engleski

HOW TO FOSTER A SIGNIFICANT CONNECTEDNESS WITH NATURE IN CHILDREN THROUGH THE QUALITY ORGANIZATION OF CHILDREN’S LEISURE TIME AND THE USE OF ICT IN SCHOOL?

Family and school are the main pillars of the social interactions of the child in his or her environment, [1]. However, one of the important factors is the space in which the child lives. Modern childhood, which carries with it the characteristics of a digital society, where even the educational system encourages significant computerization of the learning and teaching process, does not rarely or insufficiently or superficially respond to the challenges of modernizing and digitizing the school. Primary school work is based on regular forms of teaching and the so- called organization of children's leisure time in school, which is defined as extracurricular activities. Forms of extracurricular activities of children in school, which play the role of recreation, rest, but also development of personality, which represent significant opportunities that foster children's connection with the environment and the child’s well-being as a result of from interactions, are scientifically proven motivators of environmentally responsible behaviour [2]. In addition to the significant advantages offered by new IC technologies in modernizing educational processes in schools, they have also introduced certain shortcomings, which are reflected not only in the different areas of growth and development of children, learning and teaching, but also in the overall well- being of children and their way of life. One of the significant factors related to these deficiencies is the problem of connectedness (or absence) of children's contacts with nature. The concept of connectedness with nature in the last decade is very topical in the scientific and research sense, especially from the interdisciplinary point of view. One definition of the concept of connectedness with nature is that it represents the enjoyment of nature, empathy towards living beings, a sense of belonging, and responsibility towards nature [3]. Numerous studies confirm that children’s connectedness with nature is related to the quality of children’s leisure time, in the family and school. It has also been confirmed that there is a significant correlation between nature and the use of ICT and the well- being of children as they grow up. It is very important to emphasize that this is not only a problem of family education, but also a significant challenge faced by the educational system, the role of the school, but also teachers and their competences. In this paper, we present a project/research that aims to provide an answer to the question whether it is possible and how to foster a more meaningful connection between children and nature through quality leisure time organization and the use of ICT at school

extracurricular activities, connection with nature, ICT, students, teachers.

This work was financed by the University of Rijeka with the project no. (uniri-pr-drustv- 19-19 1500) Connectedness with Nature, The Organization of Early School-Aged Students' Free Time and Digital Technologies