Instilling a Connection to Place through Environmental Education

Sense of place is an important concept for environmental education. While there is debate in the education community over the types of bonds formed by place-based education, most researchers agree that creating a connection to place is essential when presenting students with interpretive material about a particular area. In this study, three researchers examined a place-based environmental education program for students in the Czech Republic. The program, called “The Roots,” used a variety of place-based environmental education strategies to appeal to students' sense of connection with a landscape in the Jizera Mountains. Specifically, the researchers asked two questions: 1) if the program increased students' feelings of connectedness to their community, and 2) if the program increased the attractiveness of the natural area to the students.

The Roots is a residential program for students and teachers in the Czech Republic. The program consists of a two and a half day stay at an outdoors center in the mountains and a community-based project that takes place during and after the program. This study used data from 158 male and female middle school students who took part in The Roots program.

Data on the effectiveness of The Roots was collected in the form of questionnaires before and after the program, field observations, and interviews with groups of students, teachers, and one group leader. Questionnaires were mainly made up of Likert-scale questions that measured students' feelings towards their surrounding environment and community over time. T-tests were used to compare and analyze pre-program responses to post-program responses.

Results showed that attachment to place significantly increased over time. However, it is important to note that the increase was only statistically significant for boys. This is interesting because previous studies show that girls tend to report more pro-environmental attitudes than boys. Further results showed that the program did not increase the level of attractiveness of the surrounding landscape to the students. This may have been due to the fact that all participants were from towns close to the outdoors center.

In general, students reacted most positively to experiences that involved some aspect of surprise. Most students felt uneasy about activities that involved being silent for extended periods of time. Group dynamics were also problematic during the community project, with many students reporting that they were frustrated by a lack of cooperation among their small groups. In addition, teachers reported declining levels of motivation among their students after leaving the outdoors center. Regardless, students reported feeling proud of their accomplishments when their projects were finished. Teachers gave generally positive feedback, stating that the program provided their students novel experiences and a wider sense of perspective.

This study may be biased by the fact that two of the three authors were involved with The Roots program. Social desirability bias was also a factor: it is possible that students may have answered the questionnaires in a more positive manner in an effort to please their leaders.

In the future, the authors of this study would like to investigate why this program was more effective for boys than for girls. They also recommend studies that examine the counteracting needs of students to experience novel, exciting environments while still maintaining some sense of familiarity.