NAAEE

Attitudes and perceptions about nature are influenced by a wide range of factors and thus cannot be universalized. Yet, nature connectedness assessments or questionnaires are generally based on what people in Western, industrialized countries tend to think and feel about nature. This study addressed this concern by developing a model for adapting nature connectedness questionnaires to be more reflective of the cultures involved. Researchers involved in the development of this cultural adaptation process based their work on a theoretical framework referred to as “Third Space Theory.” This approach seeks to explain and address tensions and conflicts that often arise when different cultural groups interact. The ”Third Space” for purposes of this study combines Western categories for measuring nature connectedness with elements that are specific to the local culture of Indigenous people living in Bedouin villages in Israel’s Negev Desert.

Fifty-eight Bedouin fifth graders and four professionals from the fields of education and environmental education participated in this study. While all of the participating children experience considerably more direct, daily contact with their natural environment then urban children, the environments in which they live are extensively polluted. Both personal, semi-structured interviews and small group interviews were used to collect participants’ ideas about the developing a tool for measuring connectedness to nature in Bedouin children. The overall process consisted of seven different stages and allowed for several cycles of feedback on the development of this tool. During the first stage, a bank of nature connectedness statements was created based on results from the nature connectedness research literature and interviews with the Bedouin students. Stage 2 involved a preliminary testing of the statements gathered in stage 1 with 12 groups of students from two different villages. During the third stage, a variety of experts provided feedback on the questionnaire and on the students’ responses to the initial testing. Stage 4 involved a revision of statements based on the results of stages 2 and 3. During stage 5, the new version of the questionnaire was tested, using the same method employed in stage 2, with the same groups of students. Stage 6 involved a readjustment of illustrations and statements to more accurately reflect the students’ gender, culture, and lifestyle. During stage 7, a separate section was added to the questionnaire inviting students to provide open-ended explanations for their responses to specific statements.

Results of students’ completion of the final version indicate that it was comprehensible to the students and reflected their experience with nature. Results also indicated that the Bedouin children “draw a variety of different meanings from nature that Western children do not see, and that standard questionnaires are not designed to anticipate.” This and previous studies show that students’ relationship with nature is influenced by a wide range of factors, including their home environment, safety concerns, and a number of other sociocultural factors.

Information derived from this study expands understandings about nature connectedness beyond the perspectives presented in the Western research literature. This information also provides new insights regarding the potential impact of culture and place on children’s nature connectedness.