Here’s an additional update from Natural England by way of relevant evidence and reports, policy agenda developments, large scale delivery sector initiatives, resources and news items from the UK and abroad, with a focus on schools, education and learning. This supports the Strategic Research Network for People and Nature to develop better coherence and collaboration in research and to improve links between research, policy and practice in these areas.
New to Nature: Resources and Information
Tallgrass Prairie Center, University of Northern Iowa – Open Educational Resources. 321.
A selection of educational resources and information to help incorporate nature and outdoor learning into teaching.
Benefits of Adopting Wild Pedagogies in University Education
S Krigstin et al. – Forests
Several studies have demonstrated the positive impact of wild pedagogies on the well-being and learning of primary learners. However, wild pedagogies in higher education remain relatively obscure. This study assesses whether wild pedagogies affect the wellness of university students and analyzes the outcomes of the natural learning experiences in a higher education setting. Our findings indicate that wild pedagogies benefit the wellness of university students and provide positive learning experiences. Moreover, positive natural learning experiences motivate students to develop environmental consciousness and sentimental connections with nature.
What can drawings tell us about children’s perceptions of nature?
K Howlett and EC Turner – PLoS ONE
This study investigated children’s perceptions of nature by analysing 401 drawings made by children (aged 7–11) of their local green spaces, collected from 12 different English schools, including state-funded and privately funded. We assessed which animal and plant groups were drawn the most and least often, quantified each drawing’s species richness and community composition, and identified all terms used in the drawings to the highest taxonomic resolution possible. Our findings indicate that children’s perceptions of local wildlife are focused on mammals (80.5% of drawings) and birds (68.6% of drawings), while herpetofauna were the least commonly drawn (15.7% of drawings). While plants feature prominently (91.3% of drawings), plant knowledge is less specific than animal knowledge. We suggest that this skew in children’s ecological awareness be addressed through better integration of ecology within national curricula and more funding for green space within schools.
Journey to Reconceptualization of Children in Nature: Going Beyond the Fences
M McMichael – International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education
Forest school and nature-based pedagogy have grown in popularity in recent years. Previously, I examined the perspectives of parents who chose to enrol their children within these programs to learn and understand why. This work is a storying of my educational journey about land-based pedagogy, environmental education for children and how children are viewed within nature. The aim of this story is to ask what might happen when Forest pedagogies, Indigenous peoples, and their epistemologies and ontologies are assembled? The secondary purpose is to ignite pedagogical conversations amongst educators and inform about Forest School programs and how they connect to Indigenous perspectives or do not connect at all.
Minimizing Nature Aversion among Elementary Students during Environmental Education Programs
B Orr et al. – Children, Youth and Environments
Nature aversion, a negative human response toward nature, is a challenge for environmental educators seeking to connect students to nature. This field report examines nature aversion observations during elementary school field-trip programs to Miquelon Lake Provincial Park, in Alberta, Canada. Mitigation methods during program delivery included giving information, physically demonstrating safe nature interactions, challenging students, raising energy levels, providing safety reassurances and offering positive encouragement. Other factors affecting nature aversion through program design included appropriate preparation, hands-on experiences, group size, student expectations, inclement weather and adult supervision. This study can assist practitioners to develop their own responses to nature aversion among students.
Learning in the forest: environmental perception of Brazilian teenagers
CC Profice et al. – Frontiers in Psychology
In this study, we consider that enabling young people to experience direct contact with nearby natural environments can positively influence their knowledge and feelings about the biodiversity that occurs there, contributing to its protection and conservation for current and future generations. In this study, we explore how teenagers aged between 13 and 17 years old describe and perceive the nearby natural environment before and after an interpretive trail in Una, Bahia, Brazil. The results showed that, after the trail, the participants manifested bonds of proximity with the visited environment and the organisms protected there, evidencing expressive changes in their perceptions of the person-nature interaction, in the specific knowledge of the visited ecosystem, and in the different forms of relationship provided by the visitation itinerary.
Authentic context as educational object and green spaces as pedagogical environment: the approach to outdoor learning in the practice of Sreten Adžić (1856–1933)
AI Rajković and N Nikolić – Paedagogica Historica
The study deals with the outdoor learning approach developed by Sreten Adžić (1856–1933), who is considered the founder of the outdoor learning movement in Serbia. He greatly influenced pedagogical practice as a primary-school teacher, professor, and teacher-training school manager. According to this approach, the term outdoor learning had two meanings: learning through exploring the local environment and staying outside the school building in green spaces during regular classes. This paper deals with the questions related to the theoretical and political foundations of that approach, its didactic characteristics, possible pedagogical, social, political and economic scope, and its position and role in the circulation of knowledge about the international context. Key findings presented in the final part are those encouraging teachers to come outdoors contributed to rethinking the traditional teaching model and school education in giving a background for the new school movement, which was widely accepted in Yugoslavia between the two world wars.
Characterizing environmental education practices in Ethiopian primary schools
MA Gugssa – International Journal of Educational Development
- Primary teachers advocate experience-based teaching strategies.
- Environmental lessons in Ethiopia are teacher-dominated and indoors-based.
- Outdoor opportunities are overlooked.
- There is a strong need for teacher training and continuous follow up.
Facilitating Nature-Based Learning With Autistic Students
S Friedman et al. – Childhood Education
Limited research is available that has considered why some autistic people flourish in nature (and, similarly, why some autistic people find nature to be uncomfortable and distressing). In the absence of robust research, anecdotal accounts provide valuable insights. Research could help elucidate why experiences in nature, and particularly nature-based learning, may be beneficial for autistic people, and help us harness the positive aspects of these experiences to support well-being. Insights from autistic people themselves would be particularly informative. Given the need for evidence-based practice, further research on this topic could help formalize nature-based learning as a means of support or an alternative provision offered to autistic children at school.
A transdisciplinary approach to teaching citizen science in a primary classroom.
B Haggerty et al. – Teaching Science: The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association
This paper reports on a transdisciplinary approach to science with a Year 4/5 class incorporating citizen science through the Birds in Backyards project. This transdisciplinary approach created opportunities for student engagement through science, mathematics, design and technology, humanities and social sciences (HASS), arts and English, while also creating meaningful connections to nature and the local environment.
Classrooms: Using Nature to Promote Learning
CD Taylor – European Journal of Contemporary Education
Research shows exposure to nature boosts cognitive skills, engagement, imagination and physical health in students. Schools across the country have adopted outdoor classrooms using natural settings, school gardens and environmental projects. Teachers report improved focus, critical thinking and motivation to learn. The paper provides examples and implementation strategies to integrate outdoor learning while overcoming barriers like safety concerns.
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You can see previous round-ups here.