International Association of Educators   |  ISSN: 1308-9501
International Journal of Educational Researchers
International Association of Educators

Original article | International Journal of Educational Researchers 2013, Vol. 4(2) 1-10

Early Childhood Development And Education Through Nature-Child Interactions: A Conceptual Paper

İbrahim H. Acar

pp. 1 - 10   |  Manu. Number: ijers.2013.006

Published online: July 01, 2013  |   Number of Views: 219  |  Number of Download: 703

Save PDF

Abstract

The present paper addresses following research questions:

RQ1: How does nature or nature-based activities help children’s cognitive development?

RQ2: How does nature or nature-based activities help children’s social and prosocial behavior development?

RQ3: How does nature or nature-based activities enhance children’s learning abilities?

To address these research questions, this paper will explore how nature helps young children’s cognitive, social, prosocial behavior development through primary and secondary existing literature sources (Fraenkel, Wallen, & Hyun, 2012). This paper will also touch on how teachers influence children’s learning objectives through guiding children’s learning activities during nature-based activities. The present paper tends to explore child development through peer-child and child-teacher interactions throughout nature-based activities through the lens of Vygotsky’s (1978) Socio-Cultural Theory.

Keywords: Nature and Child, Child Development, Early Childhood Education

How to Cite this Article?

APA 6th edition
Acar, I.H. (2013). Early Childhood Development And Education Through Nature-Child Interactions: A Conceptual Paper. International Journal of Educational Researchers, 4(2), 1-10.

Harvard
Acar, I. (2013). Early Childhood Development And Education Through Nature-Child Interactions: A Conceptual Paper. International Journal of Educational Researchers, 4(2), pp. 1-10.

Chicago 16th edition
Acar, Ibrahim H. (2013). "Early Childhood Development And Education Through Nature-Child Interactions: A Conceptual Paper". International Journal of Educational Researchers 4 (2):1-10.

References
  1. Acar, I. H., & Torquati, J. (2012, November). Prosocial Behavior Exhibited in Preschool-aged Children through Nature-based Activities. Paper session presented at the annual meeting of Midwestern Educational Research Association, Evanston, IL. [Google Scholar]
  2. Allen, J. B., & Ferrand, J. L. (1999). Environmental Locus of Control, Sympathy, and Proenvironmental Behavior. Environment & Behavior, 31(3), 338-353. [Google Scholar]
  3. Bailie, P. E. (2012). Connecting children to nature: A multiple case study of nature center Preschools (Doctoral dissertation,    University    of    Nebraska-Lincoln).    Retrieved    from [Google Scholar]
  4. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/teachlearnstudent/24 [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown, S. (2009). Play: How It Shapes the brain, Opens the Imagination, and Ingvigorates the Soul. New York , NY: Penguin Group. [Google Scholar]
  6. Chawla, L. (1998). Significant life experiences revisited: A review of research on sources of environmental sensitivity. The Journal of Environmental Education, 29(3), 11-21. [Google Scholar]
  7. Cimprich, B. E. (1990). Attentional fatigue and restoration in individuals with cancer. Unpub-lished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. [Google Scholar]
  8. Cheng, J. C.-H., & Monroe, M. C. (2012). Connection to nature: Children's affective attitude toward nature . Environment and Behavior, 44, 31-49. doi:10.1177/0013916510385082. [Google Scholar] [Crossref] 
  9. Cohen, S. (2001). Social Relationships and Susceptibility to the Common Cold. In C. D. Ryff, & B. H. Singer, Emotion, Social Relationships, and Health (pp. 221-242). New York, NY: Oxford University Press . [Google Scholar]
  10. Coley, R., & Kuo, F. E. (1997). Where does community grow? The social context created by nature in urban public housing. Environment & Behavior, 29(4), 468. [Google Scholar]
  11. Coplan, R. J., & Arbeau, K. A. (2009). Peer Interactions and Play in Early Childhood. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski, & B. Laursen, Handbook of Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups (pp. 143-161). New York, NY: The Guilford Press . [Google Scholar]
  12. Curtis, D., & Carter, M. (2005). Rethinking early childhood environments to enhance leaming . Young Children, 60(3), 34-46. [Google Scholar]
  13. Dobbs-Oates, J., Kaderavek, J. N., & Justice, L. M. (2011). Effective behavior management in preschool classrooms and children’s task orientation: Enhancing emergent literacy and language development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26, 420- 429. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2011.02.003. [Google Scholar] [Crossref] 
  14. Downer, J. T., Booren, L. M., Lima, O. K., Luckner, A. E., & Pianta, R. C. (2010). The Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS): Preliminary reliability and validity of a system for observing preschoolers' competence in classroom interaction. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25 (1), 1-16. [Google Scholar]
  15. Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., & Spinrad, T. L. (2006). Prosocial Development. In W. Damon, R. M. Lerner (Series Ed.), & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol.3. Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 6th ed., pp. 646-718). New York: Wiley. [Google Scholar]
  16. Faber Taylor, A. & Kuo, F. E. (2006). Is contact with nature important for healthy child development? State of the evidence. In C. Spencer & M. Blades, (Eds.), Children and their environments. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 124-140. [Google Scholar]
  17. Faber Taylor, A. F., Kuo, F., Sullivan, W. (2001) Coping with ADD: The Surprising Connection to Green Play Settings. Environment and Behavior, 33(1), 54. [Google Scholar]
  18. Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th editon). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. [Google Scholar]
  19. Grahn, P., Mârtensson, F., Lindblad, B., Nilsson,P., & Ekman, A. (1997). Ute pâ dagis [Outdoors at daycare]. Stad och Land [City and country], No. 145. Hâssleholm, Sweden: Norra Skâne Offset. [Google Scholar]
  20. Gopnik, A. (2009). The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us about Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux . [Google Scholar]
  21. Hânnikâinen, M., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2010). Promoting children’s participation: the role of teachers in preschool and primary school learning sessions. Early Years, 30(2),    147-160. doi: [Google Scholar]
  22. 10.1080/09575146.2010.485555. [Google Scholar]
  23. Hartig, T., Mang, M., & Evans, G. W. (1991). Restorative effects of natural environment experiences. Environment and Behavior, 23, 3-26. [Google Scholar]
  24. Hillman, M., Adams, J., & Whitelegg, J. (1990). One false move: A study of children's independent mobility. London: Policy Studies Institute . [Google Scholar]
  25. Hovland, M. R., Gapp, S. C., & Theis, B. L. (2011). Look: Examining the concept of learning to at print . Reading Improvement, 48(3), 128-138. [Google Scholar]
  26. Howes, C., & Ritchie, S. (2002). A Matter of Trust: Connecting Teachers and Learners in the Early Childhood Classroom . New York, NY: Teachers College Press . [Google Scholar]
  27. Kahn, P. H., Jr. (1999). The human relationship with nature: Development and culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [Google Scholar]
  28. Kahn, Jr., P. H. (2002). Children’s affiliations with nature: Structure, development, and the problem of environmental generational amnesia. In P.H. Kahn, Jr. and S.R. [Google Scholar]
  29. Kellert (Eds.), 2002, Children and Nature: Psychological, sociocultural, and evolutionary investigations. (pp. 93-116). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [Google Scholar]
  30. Kaplan, R. (1973). Some psychological benefits of gardening. Environment and Behavior, 5 (2), 145-162. [Google Scholar]
  31. Kellert, S. R. (1993). The biological basis for human values of nature. In E.O. Wilson & S. R. Kellert (Eds.), 1993, The biophilia hypothesis. (pp. 31-41). Washington DC: Island Press. [Google Scholar]
  32. Kellert, S. R. (2005). Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection. Washington, DC: Island Press. [Google Scholar]
  33. Kozulin, A. (1987). The concepts of activity in Soviet psychology: Vygotsky, his disciples, and critics. In H. Daniels (Ed.), An Introduction Vygotsky. (pp. 101-125). New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  34. Kuo, F. E., Bacaicoa, M., & Sullivan, W.C. (1998). Transforming inner-city landscapes: Trees, sense of safety, and preference. Environment and Behavior, 30, 28-59. [Google Scholar]
  35. Lee, Y., Kinzie, M. B., & Whittaker, J. V. (2012). Impact of online support for teachers’ open-ended questioning in pre-k science activities. Teaching & Teacher Education, 28(4), 568-577. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2012.01.002. [Google Scholar] [Crossref] 
  36. Louv, R. (2008). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books. [Google Scholar]
  37. Mashburn, A. J., Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B. K., Downer, J. T., Barbarin, O. A., Bryant, D., . . . Early, D. M. (2008). Measures of classroom quality in prekindergarten and children’s development of academic, language, and social skills.    Child Development, 79(3), 732-749. doi: 10.1111/j.1467- [Google Scholar] [Crossref] 
  38. 8624.2008.01154.x. [Google Scholar]
  39. Milteer, R. M., & Ginsburg, K. R. (2011). The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development abd Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bond: Focus on Children in Poverty. Pediatrics, 204-213. [Google Scholar]
  40. Mussen, P., & Eisenber-Berg, N. (1977). Roots of Caring, Sharing, and Helping. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company . [Google Scholar]
  41. Pianta, R. C. (1999). Enhancing Relationships between Children and Teachers . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [Google Scholar]
  42. Pianta, R. C., La Paro, K. M., & Hamre, B. K. (2008). Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. [Google Scholar]
  43. Poresky, R. H. (1990). The young children's empathy measure: Reliability, validity, and effects of companion animal bonding. Psychological Reports, 66, 931-936. [Google Scholar]
  44. Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]
  45. Schulz, L. E., & Bonawitz, E. (2007). Serious fun: Preschoolers engage in more exploratory play when evidence is confounded. Developmental Psychology,43 (4),    1045-1050.    doi:10.1037/0012- [Google Scholar] [Crossref] 
  46. 1649.43.4.1045 [Google Scholar]
  47. Schultz, W. (2002). Inclusion with nature: The psychology of human-nature relations. In P. [Google Scholar]
  48. Schumck & W. P. Schultz (Eds.), Psychology of sustainable development (pp. 61-78). Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publisher. [Google Scholar]
  49. Spivak, A. L., & Howes, C. (2011). Social and Relational Factors in Early Education and Prosocial Actions of Children of Diverse Ethnocultural Communities. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 57(1), 1-24. [Google Scholar]
  50. Tarim, K. (2009). The effects of cooperative learning on preschoolers’ mathematics problem-solving ability. Educational Studies In Mathematics, 72(3), 325-340. doi:10.1007/s10649-009-9197-x. [Google Scholar] [Crossref] 
  51. Taylor, A.F.,Wiley, A.,Kuo,F. E.,& Sullivan,W. C. (1998). Growing up in the inner city: Green spaces as places to grow. Environment and Behavior, 30, 3-27. [Google Scholar]
  52. Thompson, C. W., Aspinall, P. & Montarzino, A. (2008). The childhood factor: Adult visits to green places and the significance of childhood experience. Environment and Behavior, 40(1), 111-143. [Google Scholar]
  53. Trawick-Smith, J., & Dziurgot, T. (2011). ‘Good-fit’ teacher-child play interactions and the subsequent autonomous play of preschool children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26, 110-123. [Google Scholar]
  54. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [Google Scholar]
  55. Weinstein, C. S., & David, T. G. (1987). Spaces for Children : The Built Environment and Child Development. New York: Plenum Press. [Google Scholar]
  56. Wells, N. (2000). At home with nature: effects of "greenness" on children's cognitive functioning. Environment and Behavior, 32(6), 775-795. [Google Scholar]
  57. Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [Google Scholar]
  58. Zucker, T. A., Justice, L. M., Piasta, S. B., & Kadaravek, J. N. (2010). Preschool teachers’ literal and inferential questions and children's responses during whole-class shared reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(1), pp. 65-83.doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.07.001. [Google Scholar] [Crossref] 
Download
Metric
History
Related

Volume 4 Issue 2

July 2013

All Articles

International Journal of Educational Researchers

International Association of Educators.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License.
Privacy policy     |     Terms of Use     |     Use of Cookies
Creative Commons Lisansı
© 2012 - 2024 - THDSoft e-Journal Management System.