You searched for:

  • All

Yesterday’s conservationists: How were they educated about the outdoors and the environment?

Factors influencing environmental attitudes of historic conservationists include interaction with nature, family and education.

Historical documents were used to identify major factors influencing environmental attitudes of five historical conservation individuals. Seven university faculty members involved in conservation and the environment through research and course instruction used the Delphi technique to identify the top five conservationists in American history. This process included the use of a five-point Likert scale ranging from ‘should not be in the top five (1)’ to ‘definitely in the top five conservationists in history (5.)’ The five historical figures identified by the Delphi team for inclusion in this study are Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Historical documents pertaining to these figures were then examined for information about childhood experiences in nature, family influences, media, education, and the environment in which each individual was raised. Findings indicated that spending time outdoors interacting with nature (alone or with others), place attachment, the influence of a family member, and education (through the natural environment more so that formal education, and, especially reading) influenced the environmental attitudes of each of these historical figures.

Citation

Place, G.S., (2016). Yesterday’s conservationists: How were they educated about the outdoors and the environment?. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2016.1171158

MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM:

Turner Foundation

MADE POSSIBLE WITH ONGOING SUPPORT FROM:

University of Minnesota - Institute on the Environment
EE Research

A collaborative research library of:

Children and Nature Network and NAAEE

Connect to more resources through our eeResearch collaboration with the North American
Association for Environmental Education, combining articles, syntheses and research summaries
for the field of environmental education and the children and nature movement.

SUPPORT OUR WORK

Help us make sure that all children live, learn and grow with nature in their daily lives.

Donate Membership