The Magic of Outdoor Play: A
						Phenomenological Hermeneutic Approach

Fasting, Merete Lund

doi:10.4135/9781526402028.n40

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…As part of our argument, we will remind readers of the wealth of early childhood, education for sustainable development, environmental education, environmental psychology, health, and planning literature that provide scientific evidence of the value of embodied childhood nature experiences. Drawing upon the work of Merleau-Ponty (1968), we define embodied experiences as direct contact with nature, with sensory awareness, mind, body, and environment intertwined as children roam, play, explore, and learn (Beery and Jørgensen, 2016;Jørgensen, 2016Jørgensen, , 2017Fasting, 2017;Raymond et al, 2018). We will also highlight the reciprocal quality of the nature and child experience relationship, thus supporting the idea of ecosystem services as two-way relationships.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Children are part of the "web of embodied relations" at a particular point in time in a dynamic, ever-changing system (Chawla, 2007;Raymond et al, 2018, p. 786). Observational and ethnographic studies of young children's play and interest in the natural environment reveal active bodily movement in and through places, curiosity, bodily and multisensory awareness, a sense of wonder, engagement with small creatures such as invertebrates, insects, and earthworms, and a connection to the landscape (Chawla et al, 2014;Jørgensen, 2016Jørgensen, , 2017Fasting, 2017;Barthel et al, 2018;Malone and Moore, 2019).…”

Section: Embodied Childhood Nature Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

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Nature’s Services and Contributions: The Relational Value of Childhood Nature Experience and the Importance of Reciprocity

Beery

Lekies

2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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People depend on functioning ecosystems to meet human needs and support well-being across the life span. This article considers the interest in ecosystem service valuation, the growing interest in the benefits of nature experience for children, and ways to bridge these perspectives. We focus on embodied childhood nature experiences: the physical and multisensory experiences that intertwine child and nature. Additionally, we highlight the reciprocal quality of nature and child experience relationship as an example of how this relationship goes beyond the instrumental and demonstrates relational value. Underlying this perspective is the belief that children need to be better represented in the perception and action of ecosystem valuation in environmental policy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Embodied Childhood Nature Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Nature’s Services and Contributions: The Relational Value of Childhood Nature Experience and the Importance of Reciprocity

Beery

Lekies

2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…In recent years, the use of nature as part of the educational environment in ECEC has become more prominent (for an overview, see [46,47]). Studies show that interaction with nature environments facilitates a dynamic, social, all-consuming, and creative play [48][49][50][51]. Using nature as an educational environment provides possibilities for children and for educators to enrich play, because nature provides "tools", "toys", and a variety of spaces in which to play [48,52,53].…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Sustainable Education in a Refugee Camp

et al. 2021

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The main objective of this article is to discuss how an Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institution in a refugee camp can promote social sustainable education. By giving empirical examples of innovative pedagogical ideas and practices inside a Greek ECEC institution, this article argues that concepts of formation are ways to promote social sustainable education. The article draws on data from an ECEC institution in which both the children living in a refugee camp and Greek children are located together. With nature as a neutral cultural mediator, serving as a pedagogical framework, children can make new experiences based on participation, equality and mutual respect. Data were produced through field observations, semi-structured interviews and one group interview from March 2019 until September 2019. The empirical data reveal three dimensions that we suggest work as markers for social sustainable pedagogical practice: the importance of nature and play as a facilitator for children’s activities; the importance of participation and equality; and the importance of commitment to the community. The findings are discussed in relation with theoretical concepts of formation, with a particular focus on children as active agents and the value of experiences, and the importance of highly qualified educators.

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“…Over the past decade, there has been a substantial increase in research-based efforts to understand the relationship between early childhood and nature experiences, with a subsequent increase in systematic research reviews in recent years [1][2][3][4][5]. This growing body of research has demonstrated the benefits to children related to spending time in nature and having access to green and other natural spaces; these benefits have been documented across physical, cognitive, and affective domains that comprise overall well-being as well as other aspects of being, learning, and development, such as executive skill functioning [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. In addition to the scientific literature, the past twenty years have seen a surge in educational and general public interest in the idea and practice of children in nature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-Service Early Childhood Educator Experience in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

Beery

Magntorn

2021

Sustainability

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There has been significant interest in the values and benefits of early childhood nature experiences on children’s well-being and development. One aspect of studying the exposure of children to nature that requires more focus is the role played by early childhood educators. In particular, there is a need for early childhood environmental education training for pre-service educators. This study will explore the use of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve as an outdoor classroom for early childhood environmental education pre-service professionals. Exploratory quantitative and qualitative descriptive data from a series of three short surveys (pre/post/delayed post) provide a basic overview of pre-service teacher perspectives, experiences, and outcomes of an environmental education intervention. The results indicate that the participating pre-service educators had little to no familiarity with the environmental concepts or the biosphere reserve site before participation in the intervention. The post-intervention and delayed post-intervention results show that pre-service educators perceived that their understanding of the concept had improved. The results also show a perception of the positive role that biosphere reserve sites can play in early childhood education. Three critical implications emerged from the overall quantitative and qualitative results: (1) specific support should be given for early childhood environmental education training; (2) biosphere reserve functions provide support for efforts to improve connections to nature; (3) early childhood education has the potential to support the broadening of the biosphere reserve audience.

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The Magic of Outdoor Play: A Phenomenological Hermeneutic Approach

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Nature’s Services and Contributions: The Relational Value of Childhood Nature Experience and the Importance of Reciprocity

Nature’s Services and Contributions: The Relational Value of Childhood Nature Experience and the Importance of Reciprocity

Social Sustainable Education in a Refugee Camp

Pre-Service Early Childhood Educator Experience in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

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