Background

"As scientific understanding increases, our world becomes increasingly dehumanized. Man feels isolated in the universe because he is no longer in nature, he has lost his emotional 'subconscious oneness' with natural phenomena. The symbolic significance of these natural phenomena is increasingly lost. Thunder is no longer the voice of an angry god, lightning is no longer a weapon of vengeance, rivers no longer contain spirits, trees are no longer the essence of human life, snakes are no longer the embodiment of wisdom, caves are no longer the lairs of trolls, rocks, plants, and animals no longer speak to man, and man no longer believes that he can hear them and speaks to them. Man's brotherly bond with nature no longer exists, and with the disappearance of this bond, the intense emotional energy provided by this symbolic connection has also vanished."

From Carl Gustav Jung, the book "Exploring the Subconscious"

Research question

is the influence of nature education on children's physical and mental health nowadays in China.

my aim is to find out what is nature education in the eyes of teachers, and how they choose nature as educating source as well as background to support children all-round growth.

Literature Review

1. Richard Louv. Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

first rasise a phenomenon tearm called nature-deficit disorder, NDD.

This book focuses partly on what is lost when nature fades, but much more on what is gained in the presence of the natural world.

This book combined a broad spectrum of interest groups that share a belief that spending time in nature can improve children's health, stimulate their creativity, and help children as well as adults care about the environment. It's a wake-up call for parents and educators.

2.Mary Hohmann and David P. Weikart. Educating Young Children: Active Learning Practices for Preschool and Child Care Programs

childrent’s learning style: what is actively learning, young children learn concepts, form ideas, and creat their own abstractions through self-intiated activity -moving, listening, searching, toching, feeling,etc.

teacher’s role: the educator's role so important as well as complex. teacher's abilities to recognizing and meeting individual's development needs can also be developed gradually

Research design

Method: qualitative research interview,

conducting two individual interview

interviewee: One of the interviewee named as Hu is a pioneer of Waldorf education in China, and also a founder of a nature school. Another named as Dao is an expert on nature education in Shanghai, and she was invited to do nature note-taking training all over the country more than ten years.

ethic: obtain consent, anonymity, and assumed names

interview: semi-structured, such interviews are not limited by space, avoiding the awkwardness and tension of face-to-face. meanwhile ,existing disadvantages

focusd on three topics:

1. what made them choose nature education? 2. As Waldorf teachers or nature educators, what is nature education in their point of view? 3.The impact of nature education on children's physical and mental development

lasted for 1.5hours/ 50mins.

Data Handling, interpretation, and analysis：

three classifications were created: teachers' understanding of nature education, nature education options, and the impact of nature education on children's physical and mental health.

Presentation:

1. Understanding of nature education (here pictures can help)

2.Teacher's choice of nature education

Hu from a physical teacher in university to a primary teacher & founder of nature school.which is a kind of combination of waldorf education with traditional Chinese culture.

Dao , from a interior design architect working in a company, to a full nature note-taking educator.

3.The influence of nature education on children's physical and mental health

Dao focused on the importance of sharing expressions and notes during the interview. Dao especially emphasises on observation and true feelings, long-term observation and true expression of feelings are very helpful to children's language, emotional expression and self-confidence.

Hu believes that nature education is helpful to children's development in many ways,the connection with nature not just what you see with your eyes, but what you feel with the touch of your hands, and what you smell.The diversity of human beings is reflected in the beauty of what they do with their hands. These are similar to the philosophy of Waldorf education, and nature education is a kind of life education.

Discussing findings:

The Effects of Nature Education

Following the Way of Education, Following the Way of Nature

new findings

No matter what kind of nature education it is, they are both helpful to children’s physical and mental growth, different natural education understanding and teaching methods can be complement to each other, but the curriculum lacks systematic teaching support, and the child’'s growth lacks continuous observation records，

Conclusion:

necessity of nature education:

China's urbanization has proceeded at a rapid pace from 53.1% in the year of 2011 to 64.7% in 2021(from National Bureau of Statistics)

Despite regional, climatic, and environment and people are different, and the emergence of nature education has become particularly necessary. Compared to China's nascent nature education, the systems of nature education in Europe and the United States can serve as a guide and an inspiration for our nature education work.

learn from teacher, learn from nature:

Nature is a child's teacher and a teacher’s teacher. Educators are the key players in nature education. The power of nature education is immense, and the job needs to be led by people who are curious and passionate about nature, both externally and internally, and who pass on the spirit of nature to children through the environments they create for them,

Last words to share:

With the development of the times, the subconscious sense of oneness between human beings and nature will inevitably fade away as the human intellect grows higher and higher. But for children, who are still in the early stages of development, their subconscious sense of oneness with nature still exists firmly, and we need to take care of this brotherly connection, so that they can still hear the sounds of the mountains, forests and wild beasts in deep inside.