By: Lani Walker
As a graduate student in architecture, we are
currently in the earliest stages of creating and researching our chosen thesis
topic. I came to realize what I wanted
to do for my thesis while several large trees in my parent’s backyard had to be
removed due to some type of tree disease.
I couldn’t believe how emotional I became while watching the tree be
sawed off piece by piece, tossed in the back of a truck, and taken away to a
landfill somewhere. Those trees had
become part of my life – without them, the atmosphere of the entire backyard
had changed somehow. While I looked
around the newly manicured backyard, I began to realize how the vast
undisturbed acreage behind my parents’ house played a huge role in my
upbringing. I walked through those
budding trees and vegetation everyday on my way home from elementary and middle
school. I was wary of the snakes, foxes,
and other animals whose home I was walking through. I experienced how the land changed with the
seasons, and how the land eventually changed with time. This land was my prime spot for all day
explorations during summer break, wading through the creek after a heavy rain, and
having massive snowball fights with all the neighborhood children. Even after the neighborhood children became
teenagers, the field was still our meeting spot when we snuck out past curfew. We had developed our own path system where we
knew the location of every tree, every vine of poison ivy, and every hiding
spot for foxes and other animals.
However, today, all those paths have grown up with vegetation from lack
of people walking through them. Many of
the trees still stand tall and strong, with our names carved in them. I am physically and emotionally connected to
this land, and I will always feel a certain responsibility towards it. I feel privileged that the land brought me so
much joy and so much opportunity to learn from it. Sadly, such a connection with the natural environment
has slipped away from many people, especially American children.
Generations ago, children spent more time outside
using the natural environment and their imagination to complete educational
projects, participate in school sports, or play less structured activities. Exposure to
the natural world brought opportunities for children to make sense of their
surroundings and to develop their own sense of place. Today, the typical American
child spend nearly thirty hours per week with electronic devises, thirty-five
hours per week in an educational facility, while only ten hours per week with
nature. Within this research, the
opportunity has arisen to increase the amount of time children spend with the
natural environment by combining nature with the time spent in an educational
facility. My thesis proposes to create
an elementary school in which the built environment fully integrates the
natural environment and nature education in the daily academic lives of
elementary students in Southern Illinois.
In recent years, I
had witnessed that educational facilities in Southern Illinois have allowed the
connection to the natural world to disappear.
In three of the major school districts in Southern Illinois, recess time
has been cut in half. The districts are
favoring movies and internet clips to actual field trips or excursions. Lessons are directed towards test taking,
while less time is spent investigating and learning through actual first-hand
experiences. One positive aspect of many
elementary schools in Southern Illinois is the recent incorporation of a greenhouse
or nature infused area, however children have only restricted and strictly
supervised access to it. In general, the
curriculum for children in Southern Illinois schools is becoming narrower, and
more and more lessons are based on technology.
Although technology opens up a completely different world which is
important, technology has hindered children’s usage of their natural
environment and their lasting sense of attachment to a place. This lack of connection can produce both
indifference and ignorance in children’s early perceptions of the world around
them and their roles in enjoying, learning from, and protecting it.
The reimagined educational facility my thesis is
proposing will take action to create a balance between technology and nature,
while rediscovering the benefits of incorporating nature into everyday life in
an educational setting. Respected national organizations including the
American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the
National Association for the Education of Young Children have expressed concern
about the present trend of limiting outdoor play during the school day which
they believe has restricted children’s access and experience with nature
(Ginsburg, 2007). These organizations
are unwavering that hands on learning with the natural environment at a child’s
direct access are an enlightened way of learning. Reading about the way a plant grows in a book
cannot compare to digging in the dirt with a spade, planting the seed in the
ground, spilling water from a watering spout, and watching the plant’s daily
growth. It is through these natural
experiences that children can develop an attachment to the earth and an
understanding of the environment around them.
Through an
elementary school which relies on the natural environment as a classroom
itself, the school could promote children’s ability to connect - not only
through technology - but to the living, natural environment which is increasingly being left out of childhood in America.
Thesis
Topic Sources:
American Academy of Pediatrics
<http://www.aap.org/en-us/Pages/Default.aspx>
Association for Environmental and
Outdoor Education <http://aeoe.org/>
Ginsburg,
K.R., & the Committee on Communications and the Committee on
Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family
Health. (2007, January). The importance of
play in promoting healthy child development
and maintaining strong parentchild
bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1).
Miller,
D.L. (2007). The seeds of learning: Young children develop important skills
through their gardening activities at a
midwestern early education program. Applied
Environmental Education and Communication,
6(1), 49-66.
Marcon,
R. (1999, March). Differential impact of preschool models on development and
early learning of inner-city children: A
three-cohort study. Journal of
DevelopmentalPsychology, 35(2), 358-75.
Nature
Action Collaborative for Children. (2007). The Nature Action Collaborative for
Children’s mission and vision.
San Mateo Outdoor
Education http://www.smcoe.k12.ca.us/outdoored/index.html
Seed School <http://theseedschool.com/outdoor-education/>
Wike, J. (2006, September,
October). Why outdoor spaces for children matter so much.
Wilson,
E.O. (1984). Biophilia. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
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