The Role of Natural Leadership in Early Childhood: Disaster Education and Tree Planting Through The Ecokids Program at Anugerah Sumedang Kindergarten
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21274/kjpm.2026.4.2.119-135Keywords:
Natural Leadership; Early Childhood Education; Disaster Education; Tree Planting; Environmental Education; EcoKids Program; Environmental AwarenessAbstract
Abstract
Purpose: This community service activity aims to describe the qualitative change in kindergarten-age children's understanding of disaster issues and identify indicators of natural leadership defined as leadership-related behavior that emerges spontaneously in early childhood through direct experience that appeared in early childhood through disaster education and tree planting activities at Anugerah North Sumedang Kindergarten.
Methods: Activities were implemented using an experiential learning approach. Data were collected through participatory observation, informal interviews with the school principal, and activity documentation, and were then analysed descriptively by comparing children’s baseline exposure to disaster material with their responses during and after the activity; no formal pre- and post-test instrument was administered.
Practical Application: Cardboard puppet media was observed to help kindergarten children engage with disaster-related material, while the tree planting activity appeared to encourage indicators of natural leadership such as initiative, collaboration, and a sense of responsibility toward the environment.
Conclusion: Based on observations, interviews, and documentation data, kindergarten children showed observable positive changes in disaster-related understanding relative to their reportedly limited prior exposure, together with behavioural indicators of natural leadership, including willingness to take risks, small group collaboration, and a sense of ownership toward the trees they planted. As these findings rest on qualitative, single-site, short-term data rather than a formal assessment, they should be read as indicative rather than generalisable evidence.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Aleyda Syaira Humairah, Elena Nurdiana Rahmat, Gilang Kurnia, Salma Nabila, Salsa Nabila, Rika Kusdinar
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