Childhood and Nature
By David Sobel. 2008
208 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Public discussions of global climate change and other threats to the planet are making children more aware of environmental issues. As increasing numbers of kids come to school wishing to take action, educators want to know how to teach in a way that fosters a love of nature and an understanding of the complexity and seriousness of these issues. In Childhood and Nature, noted educator David Sobel makes the case that meaningful connections with the natural world don't begin in the rainforest or arctic, but in our own backyards and communities. Based on his observations of recurrent play themes around the world, Sobel articulates seven design principles that can guide teachers in structuring learning experiences for children. Place-based education projects that make effective use of the principles are detailed throughout the book. And while engaged in these projects, students learn language arts, math, science, social studies, as well as essential problem-solving and social skills through involvement with nature and their communities. The pressures of test preparation, standards, and curriculum frameworks often reduce the study of nature and the environment to a set of facts and general concepts. However, as Childhood and Nature demonstrates, linking curriculum with an engagement in the real world not only provides students with the thinking skills needed for whatever test comes their way, but also helps them grow into responsible citizens and stewards of the earth.
Subfields: Education
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/39475bddeffc3dcb58eab453b73acc55c135ab79
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In Education
Citations in the corpus
- Children's Environmental Concerns: Expressing Ecophobia (2012, background): “Educators and scholars (Nabhan & Trimble, 1994; Sobel, 2008”
- Growing Up Green : Becoming an Agent of Care for the Natural World (2009, unknown): “This is consistent with the conclusions of the environmental educator Sobel (2008), who has proposed a “ladder of environmental responsibility.”
- Early childhood educators’ use of natural outdoor settings as learning environments: an exploratory study of beliefs, practices, and barriers (2014, background): “While there has been some effort to incorporate natural elements into the design of outdoor educational spaces (Keeler 2008; Moore and Cooper-Marcus 2008; Sobel 2008), natural outdoor settings have been under-utilized in early childhood education (Miller, Tichota, and White 2009).”
- Children in nature: sensory engagement and the experience of biodiversity (2018, background): “Sobel (2008) highlights the importance of this concern with his argument that no level of virtual engagement with the natural world can replace the direct and embodied experiences he identifies as critical to children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and moral development. related to concerns for a…”