A Study on the Importance and Awareness of ESG, Social Problem Awareness According to the Completion of ESG Education: Focusing on Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers

Objectives The purpose of this study is to verify the difference between the importance and awareness of ESG, as well as social problem awareness, according to the completion of ESG education. Methods The subjects of the study are 255 students majoring in early childhood education at four-year universities located in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheong-do, Gyeongsang-do, Jeolla-do and others (Gangwon-do, Jeju, etc.). Using SPSS 25.0, the difference verification according to the completion of ESG education was analyzed by t-test, and the relationship between the research variables(importance and awareness of ESG, social problem awareness) was examined by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Furthermore, explored trends and normality. Results The main findings are as follows. First, the importance and awareness of ESG, social problem awareness showed higher with the students who completed ESG education than who did not, which had a statistical significance. Second, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the importance and awareness of ESG, social problem awareness. However, a statistically significant correlation was not found between social problem awareness and the sub-factor of ESG awareness, specifically social awareness. Conclusions The results of this study are meaningful in that it aims to validate the effectiveness of ESG education, considering the characteristics of early childhood education. The intention is to provide guidance for the implementation and content of ESG education in early childhood education settings.