The purpose of this study was to develop a food art program using storytelling for improvement of young children'' creativity and drawing representation ability, and to verify the validity of the application of the developed program. This is expected to help with the 4th Industrial Revolution and to nurture the talents required in the era of convergence. In addition, it is considered to be meaningful in that it provided basic data to prepare a plan for raising creative and convergent talents who are trying to challenge new things (i.e. creative, artistic sensibility, solving a variety of complex problems and situations, etc.).
The research contents of this as were follow:
1. The development of a food art program using storytelling.
1-1. Select the purpose and goals of a food art program using storytelling.
1-2. Select the educational content of a food art program using storytelling.
1-3. Select the teaching and learning methods for a food art programs using storytelling.
1-4. Select an evaluation method for a food art programs using storytelling.
2. Verify the effectiveness of food art programs using storytelling.
2-1. Verify the effect of storytelling''s food art program'' on children''s creativity.
2-2. Verify the effect of storytelling''s food art program'' on children''s drawing representation ability.
This study was conducted through the following procedures:
In order to develop a food art program using storytelling'' to enhance creativity and drawing representation for children aged 4 years, literature analysis was conducted for prior studies such as creativity program, drawing representation ability improvement program, food art program, and program using storytelling. In addition, a survey was conducted on early childhood teachers'' awareness and needs of developing food art programs using storytelling. Based on the results of the literature analysis and the results of the demand survey, a draft of a food art program using storytelling was developed. In order to secure validity of the program''s educational objectives and goals, educational content, activity content, teaching and learning methods, and evaluation methods, an expert focus group interview (FGI) was conducted throughout the entire program development process.
To verify the effect of applying the food art program using storytelling developed in this study, 40 four-year-olds (27 experimental group and 25 control group) were selected. A total of 20 activities were provided to the experimental group twice a week and one hour per session, and the comparison group conducted activities according to the Nuri-curriculum.
The results of this research were as following:
First, A food art program using storytelling was developed to improve the creativity and drawing representation ability of infants developed through literature analysis and research on awareness and needs. As a result of the 1st and 2nd focus group interviews conducted with 9 experts, the theme and contents of the action plan were found to be appropriate, and revisions and supplements were partially made.
The purpose and goal of the program is to improve the creativity and drawing representation skills of young children through a food art program using storytelling. The content of education is centered on the components of creativity and drawing representation ability, fluency, originality, abstractness of title, sophistication, resistance to premature termination, merging of basic shapes and lines, various colors, detailed descriptions, harmonious composition, various shapes, It is composed of topics related to theme representation, creativity of representation, completion of picture, and linkage between representation and language.
The teaching and learning method consists of four elements: teaching and learning principles, teaching and learning stages, teaching and learning strategies, and teacher roles. The details are as follows: The teaching and learning principles were based on the principle of spontaneity, the principle of direct experience, the principle of play centering, and the principle of individualization. The teaching-learning stage was set as introduction, deployment, and finalization, but the deployment was divided into deployment 1 and deployment 2 and divided into 4 stages. The teaching and learning strategy was selected in a way to ensure that young children and play are central within the scope of ensuring the safety of young children. The roles of teachers were storytellers, guides, motivators, pilots, observers, participants, and responders. The evaluation method followed the evaluation concept of the Nuri-curriculum, which suggested that evaluation should be conducted using appropriate methods according to the purpose of the curriculum. The evaluation of this program was carried out by dividing it into young children evaluation, teacher evaluation, and program evaluation, but for effectiveness verification, we would like to examine the creativity and drawing representation ability of young children with a focus on quantitative evaluation by objective inspection tools.
Second, the results of this study showed that the food art program using storytelling was effective in improving creativity of young children. In addition, it showed that the food art program using storytelling was effective in improving drawing representation ability of young children.
The conclusion of this study is as follows:
In this study, it was confirmed that the food art program using storytelling developed through literature analysis and research on awareness and needs improves the creativity and drawing representation ability of young children. These results are considered to be sufficient worth applying in the future in the field of early childhood education, as it proved that the food art program using storytelling developed in this study is effective in simultaneously improving not only the creativity of children but also the drawing representation ability of children.
Based on the conclusion, suggestions for future research are as follows:
First, it is expected that a study to develop a program for the holistic development of young children and verify its effectiveness will be conducted. Second, it is expected that a review will be conducted on what aspects are displayed by activity type and application time using time series data. Third, it is expected that verification will be conducted on the effectiveness of the program for a variety of ages, from infants to preschool age children.