Emerging trends in nature education in China: A content analysis of lesson plans

• In Event: Bridging Analog and Digital Technologies: Youth Voices in China, the United States, and elsewhere.

Proposal

Introduction
Rapid urbanization in China has sparked an increasing interest in nature education (Huang et al., 2023), calling for a return to nature. Traditional environmental and outdoor organizations have begun to emphasize nature experiences in their programs, while new organizations focusing on nature education are emerging (China Nature Education Network, 2020). Nature education practices have been informed by philosophical ideas from the western world, including those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Liberty H. Bailey, and Waldorf education (Lin & Yong, 2022), alongside traditional Chinese wisdom such as Taoism, which views humans as part of nature (Yu & Sun, 2020). Additionally, practitioners adapted pedagogical approaches from nearby countries and areas, for example nature and forest schools in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong (Efird, 2018). Diverse nature education practices are emerging. However, little research has been conducted to capture the trends of these diverse practices. The purpose of this study is to explore various nature education practices in China through an analysis of lesson plans. Our specific research questions include: 1) What are the trending topics of nature education in China practices? 2) What are the learning objectives of these practices? 3) What are the learning activities used in these practices? 4) How do the objectives and activities vary across age groups?

Literature Review
Nature education can serve as a pathway to achieve environmental education goals and contribute to “sustainable cities and communities”, the 11th goal of the 2023 agenda for sustainable development (Huang et al., 2023). Previous research has shown the benefits of nature education in China. For example, Jiang & Hussain (2023) found that nature-based learning can promote physical, cognitive and emotional development in young children. Other studies have found that nature education can improve knowledge (Wu et al., 2023), enhance conservation attitudes (Zhang, et al., 2014), and foster nature connectedness, which in turn promotes pro-environmental (Liu, 2024; Sun et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2019) or conservation behaviors (Gong et al., 2021) in adolescents and adults. These studies examined a diverse range of nature education programs, including nature-based learning in schools, experiential learning field trips, nature clubs, and spending time in nature, across various age groups.

Methods
This study focuses on a Nature Education Massive Open Online Course offered by a large university in North America in 2023. Among 565 participants from 41 countries, 238 were from China. A total of 170 participants completed the course and submitted a final project, which was a 2-page nature education lesson plan. The required elements of each lesson plan included objectives, background, teaching procedures, materials and techniques, and references. Optional components included assessments, terminology explanations, and illustrations. After removing duplicates and lesson plans intended for implementation in other countries, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of 154 unique lesson plans. The average age of the submitters of these lesson plans was 33 years, with 75% being female, 74% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 55% working in formal or informal education sectors. The top five cities represented by them were Beijing (26%), Shanghai (11%), Shenzhen (10%), Chengdu (6%), Xi’an (4.4%), and Lanzhou (4.4%). The most common professional backgrounds were NGOs (18%), private enterprises (17%), K-12 education (14%), higher education (13%), and others (30%).

Building on practice theory (Author, 2019; Schatzki, 2012), we took an inductive approach, conducting thematic coding on the topics, locations, settings, target audiences, lengths, objectives, activities, and pedagogical approaches of the lesson plans. In the first stage, four researchers each independently coded the same 20 lesson plans randomly selected from the sample and discussed their results to develop an initial codebook. In the second stage, two researchers coded the remaining lesson plans based on the initial codebook, adding new codes that emerged as needed. We generated descriptive statistics to show frequency distribution of various aspects of nature education lesson plans, including topics, objectives, locations, settings, target audiences and lengths. We analyzed how the objectives and activities of the lesson plans differ by target audience.

Initial results
The initial results showed seven categories of topics: plant, animal, non-biotic natural elements (e.g., rock, soil), ecosystem, agrifood, human culture (e.g., well, architecture), and environmental actions (e.g., zero waste, community participation). The lesson plans included a wide range of objectives, such as knowledge, environmental awareness, skills, environmental actions, nature connectedness, social and emotional development, and health. The majority of lessons were planned to be carried out in first-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and second-tier cities such as Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou, and Xiamen. The specific locations include urban green space and schools, with some in forests, mountains, and national parks outside the cities, as well as a few focused on rural villages. The target audiences included early childhood, P-12 students, college students and adults, with a significant number focusing on families. Most of the activities involve experiential learning in natural environments, including the use of the five senses, games, artwork, and nature journals. Some activities also incorporate inquiry-based learning, such as conducting observations, surveys, and experiments. We found that for early childhood, the objectives of building nature connectedness and enhancing social and emotional development were common. For P-12 and college students, the lesson plans focus on scientific knowledge and skills, while for adults, the main objective was to enhance health, particularly by reducing stress. For families, the lesson plans focus on relationship development between parents and children.

Conclusion and Significance
Through coding nature education lesson plans, we identified some trends in nature education in China. The study provides a summary of different types of nature education practices with specific aspects on objectives and teaching approaches, as well as how those aspects vary across different age groups. Also we found that the objectives align with those discussed in the previous literature. Although these lesson plans may not capture all types of emerging nature education practices, the study helps us understand a broad range of existing practices in China. Future research could conduct a longitudinal study to examine the trends over time and the implementation of these lesson plans.

Authors

• Yue Li, University of Florida

• Danning Lu, Cornell University

• Xin Yu, Cornell University

• Chuan Liao, Cornell University