engleski

RELATING THE EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TO CONTEMPORARY TRANSITION MODELS: COULD BIOPHILIA BE PERCEIVED AS POSITIVE FACTOR OF TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN OR SCHOOL?

research that suggests that fostering biophilia is one of the ways to encourage eco-awareness, positive values and environmental behaviors towards the environment, but also towards the formation of an ecologically responsible person, a sustainable citizen, and the successful implementation of ESD in educational Institutions and the community. Our attitude goes beyond biophilia itself, as a sense of love for nature, plants, and animals. We emphasize that the contact of children with nature is not only the area of creating eco- consciousness and more sustainable ways of living but also the foundation for the development of positive forms of emotions and behaviors that contribute to the welfare of children during the transition and their success. All transition periods in human lives are defined as somewhat challenging processes that appear during movement from one environment to another, or from one identity to another. Shortly, they present the periods of intense change which are determined by very different factors: intra-personal and interpersonal factors and their mutual interactions. The contemporary ecological- dynamic model of transition emphasizes the importance of all these factors as well as their interrelations over time as crucial determinants of children’s well being. Finally, children’s successful adaptation directly depends on the complexity of the interactions between those factors. One of the contextual factors in the transition period from a family home to kindergarten and from kindergarten to school consists of relationships between home- school- peers- neighborhood. In this paper, we mainly want to highlight the importance and impact of the environment, i.e., the indirect and direct contact of children with places/grounds and the environment. Studies show that early and direct children’s contact with/in nature significantly affects their academic success and positive school-based stress management, which is often manifested only at a later age. They also emphasize the importance and contribution of the design of educational institutions that possess the natural elements of biophilic design and biophilia on the cognitive and emotional development of children. Based on this new theoretical approach, a number of research questions could be highlighted: whether children who are exposed to and stimulated early on in the creation of biophilia adapt better during different transitions, especially when transitioning from home to kindergarten and from kindergarten to school? Is it possible to objectively measure the impact of contextual factors such as biophilia/biophobia experiences, places/settings, and the design of the transition processes in children? Since the influence of the family is a direct factor in children’s adaptation during transition over time, and it influences the relations of the child to the places/setting and the environment, it is of utmost importance to identify the parents’ and teachers’ feelings/attitudes about biophilia/biophobia as well as the factors which significantly more positively facilitate these transition processes, a successful adaptation, and the overall wellbeing of children.

adaptation, biophilia, children's well being, ecological-dynamic transition model, Education for Sustainable Development, environment/nature, kindergarten, elementary school, transitions.

"This work has been supported in part by the Faculty of Teacher Education and in part by University of Rijeka under the project Children's well-being in transition periods: the empirical validation of the ecological and dynamic model of transition."