High quality outdoor early childhood education settings may support children’s development of pro-environmental attitudes, awareness and affinity towards natureA large body of research suggests that the most effective way to nurture children’s development of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors is through direct contact with nature. Early childhood, in particular, seems to be an important developmental stage when time spent learning and playing in nature can instill an emotional closeness to nature. It is therefore important that the outdoor spaces of early childhood education settings provide regular opportunities to interact with nature. This study examined the outdoor areas of different types of early childhood education centers to determine if the quality of the outdoor spaces was related to children’s attitudes towards the environment and connection to nature. The research was guided by the question: “What is the impact of outdoor qualities of early childhood education institutions on children’s environmental attitudes and environmental awareness and children’s biophilia (affinity towards nature) levels?”
Eight schools, including four kindergartens and four preschools, within one province of Turkey were randomly selected as research sites. In Turkey, Kindergarten is an educational center that provides education to children between 36 and 68 months old in a free-standing building; preschools provide education to children between 57 and 68 months old and are located within a primary school. A total of 240 five-year-old children participated in the study (121 girls and 119 boys). Half of the children attended kindergartens and the other half preschools. Data collection involved an assessment of the quality of each school’s outdoor settings. Outdoor settings were scored according to the Preschool Outdoor Environment Measurement Scale, a 56-item checklist that consists of five sub-dimensions for interaction, physical environment, play and learning settings, teacher role and program. Teachers completed questions in the teacher role sub-dimension assessment. All other sub-dimensions were evaluated by the researcher during observations of outdoor activities. Surveys were used to collect data from children. The surveys were administered by the researcher to each child through a one-on-one format, which included: 1) the Environmental Awareness and Attitude Scale for Preschool Children to measure environmental attitudes and awareness; and 2) the Children’s Biophilia Measure to assess children’s affinity towards nature. Demographic information regarding the child’s age, duration of school attendance and family income level was also collected. Data were statistically analyzed to test whether the outdoor qualities of preschools predicted children’s environmental attitudes, environmental awareness and affinity towards nature.
Comparison of outdoor quality levels between kindergartens and preschools revealed that kindergartens (free standing centers for 3-5 year olds) had significantly higher quality across all sub-dimensions for physical environment, interaction, play and learning settings, program and teacher role compared to preschools (education for 5 year olds embedded in a primary school). Significant relationships were also detected between the quality of outdoor settings and children’s environmental attitudes, environmental awareness and biophilia (affinity towards nature) levels. This finding indicated that children who attended early childhood education centers with higher quality outdoor settings tended to demonstrate stronger environmental attitudes, environmental awareness and biophilia. Differences in the quality of the outdoor settings explained 26% of the variance in children’s environmental attitudes, 27% of the variance in children’s environmental awareness and 38% of the variance in children’s biophilia levels. On the other hand, demographic variables (age and gender) were not found to be significantly related to children’s environmental attitudes, environmental awareness or biophilia levels.
Results suggest that the quality of outdoor settings at early childhood learning centers are highly significant in supporting development of children’s pro-environmental attitudes, environmental awareness and affinity towards nature. The findings highlight the importance of providing high quality outdoor environments that offer rich opportunities to interact with nature. It is also essential to encourage and support teachers to use outdoor environments for learning activities through in-service training. Findings are consistent with prior research that highlights the role of children’s interaction with nature to strengthen emotional connection to nature.
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