Browsing by Subject "ympäristökasvatus"

This research will study commercial field students' relationship with nature and how it affects their sense of responsibility. The aim is to find out what the students' relationship with nature is like, whether it has a connection to a sense of responsibility and whether the background factors have an effect on the relationship with nature. The issue is topical, as life on Earth is threatened by many environmental problems, such as climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the over-consumption of natural resources. As a result of urbanization, people can somehow become estranged from nature. We need more information about the background factors of our relationship with nature and the connection with a sense of responsibility. Maybe that will help us to maintain our relationship with nature and take responsibility for our environment. Based on previous research, it seems that the more distant a person experiences nature, the less he appreciates it and wants to take care of its well-being. The relationship with nature is always a subjective experience; an individual experiences his relationship with nature differently depending on the experiences, feelings and attitudes towards being in nature and towards it.In the study, I used the Nature Relatedness (NR) Scale to measure the nature relationship. Responsibility refers to a person's responsibility for the effects of his or her actions on, for example, the environment and society. This study focuses on a sense of responsibility; how a person feels responsible. The sense of responsibility was measured with the Responsibility scale (RS). The study was carried out in collaboration with the Ruralia Institute of the University of Helsinki. The data was collected in the autumn 2020. Students were told that the purpose of the survey was to research their relationship with nature and their views on the use of state hiking areas and national parks. Data was collected from 246 Finnish business schools students with the electronic survey. In the analysis of the data, the average sum variables were created from the responses of the survey in order to obtain figures describing the nature relatedness and responsibility for each respondent. The correlation between the nature relatedness and the sense of responsibility was then examined using linear regression. Background variable analyzes were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test and cross-tabulation. The study found a positive correlation between the nature relatedness and the sense of responsibility, making students with a stronger nature relatedness also feel more responsible. Background variable studies revealed that women have a slightly better level of nature relatedness than men. In addition, respondents born before the 1990s were found to have a higher level of nature relatedness. However due to the small number of respondents in older age groups, no more precise conclusions could be drawn. The results are similar to those obtained in previous environmental studies. Although a correlation was found between the nature relatedness and the sense of responsibility, the sense of responsibility does not necessarily tell anything about responsible behavior. New ways should be found to explore the connection bet-ween the sense of responsibility and behavior towards nature. More information would also be needed on how various background factors, such as childhood residence, will affect on the relationship with nature. As people's relationships with nature develops throughout life, information on the cause-and-effect relationship between nature relatedness and responsibility could be used even more in the environmental education of not only children but also adults, too.

The experiences of an individual build and shape his or her personality. Experiences of nature contribute considerably to the development of children’s self-esteem and self-image. It is worth bearing in mind that the children of today will become the builders and decision-makers of tomorrow and, therefore, their education is of great importance. Their attitudes and values will define the development and well-being of our society. Children’s experiences of their daily lives are a key element of this study. The study explored 5–6-year-old kindergarten children’s (n = 98) experiences of garden activities. The garden was examined as a physical, psychological, social and cognitive environment for growth and learning. The study concentrated on the children’s emotional responses that were aroused by garden activities and on the function of the garden as a social meeting place for children. A further aim of the study was to follow the development of the 5–6-year-old participants’ knowledge of the garden and nature. The children’s experiences were assessed with a drawing task, Me as a Gardener, that was supplemented with individual interviews, conducted between 2014–2015. The children’s emotional experiences and knowledge of nature were enhanced as a result of the garden activities. The activities contributed to an increase in positive experiences and self-image, especially in the case of boys, and to the development of an understanding of the effects of gardening. Based on this study can be expected to, an intentional use of the garden as a growth and learning environment encourages the growth of children in early-childhood education settings.