Adults play an essential role in influencing children’s learning about nature and forming positive relationships with nature.The environmental education approach used in ecotourism tends to be framed by an anthropocentric premise, which suggests that nature is separate from human domains and dependent on human protection. While some studies have investigated the impact of ecotourism on the promotion of environmental values, few studies have focused on young children. This study addressed this gap by exploring how play in ecotourism supports children’s learning about and with nature.
Researchers conducted interviews with 11 professionals working in the fields of ecotourism, conservation and education in Queensland, Australia. All of the interviewees were knowledgeable about and had experience with environmental preschool education in an ecotourism, outdoors recreational or early childhood education context. The interviews – which varied between 30 minutes to over an hour – were recorded and transcribed.
Ten major themes emerged from an analysis of the data: adult support, connection and love, environmental stewardship, interconnectedness, national parks, natural environments, nature-based tools, nature play, regular exposure, and storytelling. After identifying some similarities and overlaps in the major themes and considering information gleaned from previous literature, the researchers collapsed the ten themes into three overarching themes: “learning about nature through play;” “the role of adults in supporting learning about nature;” and “storytelling and interconnectedness.” Interview responses indicated that “professionals working with children in ecotourism see a correlation between early childhood experiences in nature and the development of pro-environmental values and attitudes.” Interviewees noted that adults play an essential role in influencing children’s learning about nature and forming positive relationships with nature. They also identified storytelling as an effective tool for strengthening the relationship between children and nature.
The overall results of this study indicate that “ecotourism sites offer an appropriate setting for early childhood environmental education and facilitating a connection between children and nature.” The study also reinforces the idea that play and the capacity to play are significant factors in the process children use for learning new concepts and forming relationships to nature and other human beings. Although the findings show that an anthropocentric learning “about” nature approach prevails among professionals in ecotourism in Australia, there were some indications that a learning “with” nature approach is also used. “The study contributes to the field of ecotourism and the Anthropocene discussion by stressing the role of early childhood education in promoting a sound relationship between nature and humanity.”
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