Stanislava Marić Jurišin, PhD, Jelisaveta Šafranj, PhD, Borka Malčić, PhD Eco Programme as Factor of Socio-emotional Development of Preschoolers Pr ejeto 14.03.2020 / Spr ejeto 01.06.2020 Znanstveni članek UDK 373.2:502:159.92 KLJUČNE BESEDE: ekološki pr ogram, socialno-ču- stveni razvoj, ekološko-humanistične vr ednote, pr ed- šolski otr oci, vzgojitelj POVZETEK – Izobraževanje za trajnostno družbo bi moralo mladim generacijam omogočiti, da v nasle- dnjih desetletjih razvijejo vr ednote, pridobijo znanja in veščine za r eševanje okoljskih in družbenih izzivov . Namen te raziskave je bil pr eučiti, kako sodobni okolj- ski pr ogrami vplivajo na socialno-čustveni razvoj pr edšolskih otr ok, in ugotoviti, koliko ti pr ogrami pri- spevajo k dojemljivosti pr edšolskih otr ok za razume- vanje vr ednot trajnostne skupnosti. Članek pr eučuje vlogo vzgojiteljev in njihovih kompetenc pri ur esniče- vanju in uvajanju sodobnih ekoloških in humanistič- nih konceptov v delo pr edšolskih zavodov . Pridobljeni r ezultati kažejo, da med otr oki, ki so obiskovali različ- ne pr ograme, obstajajo razlike v doseganju okoljskih in humanističnih vr ednot in vr ednot trajnostne sku- pnosti. Na ravni socialno-čustvenega razvoja ni bila potrjena statistična razlika med različnimi skupinami otr ok. Rezultati nadalje kažejo, da je dober učni načrt nujen, vendar ni zadosten pogoj za spodbujanje soci- alno-čustvenega razvoja pr edšolskih otr ok. Received 14.03.2020 / Accepted 01.06.2020 Scientific paper UDC 373.2:502:159.92 KEYWORDS: ecological pr ogramme, socio-emotion- al development, ecological-humanistic values, pr e- schoolers, educator ABSTRACT – Education for sustainable society should enable young generations to acquir e knowledge and skills, and to develop values for solving envir onmental and social challenges in the coming decades. The aim of the r esear ch was to examine the influence of mod- ern ecological pr ogrammes on the socio-emotional development of pr eschool childr en and determine their contribution to the sensitization of pr eschoolers to un- derstand the values of a sustainable community . The paper also examines the r ole of educators and their competences for the r ealization and intr oduction of modern ecological-humanistic concepts in the work of pr eschool institutions. The obtained r esults suggest that ther e ar e differ ences in the achieved level of adoption of ecological and humanistic values, and values of a sustainable community , among childr en who have at- tended differ ent educational pr ogrammes. At the level of socio-emotional development, statistical significance was not confirmed between differ ent gr oups of childr en. The r esults further suggest that a good-quality curricu- lum is a necessary but insufficient condition to encour - age socio-emotional development in pr eschoolers. 1 Introduction Modern societies rest on communities that owe their existence to a thought- ful attitude towards a variety of current and future resources. Therefore, developing “green” educational institutions has become the moral imperative of the 21 st century (Klemenović & Marić Jurišin, 2012). It is believed that the ecological-humanistic para- digm itself carries a blend of society, individual and nature, as well as well-being for all of them. In this context, ecology is not merely a science about the co-existence of plant and animal species and their preservation, nor about the problems of degradation and exhaustion of various planetary resources and finding renewable energy sources or recycling, but it rather represents a concept of living (Potočnik & Hus, 2015). Environ- 53 Marić Jurišin, PhD, Šafranj, PhD, Malčić, PhD: E c o P r o g r a m m e a s F a c t o r o f S o c i o . . . mental education is defined as the process that provides the development of environ- mental awareness in all sections of the society (Gündüz & Erdoğuş, 2018). Preschool institutions and schools are automatically assigned the role of institutions that represent and advocate the moral “voice” of society. Kemp (2005) suggests that nowadays educational system should be considered a failure if the moral voice is not the voice of a citizen of the world. With this stance, Kemp highlights two important points: □ the moral dimension of sustainable development, and □ the invaluable role of upbringing and education in early childhood in the development of global citizenship (Johansson, 2009). Education that paves the way towards sustainability needs to be based on the fol- lowing principles and values: integration unity, gender equality, social tolerance, pov- erty reduction, environmental protection, restoration and conservation of natural re- sources, and “peaceful society” (UNESCO, 2006). Preschool childhood is considered a critical period for awakening sensitivity and intuitive connection with the world of nature, and the preschool institution as the first stage of educational system in the society is called to provide working with children based on the general experience of nature and awakening of emotional sensitivity (Markuš & Čagran, 2017). Contemporary preschool institution finds its foundations in contextual learning, social constructivism and ecological-humanistic paradigm. Con- structivism places the child in its centre as an active creator and thinker in the learning process, without neglecting the role of the adult/educator. The educator is there to pro- vide support and create an incentive environment for the work and progress of children. The concept of sustainable development assumes a holistic approach in which the in- dividual, his world and relationship towards nature are inseparable and form a unique whole (Hägglund & Samuelsson, 2009; Pearson & Degotaridi, 2009). Hence, there is the need for a humanistic-holistic approach as a strategic priority for the development of ecologically sustainable community. It is the socio-emotional development which is the most deserving component in adopting prominent human values and acting in accordance with them. “This is an in- tense period of developing and adopting social values and fundamental moral norms; understanding the world and the our place in it; finding the objective place in social relations; aligning one’s own desires and needs with the desires and needs of others; developing the ability to interact with others; developing the ability to integrate per- sonal goals into group goals; developing trust and confidence in oneself and others; developing awareness of belonging to our culture and tradition, but also of connection with the culture and tradition of other nations; developing the concept and sense for justice; developing emotional stability, empathy, respect and love for all living beings; understanding the human influence on the environment and assuming responsibility for it; understanding the importance of “health’’ of the planet for all people; building personal attitude towards nature ...” (Kamenov, 2007, p. 92). Facilitating the develop- ment of these skills, knowledge and abilities requires engaging the authentic individual life forces of each child (watching, listening, smelling, sensing, observing, thinking, remembering, curiosity, desire, imagination, love). This means that during the process of learning at preschool age, the eyes should be enabled to see, the brain to think, the heart to feel, the ears to listen, fingers to sense, touch (Slatina, 2005 according 54 Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja (2, 2020) Kostović & Marić Jurišin, 2011). Among the most important characteristics of socio- emotional development, from the perspective of sustainable community, the following stands out: relationship with peers, relationship with adults, rules, cultural awareness, play, communication, emotional awareness, self-management, social awareness and socio-emotional balance (Goleman, 2008; Petrović, 2006; Brajša-Žganec & Slunjski, 2007; Slunjski, 2012). An appropriate socio-emotional development requires know- ing and understanding the norms, rules and values of the community from which the child originates and in which he/she lives, as well as mastering the skills necessary for effective interaction within the given community. A socially competent child can use incentives received from his/her milieu as well as his/her own personal incentives, and achieve good developmental results that enable satisfactory and competent participation in the community to which the child belongs to (Brajša-Žganec, 2003). Furthermore, the child’s emotional competence is considered to be essential for successful interper- sonal relationships with peers (Petrović, 2006). Emotions as a result of social experi- ences received from the environment motivate cognitive processes and behaviours, and regulate physiological, cognitive and behavioural aspects of behaviour of individuals in the community (Brajša-Žganec, 2003). In order to encourage the ecological way of thinking and acting, in recent years, an increasing number of ecologically-oriented programmes has been implemented in edu- cational practice (Cutter-Mackenzie et al., 2014; Ardoin et al., 2018). Given that “return- ing” to humanization certainly does not mean the renunciation of individuality, but only individual´s inclination to change the notion of the self, emphasizing the significance of such programmes for the development of both the entire society and the individual (De Groot & Steg, 2009; Kaiser & Byrka, 2011), it would be important to examine whether there are differences in the level of socio-emotional development among children of preschool age who attended ecological kindergartens, children included in ecological- humanistic programs and children who attended regular preschool programmes. There are a number of environmentally oriented programmes in the world (Earth Child: Games, Stories, Activities, Experiments and Ideas About Living Lightly on Planet Earth in the United States; Education for the protection of the environment of Nordic countries, Finland; National Strategy of Environmental Education in the Rus- sian Federation, the programme of humanistic and ecological education of preschoolers called “We are earthlings”, Russia; programme of ecological education in kindergarten about national parks “Rila” and “Central Balkan”, Bulgaria) (Marić Jurišin, 2015). The programme that emerged in some kindergartens in Serbia is the ecological-humanistic programme created by Veresov “We are earthlings”. It is intended for the ecological upbringing and education of preschool children aged 5 to 7 years, and is based on a holistic approach to the world, the educational philosophy of “cultivation”, method of “meaningful dialogue” and modern humanistic psychology (Klemenović, 2009). This programme emphasizes that before children are asked to learn about nature in order to prepare to become her guardians, they need to be able to develop love for their own home, planet Earth. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to provide children in kinder- gartens with a complete picture of the world in which they live, instead of teaching them how certain natural phenomena look (Veresov, 2002 according Marić Jurišin, 2015). 55 Marić Jurišin, PhD, Šafranj, PhD, Malčić, PhD: E c o P r o g r a m m e a s F a c t o r o f S o c i o . . . 2 Method Aim and hypotesis Based on the above stated facts, the goal of this research is to examine the influ- ence of contemporary ecological programmes on the socio-emotional development of preschool children and determine their contribution to making preschoolers sensitive to understanding the values of a sustainable community (taking responsibility, empathy, care, tolerance, belonging) and acting in accordance with them. The framework of the research problem and goal, based on the concepts of biophilia and ecophilia, specifical- ly imposed the question of the role of educators and their competences in the realization and introduction of modern (ecological-humanistic) concepts in the work of preschool institutions, aimed at empowering a sustainable community (Marić Jurišin, 2015). Chil- dren have innate affinities and genetic predispositions to explore and develop love for nature (biophilia) and the environment. A new ecological culture of a holistic, all-en- compassing moral view of the world is born from love (ecophilia). In order to develop this innate affinity in children, it is necessary to meet a series of conditions, which is the responsibility of pedagogues (White & Stoecklin, 2008). The basic hypothesis of the research is that there are differences in the achieved level of socio-emotional develop- ment between children who were included in educational activities created within the ecology programme “We are earthlings” and their peers who attended regular preschool programmes and children who were included in educational programmes of ecological kindergartens. Sample and instruments Starting from the set goal, the research was carried out on a deliberate sample of 190 children attending preparatory preschool programme (so-called preparatory groups; 5.5/6.5 years old) of preschool age (N = 190), from six preschool groups (Table 1). This is an ex-post-facto study in which two groups were control groups, i.e. groups that worked according to the regular preschool programme provided in the Republic of Serbia, while the other four groups were experimental, i.e. groups that were already influenced by the ecological factor (two groups attended an ecological kindergarten and two worked based on the humanitarian-ecological programme “We are earthlings”). All children attend the public preschool institution “Radosno detinjstvo” in Novi Sad, Serbia. The total sample in the first and the second group consisted of 64 children each, while the third group included 62 children. Ten educators working in these kindergartens also participated in the research: four from the first group, two from the second group and four from the third group. In groups where both educators participated, educators were asked to jointly fill the descriptive scale of assessment of socio-emotional development and jointly realize this activity in order to obtain the most reliable results. The methods of collecting research data in the empirical part of the research in- cluded surveying, scaling and systematic observation. Since the field of pedagogy lacks 56 Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja (2, 2020) any standardized instruments for measuring socio-emotional development which would suit the needs of this research, the following instruments were constructed for this pur- pose: descriptive scale of assessment of socio-emotional development of children for educators, ecological story for children and educators, and protocol for the observation of children’s reactions during the focused thematic activity. T able 1. Research sample Subsamples Children Gender Educators Male Female Group 1 Children covered by upbringing / educational activities created within the ecological programme “We are earthlings” 64 32 32 4 Group 2 Children included in the upbringing / educational programme of ecological kindergartens 64 32 32 2 Group 3 Children attending regular preschool programme 62 24 38 4 Ʃ 190 88 102 10 The descriptive scale of assessment of children´s socio-emotional development consists of ten variables across five modalities with a growing frequency of positive responses, of which six variables relate to the social (relationship with peers, relation- ship with adults, rules, play, cultural awareness and communication) and four to the child´s emotional development (emotional awareness, self-management, social aware- ness, social and emotional balance). This scale was developed on the basis of the scale used in the PIPS test for educators – PIPS Baseline on Entry Assessment for use in the Netherlands – Performance Indicators in Primary Schools. The test was constructed by the CEM Centre at the University of Durham, England (Marić Jurišin, 2015). Analyz- ing the reliability of the constructed scale, a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.924 was obtained, which implies a high degree of reliability. The ecological story “Laza and the Gray Smoke” for children and educators was also designed for the purpose of this research in order to gain insight in the level of development of ecological and humanistic values in children, i.e. sensitivity for under- standing the values of a sustainable community (taking responsibility, empathy, care, tolerance, belonging) and acting in accordance with them. While involving cognitive, emotional and behavioral spheres, i.e. integrating various activities, literature is an in- spiring stimulus, which may contribute to shaping an individual who is conscious of and responsible for the natural environment both in personal and social dimensions (Papuzińska, 2007, Ungeheuer-Gołąb, 2009).The story was conceived based on similar stories used in working with children of early ages (Earth Child, Sheehan and Waidner; Living and Learning Rights, Maleš, Milanović and Stričević; Learning to Live T ogeth - er in Peace fr om Early Childhood, World Association of Early Childhood Education AMEI – WAECE according to Marić Jurišin, 2015). 57 Marić Jurišin, PhD, Šafranj, PhD, Malčić, PhD: E c o P r o g r a m m e a s F a c t o r o f S o c i o . . . The protocol of observing children’s responses and reactions to the story, as well as the questions and activities arising in the process of storytelling, emerged in line with the ecological story. The teacher read the story to children; after that, they were placed in a problem situation during which the teacher was asking them the prepared questions, which gradually led to the essential question, i.e. “Why is it important to preserve our planet?” Then, children presented their solutions of the problem through productive drawing activities. Their responses were recorded and classified into nine observed categories: □ While answering and commenting, children confirmed that they acquired the kno- wledge about environmental protection; □ They were aware of what could be done about this issue, and they made suggestions and offered possible constructive solutions (critical thinking); □ They displayed positive emotions and feelings regarding nature protection; □ They needed assistance while explaining and describing what was required of them; □ The children had the opportunity to talk about this topic with their parents as well; □ In productive activities (drawing), they confirmed that they understood the message of the story; □ In productive activities (drawing), they expressed a sense of care towards nature; □ The children understood that the world consists of a series of relationships between humans and nature; □ The children understood the message that the planet Earth is our only home – they accepted the responsibility, and expressed affection and empathy). 3 Results Based on Table 2, it can be concluded that there is a statistically significant differ- ence between groups at the overall level of socio-emotional development of preschool children (F = 9.275; p = 0.000). T able 2. Statistically significant differences in the level of socio-emotional development Socio-emotional development Sum of squar es df Variance F p Among groups 1196.23 2 598.11 9.27 0.000 Within groups 12058.94 187 64.48 Ʃ 13255.17 189 A statistically significant difference was found between the first and the second group of children (p = 0.013), and the first and the third group of children (p = 0.000) (Table 2.1), while there was no significant difference between the second and the third group (p = 0.076). 58 Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja (2, 2020) T able 2.1. Statistically significant difference in the level of socio-emotional deve- lopment among groups Gr oup (I) Gr oup (J) Differ ence between the AM pairs of gr oups (I–J) Standard error p 1 2 –3.57* 1.41 0.013 3 –6.12* 1.43 0.000 2 1 3.57* 1.41 0.013 3 –2.55 1.43 0.076 3 1 6.12* 1.43 0.000 2 2.55 1.43 0.076 At the level of overall socio-emotional development, children of the third group received the highest scores from their educators, that is children attending kindergarten that lacks ecological status and ecological programme as well (Table 2.2). T able 2.2. Arithmetic means in the component of Socio-emotional development Gr oup AM N SD 1 35.98 64 9.58 2 39.56 64 8.09 3 42.11 62 5.92 Ʃ 39.18 190 8.37 By monitoring the educator’s elaboration of the ecological story with the children, the researcher recorded and classified the children’s responses. By analyzing the col- lected data, it can be concluded that there is a statistically significant difference among the three groups of children (Table 3) T able 3. Statistically significant difference in the component of Ecological value Sum Sum of squar es df Variance F p Among groups 44.33 2 22.16 66.50 0.003 Within groups 1.00 3 0.33 Ʃ 45.33 5 59 Marić Jurišin, PhD, Šafranj, PhD, Malčić, PhD: E c o P r o g r a m m e a s F a c t o r o f S o c i o . . . T able 3.1. Statistically significant difference among groups in the component of Ecolo- gical value Gr oup (I) Gr oup (J) Differ ence between pairs (I-J) Standard error p 1 2 4.50* 0.57 0.004 3 6.50* 0.57 0.002 2 1 –4.50* 0.57 0.004 3 2.00* 0.57 0.041 3 1 –6.50* 0.57 0.002 2 –2.00* 0.57 0.041 Based on Table 3.1., it can be concluded that a statistically significant difference exists between all groups in the following frequency: between the first and the second group (p = 0.004), the first and the third group (p = 0.002); and the second and the third group (p = 0.041). In contrast to the previously analyzed aspects of socio-emotional development, the children from the first group have the highest scores, AM = 33.00, followed by the children from the second group, AM = 28.50, and finally the children from the third group, AM = 26.50 (Table 3.2). T able 3.2. Arithmetic means within the component of Ecological-Humanistic Values Gr oup AM N SD 1 33.00 2 0.00 2 28.50 2 0.70 3 26.50 2 0.70 Ʃ 29.33 6 3.01 In an attempt to synthesize the results obtained on the scale of socio-emotional development and the scores of observed behaviours, which represent the values of a sustainable community, it can be concluded that no correlation between the scores on the scale of socio-emotional development and the observed behaviours were shown to be statistically significant (Table 4). In addition to the correlations between the overall socio-emotional development and the scores on observed individual behaviours (Ta- ble 4), the study also analyzed the correlation of this construct with the sum of average scores on all observed behaviours taken together, whose descriptive characteristics are shown in Table 4.1. Pearson’s coefficient of correlation between these two constructs was not proved statistically significant, r = 0.85, p > 0.05. 60 Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja (2, 2020) T able 4. Correlations on the scale of socio-emotional development (SED) and scores on observed behaviour (OB) SED OB1 OB2 OB3 OB4 OB5 OB6 OB7 OB8 OB9 SED 1 OB1 –0.92 1 OB2 0.38 0.00 1 OB3 –0.92 0.99** 0.00 1 OB4 0.60 –0.86 –0.50 –0.86 1 OB5 –0.93 0.72 –0.69 0.72 –0.27 1 OB6 –0.12 0.50 0.86 0.50 –0.86 –0.24 1 OB7 –0.60 0.86 0.50 0.86 –0.99** 0.27 0.86 1 OB8 –0.83 0.98 0.18 0.98 –0.94 0.57 0.65 0.94 1 OB9 –0.60 0.86 0.50 0.86 –0.99** 0.27 0.86 0.99** 0.94 1 Remarks: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 T able 4.1. Descriptive indicators of summarized scores of observed behaviours and so- cio-emotional development Min Max M SD OB 3.92 4.21 4.03 0.16 SED 2.94 3.72 3.29 0.39 Analyzing the first matrix (socio-emotional development), the highest scores were achieved by the children from the third group, while in the analysis of the second matrix (values of sustainable community), the situation is different, and the highest scores were achieved by the first group of children. We think that the key role in achieving this result was played by the intervening variable – the educator. The next item that was analyzed on the overall level of socio-emotional develop- ment was the scoring of educators. T able 4.2. Statistically significant difference in the scoring of educators at the level of Socio-emotional development Educators Sum of squar es df Variance F p Socio-emotional development Among groups 2135.65 5 427.13 7.06 0.000 Within groups 11119.52 184 60.43 Total 13255.17 189 61 Marić Jurišin, PhD, Šafranj, PhD, Malčić, PhD: E c o P r o g r a m m e a s F a c t o r o f S o c i o . . . T able 4.3. Distribution of statistically significant difference among educators Analyzed components Educator (I) Educator (J) Differ ences between AM in pairs of gr oups (I-J) Standard error p Socio-emotional development 1 2 –0.86 1.97 0.661 3 –0.07 1.88 0.967 4 –7.55* 1.84 0.000 5 –5.70* 1.89 0.003 6 –7.21* 1.86 0.000 2 1 0.86 1.97 0.661 3 0.79 2.06 0.703 4 –6.68* 2.03 0.001 5 –4.83* 2.08 0.021 6 –6.34* 2.05 0.002 3 1 0.078 1.88 0.967 2 –0.79 2.06 0.703 4 –7.47* 1.94 0.000 5 –5.62* 1.99 0.005 6 –7.13* 1.95 0.000 4 1 7.55* 1.84 0.000 2 6.68* 2.03 0.001 3 7.47* 1.94 0.000 5 1.84 1.96 0.347 6 0.33 1.92 0.861 5 1 5.70* 1.89 0.003 2 4.83* 2.08 0.021 3 5.62* 1.99 0.005 4 –1.84 1.96 0.347 6 –1.51 1.97 0.446 6 1 7.21* 1.86 0.000 2 6.34* 2.05 0.002 3 7.13* 1.95 0.000 4 –0.33 1.92 0.861 5 1.51 1.97 0.446 Table 4.2. provides evidence of the fact that there is a statistically significant differ- ence in the overall level of socio-emotional development (F = 7.06; p = 0.000), while Table 4.3 indicates the distribution of this difference among educators. A statistically significant difference exists between the first and the fourth educator (p = 0.000), the 62 Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja (2, 2020) first and the fifth educator (p = 0.003), and the first and the sixth educator (p = 0.000); between the second and the fourth educator (p = 0.001), the second and the fifth educa- tor (p = 0.021), and the second and the sixth educator (p = 0.002); between the third and the fourth educator (p = 0.000), the third and the fifth educator (p = 0.005), and the third and the sixth educator (p = 0.000), and vice versa. There is no statistically significant difference between the first, the second and the third educator, as well as between the fourth, the fifth and the sixth educator. This confirms that the individual results are in a coherent relationship with the overall result. In particular, this means that the children from non-ecological kindergartens achieved the highest level of socio-emotional devel- opment, followed by the children from kindergartens with ecological status and, finally, the children from kindergartens that implemented ecological-humanistic programme. The obtained results can also be considered in the following way. Sorting kindergartens by grading their awareness in the ecological-humanistic aspect, from the first group consisting of children attending the programme “We are earthlings”, then, the second group consisting of the children from the kindergarten with ecological status and fi- nally the third group of children attending regular kindergarten that lacks ecological status, proportionally opposite results would be obtained, i.e. the highest scores would be mostly achieved by the children from the third group, followed by the children from the second and finally those from the first group. These results can potentially be at- tributed to the abilities and awareness of educators, that is, the higher their awareness of the ecology of human development, the more they themselves are critical, but their sensitivity to working with children is also important, as well as the ability to create an incentive socio-emotional climate in the group (Table 4.4). T able 4.4. Arithmetical means by educators Socio-emotional development Educator 1 Educator 2 Educator 3 Educator 4 Educator 5 Educator 6 T otal AM 35.63 36.50 35.70 43.18 41.33 42.84 39.18 N 38 26 31 33 30 32 190 SD 9.39 10.02 8.05 6.34 4.32 7.10 8.37 4 Discussion Studying the issue of the implication of ecological programmes, which are based on the values of a sustainable community, on the socio-emotional development of pre- school children is aimed at determining the presence or absence of certain value con- cepts in all participants in this process, and their role and significance as well. In other words, whether and to what extent ecological programmes influence the development of values of a sustainable community in children? The research was primarily aimed at monitoring possible deviations in the various dimensions of social and emotional devel- opment among the children who attended preparatory groups within the same preschool institution in which educational work is organized according to the instructions of the 63 Marić Jurišin, PhD, Šafranj, PhD, Malčić, PhD: E c o P r o g r a m m e a s F a c t o r o f S o c i o . . . ecological-humanistic programme “We are earthlings”, ecological kindergartens, and according to the general guidelines of a regular programme document. The obtained results point to the existence of a difference in the achieved levels of adoption of ecological and humanistic values and values of a sustainable community between the children that were included in educational activities created based on the ecological and humanistic programme “We are earthlings” and their peers who attended regular preschool programmes, and children included in educational programmes of ecological kindergartens. As expected, the difference was in favour of the first group of children who attended the programme “We are earthlings”. By analyzing the overall level of socio-emotional development, a statistically sig- nificant difference was found in favour of a group of children who attended a regular preschool programme, but it was not confirmed in the correlation which included the aspect of development (i.e. ecological-humanistic values). That is, at the joint level of socio-emotional and development, the statistical significance of the observed advantage of this group of children in relation to their peers was not confirmed. This result was not expected, but it just pointed out the importance and the role of educators in the upbring- ing/educational process. The results of this paper further suggest that a valid curriculum is a necessary but insufficient condition for fostering socio-emotional development in preschool children, which is equivalent to the fact that a competent educator is also a necessary but insuf- ficient condition for achieving the same goal. It is evident that the upbringing and edu- cation influences are directly dependent on the educators’ willingness and motivation to be professionally trained, and the bearers of change, in addition to a valid (ecologi- cal-humanistic) programme. Namely, educational institutions operating in sustainable communities count on the synergy of various factors and influences. The quality of programmes is valued parallel to the competence of educators enabled to act on a daily basis in accordance with the educational philosophy that emerges from the system of values of a sustainable community. In practice, even the “best” theory depends on the educator’s competence, the way he/she understands and perceives it, and then modi- fies and applies in practice. The educator’s value orientations fall into basic predictors, directly affecting their work and success in achieving high-quality upbringing and edu- cational practice. It can be concluded that a well-founded ecological-humanistic programme has a significant role in the realization of new educational paradigm aimed at developing a sustainable community. The prerequisite for introducing such programmes is a con- tinuous and updated work with future educators and other professionals who prepare for working with children of preschool age, but also with practitioners in educational institutions of all levels whose professional development needs to be facilitated, bear- ing in mind that true changes need time. In line with the above, the first step on the path towards a sustainable community is the adoption of mutually harmonized laws, regulations and strategies at the national and local level that would be in line with the current legislation of countries that are successfully coping with this issue, and taking the responsibility and initiative for introducing true changes in the spirit of a sustainable community that needs vision, perseverance and continuity. 64 Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja (2, 2020) Dr . Stanislava Marić Jurišin, dr . Jelisaveta Šafranj, dr . Borka Malčić Ekološki program kot dejavnik socialno-čustvenega razvoja predšolskih otrok Paradigma okoljskega izobraževanja in vzgoje se kaže kot mehanizem za oblikova - nje in razvoj ekološke kultur e. Njena temeljna načela so prizadevati si za razumevanje celovitosti in enotnosti sveta, za odgovornost človeka za usodo Zemlje in vzpostavitev dialoga med človekom in naravo. Vzgoja za zeleno, trajnostno družbo se je razvijala s pomočjo izobraževanja za varstvo narave, izobraževanja za varstvo okolja, izobraževa - nja za trajnostni razvoj in izobraževanja za trajnostno družbo. T rajnostna družba bi si morala že po svoji naravi prizadevati za tak napr edek, ki ne bi nadalje škodoval narav - nim in človeškim vir om. Simbolično pr edstavlja obdobje, v kater em je družba dozor ela in spr ejela, da bo postala trajnostna. Govorimo o izobraževanju, v kater em lahko vsak posameznik pridobi znanje, razvije veščine in potr ebna stališča ter vr ednote, da lahko sooblikuje trajnostno prihodnost. T ako zasnovano izobraževanje izvira iz humanistične paradigme, saj prav humanistični pristop temelji na ideji, da sta človek in svet en sis - tem. Gr e za sistem, ki hkrati vključuje tako okolje kot človeka in v kater em so bistveni odnosi ter povezave med njima, ne pa človek in okolje kot sestavna dela sistema. Pomen izobraževanja za razvoj trajnostne družbe je bil v sr edišču že v okviru svetovnega vr ha Or ganizacije združenih nar odov leta 2005. Poudarili so, da je tr eba vzgojo za trajnostno družbo pospešeno razvijati že v zgodnji mladosti. Glede na to, da pr edšolska vzgoja in izobraževanje pr edstavljata prvo stopnjo izobraževalnega siste - ma posamezne družbe, je razumljivo, da je tr eba že na tej stopnji storiti prve korake za vseživljenjsko učenje in trajnostni razvoj družbe. Pr edpogoj za to so učni načrti in pr ogrami, ki morajo zagotavljati tudi intelektualni in socialni razvoj otr ok. Praksa je pokazala, da učni načrti, ki razvijajo zgolj kognitivne in intelektualne potenciale otr ok, nimajo trajne vr ednosti. T rajnost zagotavlja ravno socialno-čustvena komponenta, ki pri otr ocih vpliva na usvajanje vr ednot in oblikovanje stališč ter nato na razvoj samo - discipline, etike in morale. Če bo otr ok že v najzgodnejšem obdobju deležen vzgoje za trajnostno družbo, lahko upravičeno pričakujemo, da bo zrasel v osebo, ki se bo znala soočiti s kompleksnimi in r esnimi življenjskimi r esnicami in se prilagoditi spr emembam ter tranzitnim pr ocesom sodobne družbe. Izobraževanje bi moralo ljudi opolnomočiti in jim omogočiti, da spr ejmejo in raz - vijajo vr ednote in veščine, s katerimi bodo znali kritično razmišljati o r esničnosti in spr ejemati prave odločitve o miru, socialni enakosti in pravičnosti. Izobraževanje tako pomaga tistim, ki so izkoriščani, da znajo braniti svoje inter ese in tako ustvarjati boljšo družbo. Če želimo, da bo izobraževanje pot do trajnostne družbe, mora nujno upo - števati naslednja načela in vr ednote: integracijsko enotnost, enakost spolov , socialno strpnost, zmanjšanje r evščine, varstvo okolja, obnovo in ohranjanje naravnih vir ov in “mir oljubno” družbo. Članek izhaja iz spoznanja, da so v vzgoji in izobraževanju nujno potr ebne spr e - membe na ekološkem podr očju, zato pr eučuje vpliv sodobnih pr edšolskih pr ogramov , katerih značilnost so vr ednote trajnostne skupnosti, na socialno-čustveni razvoj pr ed - šolskih otr ok. T a vidik razvoja je izpostavljen zato, ker je izjemno pomemben za razvoj 65 Marić Jurišin, PhD, Šafranj, PhD, Malčić, PhD: E c o P r o g r a m m e a s F a c t o r o f S o c i o . . . vr ednostnega sistema in oblikovanje vr ednostne matrice. Pri tem načinu razvoja gr e za pr enos kulturnih vr ednot skozi družbeno-generacijski vidik vzgoje. T ako usvojene vr e - dnote prispevajo k uveljavljanju trajnostne skupnosti in trajnostne družbe. Vse, kar se otr ok v zgodnjem otr oštvu nauči ali nar edi, spr oži in obarva neko čustvo, čustva so tor ej gonilna sila vsake aktivnosti, končni r ezultat pa je odvisen od njih. Pri trajnostni vzgoji zato ni pomembno le to, kaj se bo otr ok naučil in usvojil na kognitivni ravni, temveč tudi, kako se bo počutil in kakšne vr ednote bo v družbenih interakcijah pridobil. T u se pora - jata filozofski vprašanji, ki sprašujeta, na kakšni vr ednostni matrici je sploh zasnovan naš vzgojno-izobraževalni sistem in kater e vr ednote želi pr enesti na mlajše generacije. Na svetu obstaja veliko okolju prijaznih pr ogramov , za kater e so značilne vr ednote trajnostne skupnosti, kot so pr evzemanje odgovornosti, empatija, skrb, strpnost, pripa - dnost, pravičnost, spoštovanje, poštenost, človečnost, morala, etika ... T aki pr ojekti so npr .: Earth Child: Games, Stories, Activite, Experiments and Ideas Abou Living Lightly - on Planet Earth v Združenih državah Amerike; vzgoja za zaščito okolja nor dijskih držav (Finska); nacionalna strategija ekološkega izobraževanja v Ruski federaciji, pr edšolski humanistični in ekološki izobraževalni pr ogram Mi smo Zemljani (Rusija); pr ogram ekološke vzgoje v vrtcu o nacionalnih parkih Rila in Sr ednji Balkan (Bolgarija) ... Pr ojekt, ki je zaživel tudi v nekaterih vrtcih v Srbiji, je ekološko-humanistični pr o - gram Nikolaja Nikolajeviča V er esova Mi smo Zemljani. Poseben je zato, ker izhaja iz spoznanj razvojne psihologije. Gr e za pr ogram ekološke vzgoje in oblikovanja osebnih spoznanj kot osnove ekološke zavesti, namenjen pa je otr okom, starim od 5 do 7 let. Celotna teza izhaja iz filozofske zasnove vzgoje in izobraževanja kot pr ocesa kultivacije, ki v kultur o vključuje osebnost. Ne prinaša samo novih znanj, ampak sooblikuje tudi sistem osebnih lastnosti, na katerih temelji ekološka zavest. V sr edišču pr ograma je teza o humanističnem pristopu k ekologiji, ki izhaja iz ideje, da sta svet in človek elementa istega sistema tako, da ta sistem vključuje človeka in okolje, ni pa sestavljen iz njiju, temveč iz odnosov . Če želimo, da otr ok uspešno obvlada ta sistem, ga mora najpr ej odkriti. V er esov meni, da je odnos do sveta odvisen od stališč, ki jih oblikujemo in pri - dobimo v otr oštvu. Zagovarja tudi mnenje, da je človeška zavest del sveta pomenov , svet pomenov pa je kultura. Skozi odnose med osebnostjo in kultur o se oblikujejo stališča in sistemi osebnih spoznanj. Poleg pr ogramov smo analizirali tudi vlogo in pomen vzgojiteljev pri izvajanju in ur esničevanju sodobnih ekološko-humanističnih konceptov dela s pr edšolskimi otr o - ki. Ne glede na to, da so pr ogramske aktivnosti ali sr edstva, s katerimi se izvajajo, pomembni, je oseba, ki je posr ednik med okoljem (pr ogramom) in otr okom, vsekakor najodločilnejši faktor pri otr okovem učenju in razvoju. Dober pr ogram je nujen, vendar ne tudi zadosten pogoj za ustr ezen razvoj in napr edek otr ok. T udi najboljši pr ogrami, pripomočki in materialni pogoji ne mor ejo zmanjšati vloge vzgojitelja in njegove oseb - nosti, pr edanosti in samozavesti. V študiji je sodelovalo 190 pr edšolskih otr ok iz pripravljalnih skupin in deset vzgo - jiteljev . T o je “ex-post-facto” študija z dvema kontr olnima skupinama (skupini otr ok, ki sta vključeni v r edni pr ogram v vrtcu v Republiki Srbiji) in štirimi eksperimentalnimi skupinami (skupini otr ok, ki obiskujeta ekološki vrtec, in skupini otr ok, ki sta vključe - ni v humanistično-ekološki pr ogram Mi smo Zemljani). Vsi deležniki, ki so sodelovali v raziskavi, obiskujejo javni državni vrtec ali v njem delajo. Raziskovalne tehnike v empiričnem delu so bile: anketiranje, lestvičenje (skaliranje), sistematično opazovanje 66 Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja (2, 2020) in intervjuvanje. Ker na pedagoškem podr očju ni standar diziranih instrumentov za so - cialno-čustveni in duhovni razvoj, ki bi jih lahko uporabili za to raziskavo, so bili ob tej priložnosti izdelani naslednji instrumenti: opisna lestvica ocene socialno-čustvene - ga razvoja otr oka za vzgojitelje; okoljska zgodba za otr oke in vzgojitelje; pr otokol za opazovanje otr okovih r eakcij med usmerjenimi tematskimi dejavnostmi; vprašalnik za izvedbo poglobljenega intervjuja z vzgojitelji. Pridobljeni r ezultati raziskave so deloma potr dili hipoteze, še pomembneje pa je, da so opozorili na dileme v ekološki vzgoji in izpostavili nekater e pomanjkljivosti v or ganizaciji samega vzgojno-izobraževalnega pr ocesa. Rezultati dokazujejo, da obsta - jajo razlike v stopnji doseganja ekološko-humanističnih vr ednot in vr ednot trajnostne skupnosti med otr oki, ki sodelujejo vpr ogramu Mi smo Zemljani, in njihovimi vrstniki, ki so vključeni v izobraževalne pr ograme ekoloških vrtcev , ter tistimi, ki obiskujejo r edni pr edšolski vzgojni pr ogram. Najvišjo stopnjo vr ednot so opazili v skupini otr ok, ki so bili vključeni v humanistične in ekološke pr ograme. Na podr očju socialno-čustvenega in duhovnega razvoja pa med skupinami otr ok ni bilo statistično pomembnih razlik. Čeprav nepričakovano, so ta spoznanja neposr edno opozorila na pomen in vlogo vzgojiteljev v vzgojno-izobraževalnem pr ocesu. Rezultati, pridobljeni z raziskavo vzgoj - ne prakse, nakazujejo tr enutno stanje v pr edšolskih zavodih v Srbiji in kličejo k spr e - membam, katerih cilj je približati se ekološko-humanistični paradigmi. Očitno je, da so vzgojitelji, ki so pripravljeni in motivirani, da se poklicno in str okovno izpopolnju - jejo poleg veljavnega (ekološko-humanističnega) pr ograma, glavni nosilci spr ememb. Dejavnost izobraževalnih ustanov v trajnostnih skupnostih namr eč vključuje siner gijo različnih dejavnikov in vplivov . Ocenjevanje obsega kakovost pr ograma in kompeten - ce vzgojiteljev , ki lahko vsakodnevno delujejo v skladu z izobraževalno filozofijo, ki je zasnovana na vr ednostnem sistemu trajnostne skupnosti. T aka vzgojno-izobraževalna ustanova pa je možna le v skupnosti, v kateri vsi pr ebivalci enotno delujejo in so eko - loško ozaveščeni in ki se ne zanašajo samo na prizadevanja str okovnjakov . Pr edpogoj za uvedbo okoljsko-humanističnih pr ogramov je stalno delo z bodočimi vzgojitelji in drugimi str okovnjaki, ki se pripravljajo na delo s pr edšolskimi otr oki, z upoštevanjem sodobnih smernic pri delu. REFERENCES 1. Ardoin, N.M., Bowers, A.W., Roth, N.W.,Holthuis, N. (2018). Environmental education and K-12 student outcomes: A review and analysis of research. The Journal of Environmental Edu- cation, 49(1), pp. 1–17. 2. Brajša-Žganec, A. (2003). Dijete i obitelj. Jastrebarsko: Naklada Slap. 3. Brajša-Žganec, A., Slunjski, E. (2007). Socioemocionalni razvoj u predškolskoj dobi: pove- zanost razumijevanja emocija i prosocijalnoga ponašanja. Društvena istraživanja, 16(3(89)), pp. 477–496. 4. Cutter-Mackenzie, A., Edwards, S., Moore, D., Boyd, W. (2014). Young children’s play and environmental education in early childhood education. New York, NY: Springer. 5. Davis, J. (2008). What might education for sustainability look like in early childhood? The contri- bution of early childhood education to a sustainable society. pp. 18–24. Retrieved on 19/15/2019 from the World Wide Web: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001593/159355E.pdf. 6. De Groot, J. I., Steg, L. (2009). Mean or green: which values can promote stable proenviro- nmental behavior? Conservation Letters, 2(2), pp. 61–66. 67 Marić Jurišin, PhD, Šafranj, PhD, Malčić, PhD: E c o P r o g r a m m e a s F a c t o r o f S o c i o . . . 7. Didonet, V . (2008). Early childhood education for a sustainable society. The contribution of early childhood education to a sustainable society. pp. 25–31. Retrieved on 19/15/2019 from the World Wide Web: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001593/159355E.pdf. 8. Goleman, D. (2008). Socijalna inteligencija. Beograd: Geopoetika. 9. Gündüz, S., Erdoğuş, M. (2018). The Role of Environmental Education of New Curriculum in North Cyprus. Open and Equal Access for Learning in School Management, pp. 187–193. 10. Hägglund, S., Samuelsson, I. P. (2009). Early childhood education and learning for sustainable development and citizenship. International Journal of Early Childhood, 41(2), p. 49. 11. Herbert, T. (2008). Eco-intelligent education for a sustainable future life. The contribution of early childhood education to a sustainable society. pp. 63–67. 12. Johansson, E. (2009). The preschool child of today – the world – citizen of tomorrow? Interna- tional Journal of Early Childhood, 41(2), pp. 75–95. 13. Kaiser, F. G., Byrka, K. (2011). Environmentalism as a trait: Gauging people’s prosocial per- sonality in terms of environmental engagement. International Journal of Psychology, 46(1), pp. 71–79. 14. Kamenov, E. (2007). Opšte osnove predškolskog programa – Model B. Novi Sad: Dragon. 15. Klemenović, J. (2009). Savremeni predškolski programi. Novi Sad: Savez pedagoških društava V ojvodine: Vršac: Viša škola strukovnih studija za obrazovanje vaspitača “Mihailo Palov’’. 16. Klemenović, J., Marić Jurišin, S. (2012). “Ozelenjavanje” kurikuluma u sistemu vsapita- nja i obrazovanja Republike Srbije. U: Sodobni pristopi poucevanja prihajajocih generacija, pp. 507–515. 17. Kostović, S., Marić Jurišin, S. (2011) Škola i socio-emocionalni razvoj učenika – od interakcio- nističke teorije ka konfluentnom obrazovanju. Pedagogija, 66(3), pp. 365–372. 18. Marić Jurišin, S. (2015). Implikacije ekoloških programa na socio-emocionalni razvoj dece predškolskog uzrasta iz perspektive održive zajednice. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Fa- culty of Philosophy, Department of Pedagogy, Novi Sad. 19. Markuš, N., Čagran, B. (2017). Primerjava raziskovalnega pristopa s tradicionalnim pri spozna- vanju okolja. Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja, letnik 32, številka 1, pp. 33–46. 20. Papuzińska, J. (2007). Dziecięce spotkania z literaturą. Wydawnictwo Centrum Edukacji Bibli- otekarskiej, Informacyjnej i Dokumentacyjnej. 21. Pearson, E., Degotardi, S. (2009). Education for sustainable development in early childhood education: A global solution to local concerns? International Journal of Early Childhood, 41(2), pp. 97–111. 22. Petrović, J. (2006). Emocionalna i socijalna kompetencija – karakteristike i međusobni odno- si – magistarski rad odbranjen na Filozofskom fakultetu Univerziteta u Novom Sadu. 23. Potočnik, K., Hus, V . (2015). Elementi trajnost nega razvoja v učnem načrtu Spoznavanje oko- lja. Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja, letnik 30, številka 1, str. 86–100. 24. Siraj-Blatchford, J. (2009) Editorial: Education for Sustainable Development in Early childho- od. International Journal of Early Childhood, 41 (2), pp. 9–22. 25. Slunjski, E. (2012). Tragovima dječijih stopa. Zagreb: Profil International. 26. Ungeheuer-Gołąb, A. (2009). Wzorce ruchowe utworów dla dzieci. O literaturze dziecięcej jako wędrówce, walce, tajemnicy, bezpiecznym miejscu i zabawie, Wydawnictwo Uniwersyte- tu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów. 27. UNESCO Guidellines on Intercultural Education. (2006). Section of Education for Peace and Human Rights, Divison for the Promotion of Quality Education, Education Sector. France: UNESCO in Paris. 28. White, R., Stoecklin, V . L. (2008). Nurturing children’s biophilia: Developmentally appropriate environmental education for young children. Collage: Resources for Early Childhood Educa- tors, pp. 1–11. 68 Didactica Slovenica – Pedagoška obzorja (2, 2020) Stanislava Marić Jurišin, PhD (1985), Assistant Pr ofessor , Faculty of Philosophy , Department of Pedagogy , University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Addr ess: Čer evićka 18, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; T elephone: (+381) 064 122 07 57 E-mail: stashamaric@ff.uns.ac.rs Jelisaveta Šafranj, PhD (1958), Full Pr ofessor of English Language, Faculty of T echnical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Addr ess: Bulevar oslobođenja 23, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; T elephone: (+381) 065 421 67 09 E-mail: savetas@uns.ac.rs Borka Malčić, PhD (1983), Assistant, Faculty of Philosophy , Department of Pedagogy , Unversity of Novi Sad, Serbia. Addr ess: Ćirpanova 18, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; T elephone: (+381) 063 500 802 E-mail: borka.malcic@ff.uns.ac.rs