Publication details
Psychological Solutions for Environmental Education
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2010 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Řehulka, E. (ed.). SCHOOL AND HEALTH 21 Papers on Health Education |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Psychology |
| Keywords | Conservation psychology; environmental education; relationship between humans and the Nature; Scout clubs |
| Description | This report discusses the field of environmental psychology, currently called conservation psychology, concepts of which have not become widespread in the Czech Republic yet. The study is based on a premise that psychology could potentially significantly contribute to the solution of the global problem consisting in the unsustainability of human activities. The study analyzes several components of the relationship between school-age children and the Nature from the position of conservation psychology that searches for methods of influencing environmental behavior of humans. It briefly outlines the development of studying the relationship between humans and the environment in psychology and lists selected theoretical concepts that are studied by the current conservation psychology. The relationship between humans and the Nature is outlined in the five-dimension model of J. Krajhanzl (2006). The study also discusses two components of the relationship between humans and the Nature-human emotional reaction to the Nature and the amount of human experience with the Nature. It tests hypotheses about the differences in these two characteristics in school-age children who regularly attend Scout clubs and in those who do not attend these clubs. The study uses the comparison data acquired from the "Research into Increasing Alienation between Humans and the Nature" from 2004-2005 (National Research Program of the Ministry of the Environment): Countryside and Settlements of Future, Project No. IC/4/40/04). The acquired results support the previously established hypotheses. There were discovered differences in the more positive emotional reaction and in the larger experience with the Nature exhibited by children from the Scout clubs. Scout club members have larger experience especially with activities developing their outdoor skills, they more frequently come into contact with wild animals and they also more frequently participate in environmentally-oriented educational activities. The study describes how the Scout clubs could contribute to the development of the children's relationship to the Nature and it also notes the limitations placed on such a development. |