engleski

How Important Is Future Teachers’ “Connectedness to Nature”? Adaptation and Validation of the Connectedness to Nature Scale

The teacher plays a key role in fostering sustainability and implementing Education forSustainable Development at school. This paper presents a study aimed at adapting and validatinga shorter version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) to measure student future teachers’connectedness to nature. The scale has been translated into Croatian in an abbreviated form andapplied to a specific sample of students from the Faculty of Teacher Education in Rijeka, Croatia(N = 138). One of the tasks was to examine whether there are statistically significant differencesamong students regarding their membership in eco-associations and previous participation in anEnvironmental Education/Education for Sustainable Development (EE/ESD) course. A specialresearch objective was to determine the extent to which the current education and membershipin an eco-association explain the connectedness to nature. In addition to the indicated researchlimitations, the results confirmed the significant measured characteristics of the scale. Educationhas so far proved to be a predictor of connectedness to nature. Additionally, the results showed thatmembership in an eco-association is a predictor of connectedness to nature. Based on the obtainedresults, it is possible to conclude that the connectedness to nature must be further explored, especiallyin the context of the initial education of future teachers, as a possible prerequisite for a successfulpractice of Education for Sustainable Development in schools.Keywords:connectedness to nature (CN) ; education for sustainable development (ESD) ; emotions ; eco-membership ; teachers1. IntroductionTeachers’ attitudes, opinions, competences, but especially personality traits such asemotions are significantly related to their teaching styles and attitude towards childrenand school practice in general, as evidenced by numerous studies [1, 2]. Emotions andpersonality traits are related to their pro- ecological attitudes and attitudes towards environ-mental issues [3]. Experience and emotional attitude towards nature can be a prerequisitefor developing pro-ecological attitudes and behaviors [4]. For this reason, in this paper, wepresent preliminary research that validated the scale that measures the connectedness tonature [1]. In doing so, connectedness to nature is understood as a measure of the emotionalconnection between an individual or self and the environment. Connectedness to natureis the subject of research and reflection in many disciplines, especially psychology andpedagogy, and is extremely important in future teachers’ education. Why? Teachers areoften role models for their students. Through their work practice, teachers can encourage amore significant connectedness to nature in their students and thus lay a significant foun-dation for further development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and, ultimately, behavior [5].Furthermore, “A teacher cannot expect environmentally responsible behavior from hisstudents if he does not practice it himself.” [6] cited in [7] (p. 19). Study programs or coursecontents that encourage attitudes towards nature and the environment and critical reflectionEduc. Sci.2021, 11, 250. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11050250https://www .mdpi.com/journal/education

connectedness to nature (CN) ; education for sustainable development (ESD) ; emotions ; eco-membership ; teachers

This work was financed by the University of Rijeka with the project no. uniri-pr-drustv-19-19 “Connectedness with Nature, The Organization of Early School-Aged Students’Free Time and Digital Technologies.”