Applying Kolb D.A's Experiential Learning Model to Educate Kindness
for 5-6 Year Old Children in Vietnam
CHU THI HONG NHUNG
University of Education Vietnam National University, 144 Xuan Thuy Street, Cau Giay, Hanoi
VIETNAM
NGUYEN THI NHUNG
National College for Education, 387 Hoang Quoc Viet Street, Cau Giay, Hanoi,
VIETNAM
VU THI HUONG GIANG
Hai Phong University, 171 Phan Dang Luu Street, Kien An, Haiphong,
VIETNAM
LE THI LUAN
The Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences, 101 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
VIETNAM
Abstract: - Educating kindness for children is an integral part of the personality education process for children,
plays an important role in creating the foundation of personality later. In this research, on the basis of inheriting the
research results of Kolb and his predecessors, with a viewpoint on theoretical approach to experiential education
and consulting with experts, educational administrators and preschool teachers, the author has researched and
proposed a model of educating kindness for 5-6 year old children in Vietnam through experiential education,
including the following specific steps: Concrete experience; Analytical observation; Concept formation/drawing
lessons; Positive test. The model recommended by the author has been experimentally proven in some preschools
in Vietnam. The results of the experimental application show that: This model is consistent with the practice of
early childhood education in Hanoi and can be applied to many other preschools in Vietnam.
Key - words: - Educating kindness; experiential learning; experiential learning model; 5 - 6 year old children.
Received: July 16, 2021. Revised: May 12, 2022. Accepted: June 2, 2022. Published: June 21, 2022.
1 Introduction
Scholars believe that: Educating people with
kindness should start right from the preschool age.
This is the most effective and favorable time for
education because in preschoolers, feelings develops
very strongly, especially empathy and emotionality
towards people and surroundings [1]. Preschool is the
time when children begin to discover and
comprehend forms of social relationships among
people, norms, and codes of cultural conduct.
Children easily recognize, understand and choose to
perform good or bad behaviors, should or should not
in life. Educating kindness helps children to be aware
of the good, the bad, the good and the evil, to have
attitudes and behaviors that care, love and help
people [2].
John Dewey introduced experiential education in
1938 to optimise student learning. During the 20th
century, Dewey introduced experiential education to
K-12 educators as a practical educational approach
compared with the traditional approach. According to
Dewey, experiential education will help students be
accessible in the process of learning, interacting and
creating a humane society based on the experiences
in the learning process, not only paying attention to
the effectiveness of the process of acquiring
knowledge [3], [4]. This concept continues to be
applied and developed in the following stages. Kolb
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introduced experiential education, including five
processes doing, reflecting, judging, knowing and
acting [5]. Experiential education is a practical
learning activity. It is always replaced due to the
instability of the community during the experience
[6]. In the 21st century, experiential education is
being revisited due to the diversity of real-life
educational forms such as experiential-based
therapies, place-based education, alternative
education, team building or coaching [3], [7]…
These evolutions of educational forms led to the
development of new terms such as experience society
[8] or experience events [9]. In modern education,
while education can be seen as a particular
commodity in the market, experiential education is
also considered from the perspective of students'
experiences in schools, thereby helping to expand
experiential education theories and approaches [3],
[10], [11].
At preschools, experiential education creates
many opportunities for children to be exposed to the
real life, the surrounding environment and to develop
their emotions, exploit and enrich children's
experience [12]. At the same time, experiential
education helps children to actively, proactively and
independently express themselves, show the right
attitudes and behaviors in relationships. The
experience is of great significance in opening up
many conditions and opportunities to help practice
and develop kindness in preschool children from 5-6
years old [13].
In current Vietnamese practice, educating
kindness for children in general, and educating
kindness through experience in particular are
increasingly interested in families, schools and
society. However, the effectiveness of educating
kindness for children is still low, not meeting the
requirements of society. In addition to the causes
related to negative effects of the market economy, the
pressure of socio-economic development, it is also
the responsibility of the family and the school [14].
Preschools still attach more importance to cognitive
development than value education; Educating
kindness through experience has not been interested
and researched, so early childhood education has not
yet grasped the content and methods of teaching
kindness through experience for children; The
school's orientation of educating kindness for
children to families is limited and ineffective [15].
Our research introduce a new appoach based on
experiential education for 5-6 years old children in
preshool based on Kolb’s experiential education
approach related to Vietnam contexxt. Secondly, our
approach was pilot in some preschools in Hanoi,
Vietnam. We belive our our findings can contribute
in supporting for preschool educators, parents and
policy makers in Vietnam interm of kindness
education for children and maybe for other countries
to change their education approach.
2 Researches on Experiential
Education
Experiential education has been deeply researched by
many scientists [16]–[19]. Educators see experiential
education as an effective strategy for educating
children.
Education should be based on children's available
experiences and anticipate the child's development in
order to have appropriate and effective educational
impact. He also argues that each individual, due to
the practice of life and genetics, has different
background experiences, which relatively determine
the potential of each individual. Such potential is
reflected when, if there is support, you can do, think,
decide and solve problems. If there is no support,
even though you know there is a problem, you are
not capable of solving it. Thanks to interaction,
permanent personal experiences which are shared,
challenged, and improved, the individual is lead to a
new higher level of development [16].
On the other hand, children's development is
obtained through actions. He believes that when
children interact with the environment, they will
acquire new knowledge, adjust and correct existing
knowledge. Thus, J. Piaget has highlighted the role of
actions, and children's knowledge is built step by step
through active participation of children as well as
interactions with other members in their surrounding
environment. He thought that intelligence is formed
by experience and such intelligence is not an innate
internal characteristic but a product of the interaction
between people and their living environment [17].
In the role of experiential learning, the conditions
of experiential learning: personal involvement,
assessment by learners, and broad effects on learners
[20]. Moreover, the best learning is in the
environment and especially from concrete
experiences. He was much interested in the
relationship between theory and practice. "Practice is
always a good theory". He also believed that family
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and school have a strong influence on experiential
learning, knowledge is necessary to change
behaviors, but real change requires an environment to
practice and experience. He asserted that individual
subjective experience is an important component of
experiential learning. He identified learning cycles as
a continuous process of action and assessed the
consequences of such action. He introduced a model
of experiential learning, including the first stage that
learners think about the situation, then make plans to
solve the situation and execute the plan, and finally
observe the results achieved [18].
In addition, children go to school to work and
live in a community, receive practical experience,
form and develop their capacity to contribute to
society. Dewey highlighted the role of experience,
the meaning of personal experience and the
relationship between personal experience and
teaching activities. He argued that we must
understand how experience occurs in order to design
and organize educational activities that can benefit
individuals in present and future societies. Thus, John
Dewey's philosophy held that each new experience is
built on previous experience and becomes the next
foundation that affects and influences the coming
experience in the future. It is a series of successive
experiences, practical activities that a child has
undergone to form and develop the moral qualities,
values as well as the necessary knowledge or
behavior for the child. The role of educators is to
organize experiences for the child and exploit the
experiences in order to realize the educational goals.
He believed that people integrate into society with all
their behaviors in relationships, so LNA education
requires students to expose and behave with society.
Deway coined the slogan "educating by doing", while
educating by activities was the slogan of Vugotsky.
He required that children must be participated in
various forms of activity of the life [19]. Children
could find joy in learning and experience the richness
of childhood rather than teaching children to learn
early at home [21].
Montessori believed that if children were free to
choose and act in a carefully prepared environment,
suitable for their abilities and developmental stage,
they would maximize their available potential [22].
In Vietnam, David Kolb's experiential model in
educating primary school children. The authors all
showed the great role of practice in this model, of
which the teacher plays as an instructor, promoting
the direct experience of students, ensuring the
learning process and knowledge acquisition of
students in an proactive way [23], [24].
Thus, the authors have highlighted the
importance of experiential education for in teaching
and learning process. These researches have
indicated models of experiential learning across
stages, and that is a process of continuous
development. To date, there are limited researcher
introduced experiential education for preschool and
assess the effectiveness of experiential education in
teaching and learning process. Our research will fill
this gap to comfirm the experiential education
effectiveness in reality.
3. Kolb's Theory of Experiential
Learning
Kolb’s experiential learning theory (ELT:
Experiential learning theory) on the basis of
inheriting the research results of John Dewey, Jean
Piaget, William James, Carl Jung and other
researchers. He believed that an important part for
the formation of any value was the interaction of new
knowledge or experience with existing knowledge
and experience [5], [25]. He also argued that learning
was the process in which knowledge is created
through the transformation of experience.
He introduced a cyclical experiential education
model in a spiral form with four basic stages. The
learning process must be continuous, complete this
cycle to lead to new experience and establish a new
cycle. The time frame for a cycle varies for learners
and ranges of learning experience and highlighted the
role of experience in experiences, of which feelings
plays an important role.
David Kolb's experiential education theory has
its roots in experimental studies by Dewey, Lewin,
and Piaget. This is the most prominent theory and
tool used in many different fields for a long time and
has been still widely applied today. Learners can get
effective results through the repetitive process of
experiential education (four steps). Severely students
are interested in all four steps of experiential
education. However, after going through all the steps,
learners can participate more actively in active
interactions with other participants in experiential
education activities. Previous research agreed that
student could optimize their learning process during
learning activities [26].
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Fig. 1: Experiential learning cycle and basic learning styles [25]
The experiential learning model is defined by
Kolb: As “the process whereby knowledge is created
through the transformation of experience. Knowledge
results from the combination of grasping and
transforming experience” [5, p. 41]. In the the
experiential learning model process, children have to
go through step by step with four stage in two
opposite grasping experience aspect (concrete
experience and abstract conceptualization) and
tranforming experience (reflective observation and
active experimentation). In four stage, children will
be given skills to experience, reflect, think and act to
overcome each stage in the context of a specific
learning situation.
Kolb's model includes the following specific
stages:
Stage 1: Concrete experience. This stage is
started from action, where children can practice what
they have learned, be tested and adjusted their
behavior with people around. At this time, children
perform activities, concrete and real situations. It is
like an input material, a necessary condition of
experience. Whether the experience here is of high or
low quality depends on the child's level of
participation, on the quality of the concrete, real
situation for the child to experience.
Stage 2: Observation, analysis. If children use
their own experiences to handle happenings and
events in a concrete experience stage, then at this
stage, children will respond and share what they have
learned from their experiences. In this stage, the
child's thinking process goes from low (recording,
describing information) to high level (exploring
causes and relationships), analyzes behaviors and
expressions according to kindness value standards:
how to express the value of kindness; situational
consistency, value consistency, optimal expression
selection; effects and outcomes on the giver and the
receiver.
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Stage 3: Concept formation. This stage is the
one of shaping new knowledge and experience,
generating new understanding. This is the stage
where children based on analyzing results and
evaluating experiences in stage 2 to summarize and
discover new knowledge on their own.
Stage 4: Positive testing. This stage
corresponds to the child's application of newly
acquired knowledge and experience (through all
three stages above) to new contexts or events in life
and experience is created then. Children's knowledge
and experience are increasingly improved.
The experiential education model for
children is a logical sequence of 4 stages. The result
of a previous stage is the starting point, the fulcrum
of next stages [27]. New experiential knowledge is
formed, put to the test in a new situation, and it
becomes available, concrete experience and is the
beginning of a new experiential education cycle. The
time frame for each stage varies depending on the
child's cognitive and experience characteristics.
4 Application Base of David Kolb's
Experiential Learning Model to
Educate Kindness for 5-6 Year Old
Children in Vietnam
To be able to apply David Kolb's experiential
learning model to educate kindness for 5-6 year old
children in Vietnam, the author has identified the
following basic grounds:
Firstly, David Kolb's experiential learning
model shows the suitability and compatibility with
the objectives, contents, methods and organizational
forms of early childhood education in Vietnam. In
this context, David Kolb's experiential learning
model is considered as one of the most widely chosen
solutions in the field of Early Childhood Education in
Vietnam.
Secondly, based on the psychophysiological
characteristics, the characteristics of the process of
forming kindness of Vietnamese 5-6 year old
children show that: the process of forming kindness
also includes steps/stages similar to the four
successive and spiral steps in Kolb's experiential
learning model.
Thirdly, A method to design a specific
lesson/activity on educating kindness for 5-6 year old
children will achieve the educational purpose if it is
included and divided into the 4 successive and spiral
steps in Kolb's experiential learning model.
Fourthly, the characteristics of awareness,
understanding, experience and pedagogical capacity
of preschool teachers are completely appropriate and
can acquire and operate very well the steps/stages
similar to the four successive and spiral steps in
David Kolb's experiential learning model.
Fifthly, the conditions of learning materials
and facilities for educating kindness for 5-6 year old
children completely satisfy the requirements of
David Kolb's experiential learning model.
Sixthly, the Results of interviews with
experts, education administrators and preschool
teachers show that: It is completely possible to apply
Kolb's experiential learning model in educating
kindness for 5-6 year old children.
We use descriptive statistics analysis to measure
the children's kindness in three aspects of awareness,
feeling and behaviour to evaluate the effectiveness of
experiential education in both groups before and after
the experience.
5 The Model of Educating Kindness for
5-6 year Old Children by Applying
David Kolb's Experiential Learning
Model
During such process, the teacher should carry out the
following activities:
In this research, the author has implemented the
design and construction of activities which educate
kindness for 5-6 year-old children through applying
Kolb's experiential learning model, specifically
including:
Determining the goals of educating kindness
for 5- year old children: Providing knowledge of
kindness such as sympathizing, caring, sharing,
helping, being tolerant, and protecting oneself and
people around; forming a child's positive attitude
towards himself and the people around him; practice
kindness behavior towards people.
Selecting contents of educating kindness for 5-6
year old children in preschools: Cognitive education
(helping children recognize the expressions and signs
of kindness, reasons to be kind to themselves and
people around them); Feelings and attitude education
(helping children show appropriate attitudes towards
kind and unkind acts; Knowing how to express
appropriate feelings and emotions to the situation)
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and Behavioral education (helping children express
acts of kindness outwardly with people around them
such as sympathizing, caring, sharing, helping, being
tolerant, and protecting oneself and people around).
Identifying forms of activities of educating
kindness for 5-6 year old children in preschools. In
the practice of educating preschool children, children
are allowed to participate in many different activities
and each activity has its own advantages for
educating children, especially educating kindness for
children. Therefore, in order to teach kindness for
children, it is necessary to exploit the advantages of
activities that help children have many opportunities
to experience and practice behaviors. The basic
forms of activities in a preschool can be mentioned as
playing activities, working activities, festival
activities, sightseeing activities...
Selecting activities of educating kindness for
5-6 year old children. Including fun activities, games,
working activities, daily activities...which have the
effect on educating kindness for children.
The model of educating kindness for 5-6
year-old children through the application of Kolb's
experiential learning model in Vietnam presented as
follows (Table 1):
Table 1. Comparing Kolb's model and the model recommended by the author (experimental application of
educating kindness for 5-6 year old children)
Criteria for comparison
Kolb's model
Model recommended by the author
Similarities: Nature of
the model
Differences: Name of
stages
Stage 1: Concrete experience.
Stage 2: Observation, analysis.
Stage 3: Concept formation.
Stage 4: Positive testing.
Stage 1: Children are experienced (teachers
organize activities to help children gain
experience in kindness)
Stage 2: Creating opportunities for children
to share and respond to their experiences of
kindness
Stage 3: Processing and forming
concepts/drawing lessons about kindness
Stage 4: Encouraging children to actively
show acts of kindness in their activities and
daily life
Stage 5: Assessment and social connection
Stage 1: Children are experienced (teachers
organize activities to help children gain experience in
kindness)
This stage provides children with the opportunity
to experience in different situations and
circumstances to accumulate experience of kindness
and observe the kindness behavior of people around
with many different subjects.
Educating kindness for 5-6 year old children
must start from their actual experiences. Children
should have many opportunities to interact with
things and phenomena around them, to act and
communicate with their friends, younger or older
siblings and adults close to them. In the process of
activities and communication, children can actually
observe, see, listen, and feel everything around them.
Therefore, the more children experience, the richer
the experience they perceive. Especially, if the
children's experiential activities are more diverse, in
accordance with the children's interests, abilities and
previous experiences, they will participate and
observe more actively, closely, their ability to
analyze and compare is better and solving problems
that arise during the experience more effectively.
Accordingly, children will accumulate more and
more new experience, creating a basis for sharing
thoughts and feelings in the next stage. This is the
first stage of the experimentation process. The
content of activities for children to experience should
be based on the content of education kindness for
children and should make the most of the children's
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experience (Figure 2). In stage 1, teachers will select
class activities for children, including play, work,
festivals or visits to communicate and conduct
relationships with other children and participants. In
each activity, the teacher will design programs,
environments and locations for children related to the
experiential education process. Children will
experience related activities, thereby developing
kindness through awareness and feeling, improving
their kindness behaviours in the specific situation.
Fig. 2: The Children experienced process
Stage 2: Creating opportunities for children
to share and respond to their experiences of kindness
This is the stage to create a forum for children to
share their feelings and thoughts about kind
behaviors so that they can have a correct awareness
of right, wrong, good, and bad behaviors that are
suitable for their abilities..
In the process of experiencing, children can
directly expose to objects and phenomena, and can
communicate with their friends and people around
them. However, children's awareness of values is still
vague and unclear, so it is necessary to ask them to
share the results of their observations, debates, and
share their thoughts andfeelings that they have
accumulated in actual activities. At this stage,
teachers and children actively exchange and share
feelings and thoughts about the children's xperiences.
Let the child review or recall the problematic
situation that he has just experienced to help them
recall his behavior and feelings. To help children
identify and clarify the expressions of kindness, it is
necessary to organize a conversation with a system of
questions to elicit feelings, thoughts about caring,
helping, sharing, etc. observed as well as self-
executed or received. During the conversation, it is
necessary to let children speak their feelings and
thoughts when observing others or living in such
context (Figure 3).
During such process, the teacher should carry out
the following activities:
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Fig. 3: The creating opportunities for children to share and respond to their experiences of kindness process
Stage 3: Processing and forming
concepts/drawing lessons about kindness
At this stage, teachers help children to analyze
and comment on their own behaviors and attitudes
and those around them from the perspective of
kindness; draw out the right principles and
understanding about what to do and what not to do,
when encountering similar things, how to do it
correctly and fairly, for yourself and everyone to be
joyful and happy. At this step, the results of
observations and specific actions have helped
children to make comments and reflections on the
value of kindness. Therefore, teachers should help
children systematize their acquired experiences into
rules and standards of right and wrong behavior.
Teachers may use some learning games such as lotto,
picture matching, picture puzzle, games used words
to reinforce children's experience. At this stage,
teachers may use some value education methods such
as role-playing method, conversational method and
game method to help children inculcate and more
clarify values. Organize for children to discuss,
analyze, reflect, review experience, discuss how it
has been done, about topics, experienced problems,
how to solve such problems, personal experience and
experience of members or groups (Figure 4).
Teachers use systematized and generalized questions
to help children analyze and process the experience
they have gained, like what should you do? what
should you say?...
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Fig. 4: The processing and forming concepts process
Stage 4: Encouraging children to actively show
acts of kindness in their activities and daily life.
This stage aims to encourage children to actively
demonstrate their kind behavior in life with many
objects, in many situations in accordance with the
child's needs, desires and abilities.
Children's kindness, to be strengthened and
developed, should be practiced through many
situations and put in many relationships.
Children will be able to express their kindness to
people around them naturally, without force. In
fact, in preschools, there are many diverse
situations, by putting children in those situations,
they will be experienced, reflected and thereby
can draw lessons for themselves. The process of
children's experience of kindness will be
continuous from the unknown to the concrete
actions. At this stage, teachers continue to let
children experience and apply their experience to
help them actively use knowledge and
experience in practical situations. Teachers
should use different methods to encourage and
motivate children's good actions, and at the same
time, help children record their own actions for
self-assessment and actively participate in the
assessment of their friends' behavior (Figure 5).
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Fig. 5: The Encouraging children to actively show acts of kindness in their activities and daily life process
Stage 5: Assessment and social connection
At this stage, children are experienced the
kindness in the most direct and profound way, of
which, teachers are the organizers for children to
self-assess on each child's expressions of kindness,
the children assess each other and the teacher
assesses each child, determines the achievement level
of each child in terms of awareness, attitude and
behavior showing kindness. At the same time,
teachers will also organize social connections for
children, i.e., applying awareness, attitudes and
behaviors that show kindness in social relationships
(with teachers, friends, family, neighbors and social
relationships that children join). Social connection
will help children have a deeper awareness of
kindness, standardization of attitudes and behaviors;
the values of kindness that have been formed become
deeper and more enduring (Figure 6).
Fig. 6: The assessment and social connection process
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6 Experimentally Applying the Model
of Educating Kindness for 5-6 Year-
Old Children According to Kolb's
Approach
In this research, the author conducted an experiment
to apply the model of educating kindness for 5-6
year-old children according to Kolb's approach for
216 children at two preschools (Co Bi Kindergarten,
Gia Lam district; Hoa Hong Kindergarten, Dong Da
District). The experimental period is from September
2019 to September 2021 (total 24 months). The
results obtained are as follows (Table 2 and Figure
7):
The level of kindness formation of 5-6
children in control and experimental classes before
the experiment.
Table 2. The level of kindness formation of children in control and experimental classes before the experiment
Fields
Level
Control class
Experimental class
Boy
Girl
Total
Boy
Girl
Total
Q.ty
(%)
Q.ty
(%)
Q.ty
(%)
Q.ty
(%)
Q.ty
(%)
Q.ty
(%)
Awareness
High
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
Average
11
34.4
18
64.3
29
48.3
10
35.7
23
69.7
33
54.1
Low
21
65.6
10
35.7
31
51.7
18
64.3
10
30.3
28
45.9
Feelings
High
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
Average
0
0.0
1
3.6
1
1.7
0
0.0
2
6.1
2
3.3
Low
32
100
27
96.4
59
98.3
28
100.0
31
93.9
59
96.7
Behavior
High
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
2
6.1
2
3.3
Average
16
50.0
22
78.6
38
63.3
7
25.0
18
58.1
25
41.0
Low
16
50.0
6
21.4
22
36.7
21
75.0
13
41.9
34
55.7
Total
High
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
1
3.0
1
1.6
Average
7
21.9
10
35.7
17
28.3
6
21.4
11
33.4
17
27.9
Low
25
78.1
18
64.3
43
71.7
22
78.6
21
63.6
43
70.5
Fig. 7: The level of kindness formation of children in control and experimental classes before the experiment
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.76
Chu Thi Hong Nhung, Nguyen Thi Nhung,
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The results of the survey on the level of
kindness formation of 5-6-year-old children in the
two experimental and control groups are shown in
Table 2 and Chart 1, indicating that: The level of
kindness formation in control and experimental
classes are similar and not high. In particular: There
were very few children who reached the high level.
There were no children in the control group, there
was one child in the experimental group, accounting
for 1.6%. The average level in the two experimental
and control groups was similar and reached nearly
30% (the control group was 28.3%, the experimental
group was 27.9%). Children with low level
accounted for the highest ratio, the control group was
71.7%, the experimental group was 70.5%. Through
observation and discussion with children, we found
the similarity in kindness formation of children in the
two experimental and control groups as well as the
inequality in children's awareness, attitudes and
behaviors. Before the experimental period, both
children in control and experience group had
moderate and low kindness awareness and feeling.
The number of children in the experimental class
with average kindness awareness was significantly
higher than the children in the control class. With
kindness feeling, children in the two groups mainly
in low level and there was no significant difference
between the two class groups. Girls have
significantly higher kindness awareness and feeling
than boys in both groups. In awareness behaviours,
few young girls in the experimental class in a high
level of kindness behaviour. The percentage of
children with average kindness behaviour levels in
the control group was significantly higher than in the
experimental group. Girls in average kindness
behaviour are higher than boys in both groups.
The level of kindness formation of 5-6 year
old children in control and experimental classes
after the experiment
Table 3. The level of kindness formation of 5-6 year old children in control and experimental classes after
the experiment
Fields
Level
Control class
Experimental class
Boy
Girl
Total
Boy
Girl
Total
Q.ty
Ratio
(%)
Q.ty
Ratio
(%)
Q.ty
Ratio
(%)
Q.ty
Ratio
(%)
Q.ty
Ratio
(%)
Q.ty
Ratio
(%)
Awareness
High
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
7
25.0
8
24.2
15
24.6
Average
15
46.9
20
71.4
35
58.3
21
75.0
25
75.8
46
75.4
Low
17
53.1
8
29.6
25
41.7
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
Feelings
High
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
3
10.7
4
12.1
7
11.5
Average
9
30.0
12
40.0
21
35.0
24
85.7
27
81.8
51
83.6
Low
23
70.0
16
60.0
39
65.0
1
3.6
2
6.1
3
4.9
Behavior
High
0
0.0
2
7.1
2
3.3
15
53.5
16
48.5
31
50.8
Average
29
90.6
23
82.1
52
86.7
12
42.9
17
51.5
29
47.5
Low
3
9.4
3
10.7
6
10.0
1
3.6
0
0.0
1
1.7
Total
High
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
16
57.1
17
51.5
33
54.1
Average
19
59.4
22
78.6
41
68.3
12
42.9
16
48.5
28
45.9
Low
13
41.6
6
21.4
19
31.7
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
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DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.76
Chu Thi Hong Nhung, Nguyen Thi Nhung,
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Fig. 8: The level of kindness formation of 5-6 year old children in control and experimental classes after the
experiment
Looking at table 3 and figure 8, we can find that:
The level of kindness formation after the experiment
has changed significantly between the control group
and the experimental group, both control and
experimental groups have evolution. However, the
level of kindness formation in the experimental group
was much higher than that of the control group,
specifically: The number of children reaching high
level in the experimental group increased
significantly, accounting for 54.1%, while the control
group had no children at this level, the average level
in the experimental group was 45.9% and the control
group was 68.3%, the experimental group had no low
level, while the low level in the control group still
accounted for a high ratio with 31.7%. In each
aspect, the level of children's kindness formation in
experimental and control classes is clearly different.
In the control group, there were no children with high
level of awareness and feelings, and high level of
behavior was 3.3%. In the experimental group, there
were children with high levels of awareness, feelings
and behavior, but unequal in all fields, in terms of
awareness reaching 24.6%, feelings reaching 11.5%,
behavior reaching 50.8%.
7 Comments and Conclusions
7.1 Comments
The activities of educating kindness for 5-6 year-old
children in preschools have had positive impact on
the level of kindness formation of 5-6 year old
children. Experimental process has shown that the
level of formation and development of children's
kindness is better, more stable and more frequent
when children have been experienced in real
situations and circumstances, shared their thoughts
and feelings, then drew their own experience and
been positive, creative to experience in life. The
research process shows that the level of kindness
formation for 5-6 year-old children increased
markedly between input and output, much higher
than that of children in the control class. For each
child, the formation of kindness in each child is
different, especially the difference in gender
characteristics, so it is necessary to have individual
impact on each child and each child's experience.
Before carrying out the pedagogical impact, it is
necessary to clarify the characteristics of the age and
the individual characteristics of each child in order to
choose appropriate activities to ensure the desired
effect. Educating kindness for 5-6 year children
through experience is a long process that requires
close cooperation with the family
7.2 Limitations
The author's research only stops at experimenting
with children in Hanoi city, therefore, it is impossible
to represent all provinces/cities, regions/areas of
Vietnam. Moreover, the number of children
experimented (126 children) is also limited,
concentrated in 2 preschools of Hanoi city.
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Chu Thi Hong Nhung, Nguyen Thi Nhung,
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7.3 Conclusions
In our study, a new appoach for kindness experiential
education based on traditional Kolb’s experiential
approach has been introduced. Our results show that
the experimental learning approach is effective in the
process of forming kindness for children aged 5-6
years old in Vietnam. Experiential education for
kindness in preschools can help children
communicate with real-life objects, phenomena and
events for knowledge, and develop positive attitudes,
and behaviours learning. In addition, experiential
education can help children express their love for
themselves, people and things around them [27].
Educating kindness through experience is organized
according to a 4-stage process: Children are
experienced, sharing and respond experience,
together with teachers providing principles of
behavior to show kindness, and actively demonstrate
acts of kindness in life. The preschool program is an
orientation framework program for teachers in the
process of child care and education.
In order to ensure the effectiveness for the
implementation of activities of educating kindness
for 5-6 year old children through experiences in
preschools, it is necessary to pay attention to the
following issues:
For early childhood education administrators:
Pay more attention to the task of value education in
general, and educating kindness for preschool
children in particular, and consider it a core task,
creating the foundation for the formation of human
personality, started at preschool age. Use experiences
as a positive educational method that should be
prioritized in the process of reforming early
childhood education in the direction of turning
positive children's activities. Organize professional
training and re-training courses in schools so that
teachers can understand and effectively implement
activities of educating kindness for 5-6 year-old
children through experience.
For preschool teachers: Actively self-study and
self-research to improve the understanding of
educating kindness through experience from
identifying goals, choosing contents and effectively
using experiential education methods for 5-6 year old
children in preschools. Regularly cultivate and train
to be able to design experiential activities to educate
kindness for 5-6 year-old children in preschools.
Actively apply methods of educating kindness for 5-6
year old children through experiences in daily
educational activities for children. Enhance the
relationship with children's parents, support their
parents in the care and education of children in
general, in carrying out activities of educating
kindness for children through experience, and
mobilizing their parents to participate in the
children's experiences in preschools.
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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.76
Chu Thi Hong Nhung, Nguyen Thi Nhung,
Vu Thi Huong Giang, Le Thi Luan
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