Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2021 Jul;12(4):101728. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101728. Epub 2021 Apr 8.
Childhood experiences with nature are decisive for children's wellbeing. The need for outdoor activities has been duly recognized in the preschool curriculum in Slovenia. However, there are some obstacles to this approach-specifically, tick-borne diseases. This study examines the views and experiences of Slovenian preschool teachers (n = 158) with ticks and tick-borne diseases in order to create a safer environment for the further development of outdoor education. The majority of the respondents engage in outdoor teaching once or several times a week. They have very frequent contact with ticks and tick-borne diseases in their professional lives. More than four-fifths of the respondents carry out some tick-prevention measures in preschools, but room for improvement remains. The respondents report rare cases in which parents or guardians have tried to prohibit them from visiting outdoor areas because of tick-borne diseases, and they explain how they dealt with the situation. The attitude of preschool teachers toward ticks and tick-borne diseases did not correlate significantly with the frequency with which they went outdoors in preschools. This study therefore concludes that, despite the objective risks associated with tick-borne diseases, there is still broad consensus among educators and parents on the importance of outdoor education in the early years.
与大自然的接触对儿童的幸福至关重要。户外活动的需求在斯洛文尼亚的学前课程中得到了适当的认可。然而，这种方法存在一些障碍，特别是蜱传疾病。本研究考察了斯洛文尼亚学前教师（n=158）对蜱虫和蜱传疾病的看法和经验，以创造一个更安全的环境，进一步发展户外教育。大多数受访者每周进行一次或多次户外教学。他们在职业生活中经常接触蜱虫和蜱传疾病。超过五分之四的受访者在幼儿园采取了一些预防蜱虫的措施，但仍有改进的空间。受访者报告了很少有父母或监护人因蜱传疾病试图禁止他们进入户外区域的情况，并解释了他们如何处理这种情况。学前教师对蜱虫和蜱传疾病的态度与他们在幼儿园户外活动的频率没有显著相关性。因此，这项研究得出结论，尽管与蜱传疾病相关的客观风险存在，但教育工作者和家长仍然广泛认同户外教育在幼儿教育中的重要性。
