability of its device is manifested in the selection of plants according to the species composition, appearance, environmental, geographical features, location of individual groups of plants.
Alpine slide is a non - traditional element of the ecological environment. The variability of its device is manifested in the location of the hill {on the territory of the DOW, in the ecological room, winter garden, living area, mini-rock gardens), in the species composition of plants, appearance, size of stones.
Museums. There are two ways to use museum pedagogy for environmental education: visiting museums (local history, natural science, historical, outdoor landscape, art galleries, exhibitions) and the creation of small museums directly in preschool institutions.
These areas are relatively new to kindergartens.
Garden, garden - these elements are common in pre- school , deeply involved in familiarization with nature, and many kindergartens located in small towns and villages. There are three main types of vegetable gardens: in the courtyard of the preschool institution; mini-gardens on the windows; vegetable gardens in greenhouses and greenhouses.
All these elements of the ecological environment serve the purposes of environmental education and training. First of all, they contribute to the emergence of cognitive interest, develop curiosity, teach the care of plants and animals, bring up responsibility for living beings.
According to S. N. Nikolayeva, the creation of an ecological environment, its maintenance at the required level, the improvement and subsequent use in pedagogical activity can act as a method of environmental education of children.
Proper organization of the nature zone involves the assimilation by workers of preschool institutions of an ecological approach to the life of plants and animals and the peculiarities of the methods of environmental education of children.
A specific feature of the method of environmental education of preschoolers is the direct contact of the child with objects of nature, “live” communication with nature and animals, observation and practical activities for caring for them, understanding what they see during the discussion. Next to the child, there must be objects of nature that are in normal (from an environmental point of view) conditions, that is, conditions that fully meet the needs of living organisms.
Ecological environment in preschool is, first of all, concrete, separately taken animals and plants that constantly live in the institution and are under the care of adults and children. Educators and other employees of the kindergarten need to know the environmental characteristics of each object of nature - its needs for those or other environmental factors, the conditions under which it feels good and develops. In preschool there can be any animals and plants, if they meet the following requirements:
- safe for life and health of children and adults (poisonous and prickly plants, aggressive and unpredictable animals in their behavior are unacceptable);
- unpretentious from the point of view of maintenance and care (in kindergarten the main attention is paid to the child, plants and animals are the “objective” environment of their life which helps to educate; good maintenance of plants and animals should not take up much time, effort and attention from the teacher) .
Strict adherence to the ecological approach to the objects of the ecological environment in kindergarten will allow children to see:
1) the inseparable and most common connection of a living organism with the external environment;
2) morpho-functional adaptation to certain elements of the habitat;
3) the emergence of a new organism, its growth, development and conditions that ensure these processes;
4) the specifics of a living organism (plant, animal), its difference from objects;
5) the diversity of living organisms and different ways of interacting with the environment.
According to S. N. Nikolayeva, an ecological approach to living objects means an ecologically correct maintenance of animals, i.e., creating for them individual conditions that maximally replicate their natural habitat:
- assignment of a sufficiently large space (ground, air, soil, water);
- equipping the room (aviary, aquarium, terrarium) with appropriate attributes from natural material;
- the creation of the required temperature;
- selection of the right feed.
Such conditions are the most humane way of keeping animals, which is important from the point of view of the ecological and moral education of children. In such conditions, animals are active, which allows you to organize observations of different spheres of their life: food, nesting, movement, raising offspring, etc. In such conditions, children can trace the adaptive characteristics of animals: camouflage coloring, storing feed, care for offspring and other moments from animal life.
Ecological approach is necessary not only for the maintenance of animals, but also for plants. The main factors determining the life of plants, their growth and development are light, moisture, heat, nutrient medium, soil, air. Environmentally correct maintenance of indoor plants can not be implemented without knowledge of their biological needs and origin, their natural habitats.
Thus, the creation and maintenance of the ecological environment in pre-school educational institutions, as well as the observance of the principle of an ecological approach to the maintenance of living objects are an important condition for the formation of an ecological culture of children of preschool age.
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Pedagogy and didactics
Terms: Pedagogy and didactics