Student Emotional Response to the Lesser Kestrel ESE Program

• In Event: ESE in elementary schools: students' and teachers’ perspectives, emotions, and sense of place

Proposal

Introduction and Theoretical Background

We are in the midst of an environmental crisis, which worsens every year (Osbaldiston & Schott, 2012). This has led to developments in Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) programs to help mitigate the crisis (Karataş, 2016). In the past few decades, ESE has noted the affective elements involved in learning, connecting them to the acquisition of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (Chawla, 1999). This connection is based on the understanding that emotion is a central component in our actions in general (Zins & Elias, 2007) and our actions in protecting the environment more specifically (Hinds & Sparks, 2008; Kals, Schumacher, & Montada, 1999; Liefländer, Fröhlich, Bogner, & Schultz, 2013). This means that feelings allow students to connect to the content they learn (Taylor & Cranton, 2013) and serve as a foundation for the learning process (Goralnik, Millenbah, Nelson, & Thorp, 2012). Johnson and Fredrickson (2000) suggest that combining affect and cognition in learning processes is no less important than developing students’ understanding of environmental problems. Moreover, studies have shown that positive feelings toward nature increase motivation to learn and to apply that knowledge by taking environmental action (Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy, 2009). This is opposed to negative emotions towards the environmental crisis that can cause worry and anxiety, which distract people from taking action. In conclusion, it is important that educators react to their students’ emotions to influence their environmental learning and pro-environmental behavior (Ojala, 2016).

As in ESE studies on emotions, there are many psychological studies that relate to diverse aspects of emotions in learning. Two main approaches focus on academic emotions, which relate to emotions that arise from the learning process and influence student achievement (Pekrun, Goetz, & Titz, 2002), and social emotional learning, which links academic knowledge to life in general (Elias, 2003; Zins & Elias, 2007). Academic emotions studies usually focus on anxiety towards tests (Pekrun et al., 2002), while social emotional learning studies focus on creating positive feelings towards learning. When academic emotion and social emotional learning are combined in the school setting, students are more likely to remember instruction and implement skills in their lives (Elias, 2003). Despite the study of emotions in these two approaches (i.e. ESE and academic and social emotional learning), there is a gap in the literature in the integration of these approaches. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by theoretically and practically combining ESE with social emotional learning.
In light of the importance of positive affect in the social emotional learning process (Elias, 2003) and in light of the emphasis ESE places on the need for students to take action for the environment, ESE must include components of positive emotion in the intellectual experience (Goralnik et al., 2012). We therefore sought to identify the types of emotion that arose in students in an ESE program focused on protecting the Lesser Kestrel falcon. Data were gathered from 5th graders in the program and from students who had participated in previous iterations of the program.


Methodology

This study is based on a qualitative research paradigm, through which we analyzed the emotional response of students engaged in or formerly engaged in the Lesser Kestrel ESE program. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews (Seidman, 2012) with 61 students (50 fifth graders, 5 sixth graders, 2 seventh graders, and 2 eighth graders). The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed inductively and deductively.

“The Lesser Kestrel” – An Environmental and Sustainability Education Program

“The Lesser Kestrel” is an ESE program designed to promote the conservation of the endangered bird of prey. Since 1996, fifth graders have been leading school and community initiatives for the Lesser Kestrel’s conservation. Throughout the school year, the program comprises two lessons per week, which include inquiry projects, observation, surveys, field trips, and community outreach. The program also provides an opportunity to address a wide range of environmental and social issues, such as conservation versus development, human-nature interaction, public domain, biodiversity, bird migration, and nature conservation. One of the high points of the program is “Lesser Kestrel Day,” wherein students act as guides to over 1,200 visitors who come from all over the country to see the falcons and aid in their protection.

Findings and Conclusions

The categories of learning were determined inductively, based on data from the semi-structured interviews with students. Their statements were divided into four categories: (1) Learning processes included common positive expressions such as fun, enjoyment, and affection, and no negative expressions; (2) Empowerment included common positive expressions such as anticipation, excitement, pride, and responsibility, and common negative expressions such as pressure, fear, and anxiety about talking in front of the adults ; (3) Outdoor activity included common positive expressions such as fun, happiness, enthusiasm, and enjoyment, and common negative expressions like difficult; (4) Attitudes towards nature and animals included common positive expressions such as wholehearted affection, and common negative expressions such as sadness and bad feelings. The students indicated having a positive learning experience in the program (75% of statements). Their negative feelings primarily reflected feelings of sadness and anger over humanity’s treatment of animals, rather than negative attitudes toward the cognitive aspects of the learning process or the processes of empowerment undergone by the students. The study also found that years later, the students were still enthusiastic about their experience in the program. Some had changed their attitudes and behaviors towards the environment and tied these changes to participation in the program. In conclusion, this study’s results support the integration of emotions, attitudes, knowledge, and environmental behavior in ESE programs.

References
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Authors

• Dafna Gan, Kibbutzim College of Education

• Adiv Gal, Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts