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Konekto Consultancy
December 25th, 2011
Konekto wants to assist in building bridges between the academic world and the practice of learning for nature, the environment and sustainability. This newsletter will be used to make relevant research more accessible to environmental education practioners.
Do you know of some interesting research being done, anywhere around the globe, that should be in this newsletter? Please let us know!
Rebekah L. Tauritz The Netherlands
For more information about Konekto visit us at http://en.konektoconsultancy.nl/ Understanding that other people can think and feel differently from you is an essential skill in relation to sustainable development. Understanding how other minds work is a competence children master around the age of 4. 
Rudiments of the scientific method seen in four-year-old children. by Chloe McIvor
Preschool children spontaneously invent experiments in their play, according to research published this month in Cognition. The findings suggest that basic scientific principles help very young brains to learn about the world.
Psychologists have been drawing a comparison between cognitive development and science for years — an idea referred to as 'the child as scientist'. But recently scientists have been trying to discover whether this is more than just a neat analogy. 
In this paper, we introduce the Exploratory Behavior Scale (EBS), a quantitative
In Experiment 1, we investigated which adult coaching style resulted in the highest level of exploratory behavior at two exhibits. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether informing parents about an effective way of coaching influenced preschoolers’ exploratory behavior at two exhibits.
The results of the study demonstrate the added value of the EBS in visitor behavior research: compared to existing global measures of visitor interactivity; the EBS adds information about the quality of the hands-on behavior. Compared to existing detailed measures of visitor interactivity, the EBS has the advantage of being applicable in different museum settings and enabling comparisons between exhibits or exhibitions. In addition, the EBS allows for quantification of unanticipated behavior.
Tessa van Schijndel (Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam) Rooske Franse (Science Learning Center, science center NEMO) Maartje Raijmakers (Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam) Laura Schulz is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Sciences. She works at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (Early Childhood Cognition Lab) of MIT.
She studies the representations and learning mechanisms that underlie our understanding of the physical and social world.
Her research looks at: 1) how children infer the concepts and causal relations that enable them to engage in accurate prediction, explanation, and intervention; 2) the factors that support curiosity and exploration, allowing children to engage in effective discovery and 3) how the social-communicative context (e.g., demonstrating evidence, explaining events, disagreeing about hypotheses) affects children’s learning. 
In this project, teachers from primary and secondary schools across a range of subject areas used collaborative action enquiry to plan and execute pupil excursions to local outdoor natural areas. The outdoor areas visited were designated National Nature Reserves (or other local wild places such as areas of Special Scientific Interest).
Teachers were entirely free to try any approach they wish. Each group of teacher-researchers worked closely together, sometimes using a theme or focal topic, to visit their site to conduct planning and to design their class visits. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) staff members acted as guides and also advised on where to find local knowledge about the place. Funds were made available to cover for teachers while they engage in planning / attending workshops.
Staff of the University of Stirling and the teacher researchers collected a range of evidence of the activities undertaken. Some of these are on the website in the form of video, audio, pupils' work and teachers' plans and commentaries.
Visit the website and learn more about the project: http://teachinginnature.stir.ac.uk/
Intergenerational Place-based Education: Where schools, communities, & nature meet
The report is an exploration of the synergies (existing and possible) between intergenerational practice, formal school-linked provisions, and the field of place-focused approaches to education. The focus was to consider intergenerational educational programmes that were connected to schools and at the same time, were concerned with making community-wide connections to some local, outdoor and natural places through outdoor experiences of different kinds. Thus, the key aim of the research was to consider what were the opportunities and issues for intergenerational place-based education, what its effects might be, and what the consequences for other schools might look like.
by G. Mannion, C. Adey, & J. Lynch University of Stirling for Scottish Centre for Intergenerational Practice, 2010 Read more: http://www.scotcip.org.uk/files/documents/IG_Place-based_Education.pdf
Progress in education for Sustainable Development | 2012
A new report commissioned by UNESCO has reviewed several case studies of national progress in learning and education for sustainable development (ESD). There are a wide range of approaches but, at the heart of all initiatives, are multi-stakeholder and collaborative partnerships which aim to instigate social change towards a more sustainable future.
Read more: http://t.co/iE43F7HZ
European Commission DG ENV News Alert Issue 270 27 January 2012 
Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) are programs designed to enhance leadership and personal growth through challenging experiences in nature, including rock climbing, sailing, and kayaking. Participants in OAE often report that they were transformed by their experiences, but little is known about how such transformations occur.
D'Amato and Krasny interviewed 23 former OAE participants to explore how their significant experiences enhanced their personal growth and to a lesser degree their pro-environmental behaviors. By interpreting the data through the lens of transformative learning theory, these researchers found that participants attribute the most meaningful experiences to "living in pristine nature, experiencing a different lifestyle, being part of the course community, and dealing with the intensity and challenges of the course." Interview results also suggest that OAE courses "might integrate personal growth with instrumental learning to better foster environmental behaviors post-course."
SOURCE: D'Amato, L. G., and M. E. Krasny. 2011. Outdoor adventure education: applying transformative learning theory to understanding instrumental learning and personal growth in environmental education. Journal of environmental education 42:237-253. 
by Ingrid Mulà (2011)
Higher education institutions not only provide research and policy in sustainability, but also create and facilitate environments for students and staff to develop their understanding and responses to sustainability. Sustainability learning opportunities in higher education are often thought to occur only in formal settings - facilitated by educators and lecturers in a classroom. This research looks at the learning which occurs within the informal and social contexts of higher education institutions. This study refers to this learning as 'social learning'.
The research was conducted at three universities in the UK which had made and explicit commitment to sustainability. Through a critical collaborative inquiry, this research sought to capture and document lived experiences of staff (academic, administrative and support) which were informed by social learning opportunities regarding sustainability within these institutions. This research will ultimately construct indicators as a basis for benchmarking practice which can help universities improve their contribution of social learning in the attainment of sustainability. 
Social learning – essential for a more sustainable world
"Making the world more sustainable can't succeed without social learning," said Arjen Wals in the spring of 2010 when he accepted the UNESCO- Chair 'Social learning and sustainable development'.
Sustainability needs to become part of people's thinking, their way of life and their value system. This requires learning processes that transcend traditional ways of transferring knowledge.
When people with different backgrounds come together in an environment in which they feel comfortable and where they get to know each other it will be more likely that new knowledge, energy and creativity emerge. Wals states that these are three essential ingredients needed to develop a sustainable society.
Central questions in the UNESCO-Chair research program focus on creating the right circumstances that stimulate and support new ways of learning.
Read the entire inaugural lecture: http://www.unesco.nl/nieuws-agenda/nieuws-unesco/2018sociaal-leren-onmisbaar-voor-duurzame-wereld2019
Watch the inaugural lecture on Wageningen UR TV: http://wurtv.wur.nl/p2gplayer/sslviewer.html?path=aulatv/2010/05/27/2/video_post.wmv 
An introduction to scientific methodologies used in field research and a guide to the process of conducting descriptive and comparative field studies.
December, 2009
Authors: Amy E. Ryken, Ph.D., University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA Patricia Otto, Pacific Education Institute, Olympia, WA
Download the full report at http://www.pacificeducationinstitute.org/resources/research/ |
Natural Play. An evaluation of GfL's project work with eight primary schools in Central Scotland
A growing body of evidence suggests that play has a significant impact on almost every area of children’s lives. It also suggests that children have significantly fewer opportunities for non-prescriptive ‘free play’ than previous generations have enjoyed.
Most children spend at least 2000 hours of their life in a school playground, probably more than in any other outdoor play setting. Despite this, many UK schools do little to create the kind of rich play environments and experiences that we know are important for children.
In other parts of Europe, play is viewed as a crucial aspect of school life – and their playgrounds and play practice are radically different from what we know here in the UK. (see for example our case studies on the radical approach taken by schools in Berlin).
With support from Inspiring Scotland, we embarked on a 2-year project with 8 Scottish primary schools to explore whether some of these more ambitious European-style ideas could be adapted to a UK context and to assess what the benefits of this approach might be for children.
This report summarises the approach we took, the lessons we learned and the impact of these projects on children and schools.
January 2012
Read more: http://www.ltl.org.uk/pdf/Natural-Play-Evaluation-Report-1332848772.pdf 
CoDeS is a Comenius multilateral Network funded by the Lifelong Learning Program from the European Union. It focuses on collaboration between school and community addressing sustainable development. The network’s activities provide a European perspective on learning processes, models, values and tools for successful collaboration. The partners have wide ranging experience and backgrounds in Education for Sustainable Development. The network produces, publishes and disseminates a range of products: case study reports, a tool box, a travelling guide and different types of workshops.
The CoDeS Working Conference will take place from May 1-3 2012 in Vienna, Austria. Konekto will assist in the collection and evaluation of the networks output in general, and of the results of the conference in particular.
For more information go to: www.comenius-codes.eu ScienceDaily (Aug. 18, 2011)
Science educators aim to nurture, enrich and sustain children's natural and spontaneous interest in scientific knowledge using many different approaches. In a new paper published in the journal Science, Carnegie Mellon University's David Klahr and Jamie Jirout and Illinois State University's Corinne Zimmerman use psychology research to outline ways to advance the science of science instruction.
Play, naturally: A review of children´s natural play
The authors provide an extensive review of the literature related to children’s natural play. They begin by examining the human relationship with the natural world and the importance of play and direct interaction with the physical environment to children. Lester and Maudsley then review the important opportunities that natural play provides, such as the creation of special places, and the numerous documented and potential benefits of children’s play in natural settings, including the development of a sense of self and independence.
The authors discuss evidence demonstrating a decline in children’s access and opportunities to play in natural spaces and provide a range of suggestions to support children’s opportunities to play in natural settings, such as through the design of effective playgrounds, school grounds, and environmental play projects, as well as ensuring adequate access to parks and nature reserves
by Stuart Lester and Martin Maudsley, Playwork Partnerships Published 2 August 2006, Children's Play Council
To download the report go to: http://www.playday.org.uk/PDF/play-naturally-a-review-of-childrens-natural%20play.pdf 
This new book by EdD Lili-Ann Wolff gives a historical and philosophical view of education that deals with nature and sustainability and highlights the ethical dilemmas that arise if we expect education to be the main promoter of sustainability. The discussion makes a loop starting from contemporary educational problems and the quest for sustainability and continues to the era of Enlightenment. There it brings forward the thoughts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and finally it returns to the present time.
This study also employs Michel Foucault’s historical research methods, and even brings him in as a speaker with his own voice. Rousseau's writings offer excellent examples of the role of both ethics and education in dealing with sustainability. And Foucault sets the stage for understanding such fundamental ethical and educational issues as matters of power that act in complex networks on both individual and social levels.
The conclusion of the discussion between the three voices: the author, Rousseau, and Foucault, is that the sustainability enigma calls for an education that makes a profound difference, in order to be able to bring about mindfully responsible actions. The education has, therefore, to face three basic challenges: firstly, the promotion of self-transformation through self-understanding and self-training; secondly, the development of social relations and collective responsibility; thirdly, the promotion of understanding of the natural world and life on a global scale.
Student gains from Place-based Education | Fact sheet #2 November 2007
Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design
Prepared by Louise Chawla and Myriam Escalante, and with contributions from Michael Duffin.
Place-based or environment-based education uses the environment as an integrating context (EIC) across disciplines. It is characterized by exploration of the local community and natural surroundings, hands-on experiences of environmental discovery and problem-solving, interdisciplinary curricula, team teaching, and learning that accommodates students’ individual skills and abilities. Research shows that this approach delivers many benefits to students.
Download the factsheet: http://www.foresthistory.org/education/Curriculum/StudentGains-Chawla.pdf
Integrating Environmental Education in Primary School Education in Tanzania | Teachers’ Perceptions and Teaching Practices
By Lydia A. Kimaryo Åbo Akademi University (2011)
The study focuses on primary school teachers’ perceptions of environmental education, its integration into primary school education and teachers’ teaching practices in Tanzania. The thesis is based on empirical research. The theoretical underpinnings of the study are based on Palmer’s (1998) model of environmental education. According to the model, meaningful environmental education should include education about, in or through and for the environment.
Read the rest of the abstract and/or download the entire thesis: https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/67481/kimaryo_lydia.pdf?sequence=1 
Canadian Journal of Environmental Education (CJEE) | 2002
Aboriginal Peoples are facing a number of serious and complex environmental issues within their territories. Post-secondary environmental education programs in Canada have been slow to adopt curriculum and develop programs to meet the needs of Aboriginal students and their communities. This manuscript outlines necessary components of successful Indigenous environmental education programs at the postsecondary level based on the author’s participation in three such programs as a program developer/director, curriculum developer and instructor, the current literature and in addition to her experiences as an Anishinaabe student studying western science.
by Leanne Simpson Trent University, Canada
Download the full article at: http://new-library.lakeheadu.ca/index.php/cjee/article/view/271
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education is freely available for one week!
The issue of sustainability in a higher education context is, to some extent, a rather recent theme. Current journals are either focusing on sustainable development or on general higher education. There are no specific fully-refereed outlets to date, to disseminate the broad body of work and knowledge currently available on sustainability in a higher education context. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (IJSHE) is therefore the first scholarly publication to specifically address the need for the dissemination of this information.
Persons and organisations interested in sustainability in higher education, may access all issues published in the journal, free of charge, for the period 30th January - 5th February 2012, by following this link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1467-6370
and using the following log-in details: Username: Environ2012
Further details about the journal and instructions for authors can be accessed at: 
by Marie Jeanne McNaughton
This paper presents an overview of a research project based on the hypothesis that educational drama might be a useful medium for teaching and learning in environmental, sustainable development and global citizenship education.
Central to the project, an ethnographic case study employing a multi‐case approach, based on three research questions, was a series of drama–ESD lessons, taught to three classes of 10–11 year old children in three primary schools in the West of Scotland. Data were gathered using a range of instruments: interviews; observation schedules; pupil evaluations; research‐practitioner reflective field notes; and video‐recordings of the lessons.
The final section of the paper suggests that there are many pedagogical approaches common to educational drama and ESD and that, indeed, a range of dramatic techniques and conventions can be an important addition to the repertoire of active learning approaches employed by the ESD educator.
(2010). Educational drama in education for sustainable development: ecopedagogy in action. Pedagogy, Culture & Society: Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 289-308. 
Paper presented by David Zandvliet at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Science and Environmental Education. November, 2007.
The objectives of this research program are: 1) to develop tools and processes for measuring, evaluating and describing environmental and place-based education programs and their associated learning environments 2) To provide rich and extensive descriptions (quantitative and qualitative) of how these settings can be characterized and how they differ from other types of learning in classroom based settings and 3) to devise interventions, detail how they unfold in extensive case studies, and evaluate how they impact learning, learning environments, teacher engagement and other community effects.
This paper reports on a pilot study which employed a learning environment approach and further, highlights our current work in developing a specialised learning environment instrument: the Place-based Learning and Constructivist Environment Survey (or PLACES).
The Children, Youth and Environments Journal has just published its largest issue ever. Volume 21, number 2 includes more than 20 original, peer-reviewed papers on topics such as child development in colonias; street children; travel to school; place attachment; gendered play in natural landscapes; and perceptions of nature.
It includes papers on formal and informal science learning through play; playing to learn at home and in the community; and researching playful science learning.
Papers cover research from the Canada, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, and the USA.
The full issue can be accessed at http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/index_issues.htm 
Earthworms were last year’s topic for the Research Council of Norway’s annual research campaign, launched to generate interest in research among children and young people.
Researchers were thrilled by the findings submitted by 142 schools. In the course of the autumn of 2010, school pupils from all across Norway identified 15 different species of earthworm, including some finds rare in Norway. Scientists were surprised and delighted.
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