Nature Connection in Early Childhood:A Quantitative Cross-Sectional Study

There have been calls to reconnect children with nature, both for their own wellbeing, as well as for ecological sustainability. This has driven the growth of outdoor and nature-schools for all ages, but especially in the early childhood education sector. However, to date, there has not been a quantitative study that looks at whether these settings actually promote nature connection. This paper aims to examine the role of nature nurseries in the promotion of connection to nature, when compared to traditional nurseries. Data were collected on the nature connection, using the Connection to Nature Index for Parents of Preschool Children, of 216 children aged 1–8 years, 132 of whom attended nature nurseries while the rest attended traditional nurseries. Duration and frequency of attendance, sex, and parental nature connection were also reported. Statistical analyses were conducted for overall nature connection scores, individual dimension sub-scores and, for the children who attended nature nursery, against predictors. Results indicate that attending a nature nursery is associated with higher nature connection. Predictors for children’s connection to nature were parental nature connection, and total time spent in attendance of an outdoor nursery. This suggests a dose-response style relationship between attendance and nature connection. Implications for real-life applications are put forward and further research directions are explored

Increasing nature connection in children:A mini review of interventions

Alexia Barrable - ORCID: 0000-0002-5352-8330 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5352-8330Half of the world’s population live in the urban environment. Lifestyle changes in the 20th century have led to spending more time indoors and less in nature. Due to safety concerns, longer hours in formal education, as well as lack of suitable outdoor environments, children in particular have been found to spend very little time outdoors. We have an opportunity, both timely and unique to have our children (re)connect with nature. Nature connection is a subjective state and trait that encompasses affective, cognitive, and experiential aspects in addition to being positively associated with wellbeing, and strong predictor of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. This mini-review brings together recent studies that report on interventions to increase nature connection in children. Fourteen studies were identified through electronic searches of Web of Science, Scopus, PsychInfo, ERIC, and Google Scholar. The review aims to offer an overview of the interventions identified, provide a snapshot of the current state of the literature, briefly present themes and trends in the studies identified in relation to nature connection in young people, and propose potential guidelines for future work.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.0049211pubpu

Shaping space and practice to support autonomy:Lessons from natural settings in Scotland

Alexia Barrable - ORCID: 0000-0002-5352-8330 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5352-8330In the present paper, I explore some of the concrete manifestation of autonomy support in natural childcare and early childhood education settings, under the organising framework of self-determination theory. More specifically, I present the ways in which early childhood educators shape the space of natural settings and use the affordances of the natural environment to promote autonomy in children aged 3–8 years. The practices presented are a result of direct observation in several Scotland-based outdoor settings, observations and organic conversations with educators in outdoor and forest kindergartens. Hopefully the practices and spaces presented in this paper can be of use by educators and setting managers who aim to support autonomous learning and intrinsic motivation in their pupils in outdoor natural early years’ settings.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-019-09305-x23pubpub

The Case for Nature Connectedness as a Distinct Goal of Early Childhood Education

Alexia Barrable - ORCID: 0000-0002-5352-8330 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5352-8330Item is not available in this repository.The importance of young children learning about the natural environment has been recognised in policy and curricular frameworks around the world. Moreover, there has been a call for children to spend more time outdoors and to reconnect with nature. However, the distinct construct of nature connectedness has not been examined in detail in relation to early childhood education. This article aims to bring together environmental psychology literature and early years’ policy in an attempt to make the case for nature connectedness becoming a distinct goal in early childhood curricular frameworks. Furthermore, it aims to highlight gaps in the research literature and offer clear directions for future research.https://naturalstart.org/sites/default/files/journal/8._barrable_formatted_0.pdf6pubpub

Developing a Connection to Nature: The Role of Pet Ownership in Childhood

Connection to nature is associated with a range of benefits to well-being in both childhood and adulthood. Childhood experiences seem to play a big role in how adult nature connection develops. Among the many predictors of higher connection to nature, relationships with animals, including pets, likely play an important role in facilitating feelings of closeness with nature. In this paper we present two survey studies, one of children (n = 64, age = 6–16 years) and one of adults (n = 356, age = 18–80 years). Our aim was to find out if children who own pets have a higher level of connection to nature, as well as whether adults who owned pets in childhood have higher mean levels of connection to nature in adulthood than those who did not own pets. We also examined the relationship that level of engagement with childhood pets might have with nature connection. We did not find a significant difference in mean levels of connection to nature in either children or adults who own(ed) pets in childhood compared to those who did not. For adults, level of engagement with a childhood pet was associated with later nature connection; however, this relationship was not significant in children. These findings suggest that merely owning a pet in childhood might not be enough to encourage a strong connection to nature; rather, in line with the pets as ambassadors theory, active engagement and involvement in the care of childhood pets could be most important in facilitating this relationship. To build relationships with nature during formative childhood years, children could be encouraged to engage with and care for household pets

Flourishing in the forest:looking at Forest School through a self-determination theory lens

Forest School offers opportunities for children and young adults to come into regular contact with nature. Although, in relevant literature, Forest School is seen as highly conducive to participants’ motivation to learn, there is no theoretical framework that examines how this motivation can be optimized in relation to Forest School pedagogy. Self-Determination Theory offers a broad perspective for motivational processes and will be used as a guide in this article to advance such a framework. Self-Determination Theory proposes that well-being, which has been identified as an aim of Forest School, is promoted through the support of three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. In this conceptual article, we make links between Forest School pedagogical practices and Self-Determination Theory, mainly focusing on the support of children’s basic psychological needs. Furthermore, we make suggestions for ways in which to enhance practice through explicit links with need-supportive teaching practices, as these are identified in the Self-Determination Theory literature

Green and Screen:Does Mobile Photography Enhance or Hinder Our Connection to Nature?

Alexia Barrable - ORCID: 0000-0002-5352-8330 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5352-8330Connection to nature, which describes the affective, experiential and cognitive aspects of our relationship with the natural world, has been positively associated with increased wellbeing, as well as pro-environmental beliefs and behaviours. It has also been identified as a worthwhile and distinct goal of education, both in terms of environmental education assessment, as well as in broader terms. This short article aims to explore the effect of using mobile technology to enhance our connection to nature, through a short-term intervention. A total of 57 undergraduates (age range 20 - 31) were randomised into two groups and undertook a short walk in urban nature, with the instruction to notice the beauty in nature and note three beautiful things. One of the groups was asked to record these beautiful things using mobile technology (photography, audio or video recording). Pre- and post-activity measures of the nature connection, using the Connection to Nature Scale (CNS) State were taken and analysed. Results showed that although the intervention had an overall positive effect on participants’ connection to nature, technology neither enhanced nor hindered it. Qualitative analysis of participants’ description of the activity shows a largely positive experience. Limitations of this small trial are presented, and the potential to build an application to engage young people with nature, for increased wellbeing and sustainability, is discussed as a future direction.https://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/volume-12-212pubpub

Nature relatedness in student teachers, perceived competence and willingness to teach outdoors:An empirical study

Alexia Barrable - ORCID: 0000-0002-5352-8330 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5352-8330Item is not available in this repository.Despite a drive towards more learning outside the classroom, teachers’ confidence to teach outdoors has been identified as a barrier to regular and positive outdoor experiences. Initial Teacher Education (ITE) has been seen as one of the ways to increase teachers’ confidence, yet such provision is variable and has not been studied extensively. In this study, we explore how a practical outdoor session can increase motivation to teach outdoors. Moreover, using a Self-Determination Theory framework we hypothesise that increased nature relatedness would be associated with higher perceived competence and willingness to teach outdoors. Forty-nine ITE students took part in the outdoor session, and responded to pre- and post-measures of nature relatedness, perceived competence and willingness to teach outdoors. Results suggest a positive correlation between nature relatedness and both perceived competence and willingness to undertake outdoor sessions. Moreover, nature relatedness was significantly higher after the outdoor environmental education session.https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2019.160999920pubpub

Supporting child and family wellbeing through nature during the pandemic

Alexia Barrable - ORCID: 0000-0002-5352-8330 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5352-8330The global pandemic of COVID-19 poses many unprecedented challenges on our way of life. Since the introduction of social distancing measures as one of our biggest weapons in slowing the spread of disease and mitigating the effects on the health services, other challenges have been introduced. One of these is the challenge of supporting and maintaining wellbeing in children and families. A way to achieve this is through maintaining our contact and connection with the non-human natural world. Regular contact with the natural world has been found to have benefits for our mental and physical health. The aim of this paper is to identify how families can gain the benefits of nature engagement, in the instances where the access might be limited or non-existent Whilst we are able to identify a number of opportunities and mechanisms for nature contact and connection to promoting family wellbeing there are some methodological challenges remaining, given that a significant number of research papers exploring the affective influence of nature contact and connection focuses on adults. We also identify a number of areas where research would be beneficial to better understand the mediating influences on wellbeing from nature contact and connection.https://doi.org/10.26262/HJP.V18I2.804718pubpub