Environmental education plays a crucial role in closing the gap between humans and the more-than-human world. Despite best efforts to close the gap, most environmental education techniques stem from traditional pedagogies that do not explore the holistic experience, which focuses on teaching and learning through nurturing the soul. The lack of this holistic approach disregards the whole person (intellectual, spiritual, physical, social, emotional), and can deepen the divide between humans and the environment. One tool of holistic pedagogy is nature journaling, where a physical booklet creates space for participants to write down observations as well as feelings, thoughts, and ideas. The researcher in this study implemented a holistic pedagogy using nature journaling with university students to gain a better understanding of how they engaged with the more-than-human world, the kind of learning that took place, and how the pedagogy may be used to train environmental educators.
The study took place during the 2015-2016 academic year at the University of Thessaly in Greece. The 32 undergraduate students who enrolled in a course in the Department of Early Education were given an assignment to use nature journaling over the course of five weeks. Nine journals were collectively created from groups of two to five participants each. There was one activity per week during the five weeks of the assignment and each assignment built off of the previous weeks' activity. For example, the second week's activity was to find a place in the natural environment to observe in silence. Students were directed to walk along a nature path and observe their experience and connection to the nonhuman environment. In the third week's activity, the participants went back to the same spot, and were instructed to observe the space in silence again, this time to focus on a particular living or nonliving thing that attracted their attention. Students were instructed to draw that thing as part of the activity. The participants completed each week's activity as assigned, discussed their experiences and observations as a group, and reflected amongst themselves by writing in their group journal. The journal entries, and results from an open-ended questionnaire, were analyzed for common themes.
Participants in this study reported that the nature journaling assignment allowed them to: take in nature as a break from the stressors of modern daily life, acknowledge they are not alone in the world, become more connected within themselves, perceive the human and non-human worlds with mutual reciprocity, and communicate and collaborate effectively as a group which deepened their reflection. The researcher concluded from these reports that the participants' five senses were activated during the activities, allowing for their bodies and hearts to interpret the experience rather than their minds like in a traditional learning setting of a school classroom. Further, nature journaling can be a comprehensive, multilevel tool for critical thought and reflection within the holistic teaching pedagogy. Learning through experience in natural settings can greatly benefit environmental education for learners (students) and educators (teachers), alike.
There are limitations with this study and the researcher acknowledged it was not meant to be generalizable. The study was limited in terms of scale, as it was conducted at one university in a single academic year. Further, the participants were enrolled in an environmental education course which may have biased some of the results because they could have been more sensitive to or open to the benefits of nature journaling compared to other students in other courses.
The researcher suggested that nature journaling at any age can promote coexistence and mitigate the alienation between humans and non-humans. It serves as a pedagogical practice that embraces experiential learning and participation from all learners. When using nature journaling, the participant should be able to enjoy themselves and have the physical space and time to deeply reflect on the experience. The researcher found that for holistic pedagogy to take form in environmental education, future educators should similarly immerse themselves or use nature journaling to understand their own experience to deploy the framework better for their students.
The Bottom Line
Environmental education strives to establish a meaningful connection for the healthy coexistence and co-perpetuation of humans and non-humans, both living and nonliving. However, most traditional pedagogies do not explore the holistic experience, which focuses on teaching and learning through nurturing the soul. Educators should deploy and encourage holistic learning opportunities for their students at all ages. One way to do this is through nature journaling. This study tested nature journaling with a group of 32 university students enrolled in an environmental education course. The researcher concluded from these reports that the participants' five senses were activated during the activities, allowing for their bodies and hearts to interpret the experience rather than their minds like in a traditional learning setting of a school classroom. Further, nature journaling can be a comprehensive, multilevel tool for critical thought and reflection within the holistic teaching pedagogy. The researcher recommends the practice of nature-journaling in teaching environmental education.