“Environment Is Like Nature”: Opinions Of Children Attending Forest Kindergarten About The Concept Of Environment

Year 2021, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 91 - 110, 08.07.2021

Berat AHİ Deniz KAHRİMAN PAMUK

https://doi.org/10.18497/iejeegreen.944378

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to determine the opinions of children attending forest kindergarten about the concept of environment. The participants of the study are thirty six 50-70 month-old children attending a forest kindergarten. In line with the purpose of the study, the triangulation design, one of the qualitative research models, was used. In the quantitative dimension of the current study, the children were asked to draw what comes to their mind when they hear the word “environment” and then interviews were conducted with the children about their drawings. Then, on the basis of the codes derived from the drawings and DAET-R, it was attempted to understand the structure of their opinions about environment. In the qualitative dimension of the study, interviews were conducted according to the phenomenological design. As a result of the analyses conducted, it was concluded that the children generally evaluated nature as environment. In both drawings and interviews, the children generally drew and mentioned biotic and abiotic factors. The concepts of human and designed environment were rarely emphasized in the drawings and interviews. Given that the participating children were attending a forest kindergarten it was already expected by the researchers that their opinions would be “nature” centred. In light of these findings, it is thought that it is important to make educational programs built on environmental education more widespread.

Keywords

child, concept of environment, forest school, nature

References

• Ahi, B., Balcı, S. & Alisinanoğlu, F. (2017). Exploring Turkish preservice teachers' mental models of the environment: Are they related to gender and academic level?, The Journal of Environmental Education, 48(3), DOI: 10.1080/00958964.2016.1267102
• Atasoy, E. (2015). İnsan-doğa etkileşimi ve çevre için eğitim. Bursa: Sentez Yayınları.
• Bonnett, M. & Williams, J. (1998). Environmental education and primary children's attitudes towards nature and the environment. Cambridge Journal of Education, 28(2), 159-174.
• Bonnett, M. (2007). Environmental education and the issue of nature. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 39(6), 707-721.
• Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Harvard University Press.
• Chawla, L. (1988). Children's concern for the natural environment. Children's Environments Quarterly, 13-20.
• Chawla, L. (2007). Childhood experiences associated with care for the natural world: A theoretical framework for empirical results. Children Youth and Environments, 17(4), 144-170.
• Clements, R. (2004). An investigation of the status of outdoor play. Contemporary issues in early childhood, 5(1), 68-80.
• Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). London, England: Routledge.
• Colaizzi, P., F. (1978). Psychological reserach as the phenomenologist views it. In R. Vaile & M. King (Eds.), Existential phenomenological alternatives for psychology (pp. 48-71). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Copple, C. ve Bredekamp, S. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. National Association for the Education of Young Children. 1313 L Street NW Suite 500, Washington, DC 22205-4101.
• Creswell, J., W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research methods: Choosing among five approaches. (3rd edition). Thounsand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Davis, J. (1998). Young children, environmental education, and the future. Early Childhood Education Journal, 26(2), 117-123.
• Dewey, J. (1998). The essential Dewey: Pragmatism, education, democracy (Vol. 1). Indiana University Press.
• Elliott, S., & Chancellor, B. (2014). From forest preschool to bush kinder: An inspirational approach to preschool provision in Australia. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39(4), 45.
• Erkuş, A. (2011). Davranış bilimleri için bilimsel araştırma süreci. (3. Baskı). Ankara: Seçkin.
• Ernst, J., & Theimer, S. (2011). Evaluating the effects of environmental education programming on connectedness to nature. Environmental Education Research, 17(5), 577-598.
• Fraenkel, J. R. ve Wallen, N. E. (2009). How to design and evaluate research in education. (7th. Edition). New York: McGraw Hill.
• Haktanır, G. (2007). Okul öncesi dönemde çevre eğitimi. İçinde Çevre Eğitimi. Ankara: Türkiye Çevre Vakfı (TÇV) Yayınları.
• Hart, P., & Nolan, K. (1999). A critical analysis of research in environmental education.
• Hsu, S. J. (2009). Significant life experiences affect environmental action: A confirmation study in eastern Taiwan. Environmental Education Research, 15(4), 497-517.
• Kahriman-Pamuk, D. (2019). Erken Çocukluk Döneminde Çevre Eğitimi. Editör: Deniz Kahriman-Pamuk, Erken Çocukluk Döneminde Çevre Eğitimi ve Sürdürülebilirlik. Anı Yayıncılık, Ankara/Türkiye.
• Kalvaitis, D., & Monhardt, R. M. (2012). The architecture of children’s relationships with nature: A phenomenographic investigation seen through drawings and written narratives of elementary students. Environmental Education Research, 18(2), 209-227.
• Keliher, V. (1997). Children's perceptions of nature. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 6(3): 240–243.
• Kellert, S. R. (1985). Attitudes toward animals: Age-related development among children. In Advances in Animal Welfare Science 1984 (pp. 43-60). Springer, Dordrecht.
• Kellert, S. R. (1993). The biological basis for human values of nature. The biophilia hypothesis, 42-69.
• Kenny, E. (2013). Forest kindergartens: The cedarsong way.
• Knight, S. (2009). Forest school and outdoor learning in the early years. Sage.
• Knight, S. (2013). Forest School for All. London: Sage.
• Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews. London: SAGE.
• Loughland, T., Reid, A., Walker, K., & Petocz, P. (2003). Factors influencing young people's conceptions of environment. Environmental Education Research, 9(1), 3-19.
• Louv, R. (2010). Doğadaki son çocuk. Çev. C. Temürcü). Ankara: TÜBİTAK.(Original Title: Last child in the wood).
• Lubomira, D. (2004) "Environmental education at pre-school." International Research in Geographical & Environmental Education (13)3., 258-263.
• Malone, K., & Tranter, P. (2003). “Children's environmental learning and the use, design and management of schoolgrounds. Children youth and environments, 13(2), 87-137.
• Maynard, T. (2007). Forest Schools in Great Britain: an initial exploration. Contemporary issues in early childhood, 8(4), 320-331.
• Mersin Orman Bölge Müdürlüğü. (2019). Orman varlığı. Retrevied from https://mersinobm.ogm.gov.tr/Sayfalar/Ormanlarimiz/OrmanVarligi.aspx
• Miles, M., B., & Huberman, A., M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: A sourcebook of new methods. (2nd edition). Thousand Oak, CA: Sage.
• Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı, (MEB). (2013). Okul öncesi eğitim programı. Ankara: MEB.
• Moseley, C., Desjean-Perrotta, B., & Utley, J. (2010). The draw an environment test rubric (DAET-R): Exploring preservice teachers’ mental models of the environment. Environmental Education Research, 16(2), 189–208.
• Nabhan, G. P. ve Trimble, S. (1994). The geography of childhood: Why children need special places. Boston, MA, US: Beacon Press.
• Nawaz, H., & Blackwell, S. (2014). Perceptions about forest schools: Encouraging and promoting Archimedes Forest Schools. Educational Research and Reviews, 9(15), 498-503.
• North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). (2014). What is environmental education? http://www.naaee.net/what-is-ee
• North American Association for Environmental Education. (2004). Guidelines for the preparation and professional development of environmental educators. Washington, DC: NAAEE.
• O’Brien, L., & Murray, R. (2007). Forest School and its impacts on young children: Case studies in Britain. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 6(4), 249-265.
• O'Brien, L. (2009). Learning outdoors: the Forest School approach. Education 3–13, 37(1), 45-60.
• Orr, D. W. (1994). Earth in mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect. Washington, DC: Island Press.
• Otto, S., & Pensini, P. (2017). Nature-based environmental education of children: Environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature, together, are related to ecological behaviour. Global Environmental Change, 47, 88-94.
• Palmer, J. A. (1995). Environmental thinking in the early years: Understanding and misunderstanding of concepts related to waste management. Environmental Education Research, 1(1), 35-45.
• Palmer, J. A., Suggate, J., Robottom, I. A. N., & Hart, P. (1999). Significant life experiences and formative influences on the development of adults’ environmental awareness in the UK, Australia and Canada. Environmental Education Research, 5(2), 181-200.
• Pooley, J. A. and O’Connor, M. (2000). Environmental education and attitudes: Emotions and beliefs are what is needed. Environment and behavior, 32(5), 711-723.
• Rickinson, M. (1999). People-environment issues in the geography classroom: towards an understanding of students' experiences. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 8(2), 120-139.
• Rickinson, M. (2001). Learners and learning in environmental education: A critical review of the evidence. Environmental education research, 7(3), 207-320.
• Ridgers, N. D., Knowles, Z. R., & Sayers, J. (2012). Encouraging play in the natural environment: A child-focused case study of Forest School. Children's geographies, 10(1), 49-65.
• Rivkin, M. S. (1995). The great outdoors: Restoring children's right to play outside. National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1509 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC.
• Roth, C. E. (2002). A Questioning framework for shaping environmental literacy. Earthlore Associates and The Center for Environmental Education of Antioch New England Institute, Canada. http://www.antiochne.edu/anei/download/82_questioning.pdf.
• Shepardson, D. P., Wee, B., Priddy, M., & Harbor, J. (2007). Students’ mental models of the environment. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(2), 327–348. Sobel, D. 1996. Beyond ecophobia, Great Barrington, MA: Orion Society.
• Taskin, O. (2004). Postmaterialism, new environmental paradigm and ecocentric approach: A qualitative and quantitative study of environmental attitudes of Turkish senior high school students (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University).
• Taşkın, Ö., & Şahin, B. (2008). Çevre Kavramı ve Altı Yaş Okul Öncesi Çocuklar. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 23(23), 1-12.
• Turkish Statical Institue. (2019). City indicator. Retrevied from www.tuik.gov.tr/UstMenu.do?metod=istgosterge
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) ve United Nations Environment Programme Agency (UNEP). (1978). Inter-governmental conference on environmental education - Final report. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO.
• United Nations. Economic Commission for Europe. Committee on Environmental Policy. (2008). ECE/CEP/142. United Nations Publications.
• Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. NY: New York University Press.
• Wals, A. E. (1994). Nobody planted it, it just grew! Young adolescents' perceptions and experiences of nature in the context of urban environmental education. Children's Environments, 177-193.
• Wiersma, W. & Jurs, S. G. (2005). Research methods in education. (8th. Edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Williams-Siegfredson, J. (2012). Understanding the Danish Forest School Approach. Early Years Education in Practice. Oxon: Routledge.
• Wilson, E. O. (1993). Biophilia and the conservation ethic. In The biophilia hypothesis. S. R. Kellert and E. O. Wilson (Ed.). Washington, DC: Island Press.
• Wilson, R. A. (1996). Environmental education programs for preschool children. The Journal of Environmental Education, 27(4), 28-33.
• Wortham, S. C. (2002). Early childhood curriculum: Developmental bases for learning and teaching. Merrill/Prentice Hall.
• Yıldırım, A. ve Şimşek, H. (2011). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri. (6th Edition). Ankara: Seçkin.