The Post-COVID-19 Era and School-Home Collaboration: What Forest Education Has to Offer

• In Event: Home, School, and Workforce Issues During COVID-19

Abstract

This case study of a forest kindergarten in South Korea suggests that forest education is a suitable form of education for the post-coronavirus era. The forest is a non-virtual environment where social distancing and personal hygiene are easily achievable while physical activities and social skills development are actively promoted. Findings also indicate that students learned to appreciate and coexist with nature instead of exploiting it and that school-home collaboration was easier to achieve than in traditional kindergartens. Activities were not actively led by teachers but by the children, enabling frequent and seamless parent involvement and school-home partnerships.

Author

• Hyelin Park, University of Wisconsin - Madison