Korean Horticultural Therapy and Wellbeing Association has been developed remarkably in the past 10 years, but is faced with a new social change and challenge as the necessity and achievement increase gradually.
In accordance with these issues, this ...
Korean Horticultural Therapy and Wellbeing Association has been developed remarkably in the past 10 years, but is faced with a new social change and challenge as the necessity and achievement increase gradually.
In accordance with these issues, this study was done with an aim to propose a mutual supplement and developmental growth of the educational curriculum being currently run in horticultural therapist training course which is based on the horticultural industry in Korea. For achieving the aim, this study conducted a sample survey with 187 therapists who passed the second class qualifying examination. They were sampled from three universities.
1. The Current State of Running Horticultural Therapist Training Course
o The activities of horticultural therapy are applied in a wide range such as social welfare facility, vocational rehabilitation institute, psychiatric rehabilitation hospital, medical and psychiatric center, weekly protection center, sanatorium, school in general, school for handicapped children, agricultural technology center, and jail, etc.
o Korean Horticultural Therapy and Wellbeing Association institutionalizes 110 hours and over as a regulation of educational curriculum, covering the four areas such as horticulture, horticultural therapy, medicine, and social welfare, all of which are necessary subjects for horticultural therapist to be qualified. Such an institutionalization is for cultivating horticultural therapists to be equal in terms of their qualification on a national level. However, the analysis of 16 life-long education centers reveals the following.
1) Total number of teaching hours are ranged from 81 hours at minimum to 112 hours at maximum.
2) The teaching subjects being covered by the 16 life-long education centers are different from the 24 teaching subjects prescribed by Korean Horticultural Therapy and Wellbeing Association. The examples are that 8 institutes cover 20 subjects and over, while another 8 institutes cover less than 20 subjects. Overall, the number of teaching subjects are ranged from 18 at minimum to 23 at maximum.
3) The hours of practice are ranged from 24 at minimum to 48 at maximum. In details for the hours of practice, one institute runs 48 hours, another one institute 45 hours, nine institutes 32 hours, four institutes 28 hours, and another one institute 24 hours. For field trip as a practical study, three institutes run 24 hours, 6 institutes 16 hours, and 7 institutes 8 hours.
o The female are all most three times more than male among the 187 samples, showing that females are 78%, and males are 22%. By educational attainment, 96% are the graduates from college and university, while 4% are the graduates from high school. By age, 35% are the twenties, 29% thirties, 31% fourties, 12% fifties, and 2% sixties.
*A total of 2,638 have been graduated from horticultural therapy training course for eight years from 2000 to 2007. Cheju national university is ranked first. In terms of number of graduates per course, producing 252 graduates (9.5%) during four years.
* The analysis of running the subjects being run by life-long education centers in 16 universities illustrates that Cheju National University is ranked first in terms of number of teaching subject and teaching hour.
* These would mean that the students have a strong sympathy with and participation in the education due to low individual financial burden caused by the fact that Cheju Special Self-Governing Province has supported fiance for horticultural therapist education.
* It is hypothesized that the horticultural therapist education being run in local universities will be activated if local governments and/or public organizations support finance for securing the improvement in the quality of education and stabilized number of students.
2. The Current States of Educational Condition by the Contents of Horticultural Therapist Education, Demand on Education, and Satisfaction with Education
o Educational Condition: The order of educational contents by subject illustrates that the work analysis of horticultural therapy and the practical work of programme is taught most, and followed by the basic principle of horticultural therapy and the mechanism of therapy in terms of its effectiveness, the cultivation management and propagation of horticultural plants, the clinical training of horticultural therapy (cultivation management and propagation of flowering plant), indoor plant and landscape, the kind and characteristics of flowering plant, the evaluation of horticultural therapy programme and the introduction of its items, horticultural therapy and psychiatry, horticultural therapy and rehabilitation medicine, clinical practice of horticultural therapy (cultivation management and propagation of vegetables), and horticultural therapy and nursing science.
o Educational Demand: The clinic practice of horticultural therapy on cultivation management and propagation of fruit tree is demanded most, and followed by the clinic practice of horticultural therapy (cultivation management and propagation of flowering plant), research method of horticultural therapy, the analysis and programme of the work on horticulture, the evaluation of horticultural therapy and the introduction of its items, the clinic practice of horticultural therapy (indoor landscape), the clinics of horticultural therapy (cultivation management and propagation), the basic principle of horticultural therapy and the mechanism of therapy in terms of its effectiveness, indoor plant and its landscape, the whole area of horticultural therapy, and pressed flower and the decoration technology of flowering plant.
o Satisfaction with Education: The samples were satisfied most with the cultivation management and propagation of flowering plant, and followed by horticultural therapy and rehabilitation medicine, the kind and characteristics of flowering plant (form classification), the basic principle of horticultural therapy and the mechanism of therapy in terms of its effectiveness, indoor plant and its landscape, the clinic practice of horticultural therapy, the whole areas of flowering plant, the biological physiology of flowering plant, horticultural therapy and psychiatry, the analysis of horticultural therapy work and the practice of analytic programming, and horticultural therapy and nursing science.
* 43% among the total samples responded 'No' on the suitableness of current educational hours, and more than 60% wanted the educational hours should be more or less than 200 hours.
* These findings would propose that the current curriculum prescribed by Korean Horticultural Therapy and Wellbeing Association should be extended as follows. The current teaching hours - three hours of teaching per week and four hours of practice for 16 weeks - should be extended to four hours for teaching per week and four hours of practice for 20 weeks. The total educational hours will be extended from 112 to 160.
* It would be desirable to strengthen a suitable educational contents according to the students, focusing on their horticultural activities such as the clinic practice of horticultural therapy activity, planting and management, applied fine arts, and flower decoration, etc.
3. The Current States of Horticultural Therapist Educational Contents, Demand, and Satisfaction
o Three scales - work empowerment scale, self-directional scale, and interpersonal scale - were applied to the samples, using three scale items. It was resulted in no significant difference among the samples.
o The analysis of the qualifying examination of horticultural therapist during the past four years reveals that flowering plant covers 26.5%, and horticultural therapy 22.8%, medical area 29.5%, welfare and others 21.2%.
o The medical area focusing mainly on psychiatry, rehabilitation medicine, and working treatment is an area of licensed medical doctor. In this sense, the medical area in horticultural therapy would be enough to be introductory level.
o It would be desirable that the educational hour for running horticultural therapist should be at least more than 150 hours. A dominant opinion for improving the effectiveness of education and lecture is that local government, as Cheju Special Self-Governing Province is doing, should support the whole finance.
* The educational condition, demand on education, and satisfaction with education were different in order by educational institute. This would be caused by the fact that each institute has different system in lecturer and educational circumstance. Nonetheless, the demand on the clinic practice of horticultural therapy showed a higher score in all of the three sample universities. In particular, the graduates from Cheju National University showed a very high satisfaction with all subjects related to clinic practice.
* All of the three sample universities showed a very high demand on the area related to horticultural therapy. This would suggest that the educational contents and teaching hours should be supplemented and revised.
* Even though medical area occupied the highest proportion in the qualifying examination during the past four years, the examination items are mostly those related to the treatment and remedy by professional medical doctor. This would mean that the examination items of medical area are beyond the areas of which horticultural therapist should acquaint and/or the areas of which are not applied to the clinic practice of horticultural therapy.
* With such implications, the samples perceives that about 30% allocated to medical area should be assigned equally to the area of horticulture and social welfare, consultation, developmental psychology and horticultural therapy. This will be resulted in a focus on the cultivation of horticultural therapist as a significance of welfare dimension. In addition, the samples perceived to strengthen the education of psychology and consultation technique which will contribute to the mutual trust between horticultural therapist and patient.