The Origins of Aesthetic and Spiritual Values in Children's Experience of Nature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v7i3.243Keywords:
children’s aesthetics and spirituality, childhood experiences of natureAbstract
We conducted a limited exploratory study of the origins of children’s aesthetic and spiritual values in their experience of the natural world. We relied on a mix of research methods, including in-depth interviews, drawings, diaries, and observational studies of children, as well as conversations with parents about their children and their own childhood. Even though con?dent conclusions cannot be drawn from this study given the relatively small sample size, a number of preliminary results emerged that suggest the role of nature in the development of children’s aesthetic and spiritual values. These included children’s articulation of an aesthetic sense of beauty, pattern and order, wonder and discovery; and the expression of such spiritual attributes as feelings of solace and peacefulness, commonality and connection, happiness and feeling at one with and at home in nature, a power greater than oneself, and a sense of divine presence or mystery.References
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———. 2005. Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human–Nature Connection (Washington, DC: Island Press).
———. 2007. ‘Connecting with Creation: The Convergence of Nature, Religion, Science and Culture’, JSRNC 1: 25-37. Doi: 10.1558/jsrnc.v1i1.25.
———. 2012. Birthright: People and Nature in the Modern World (New Haven: Yale University Press).
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Wilson, E.O. 1984. Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
Chawla, L. 2002. ‘Spots of Time: Manifold Ways of Being in Nature in Childhood’, in Kahn and Kellert 2002: 199-225.
Children and Nature Network. 2012. Annotated Bibliographies, vols. 1–5. Online: www.childrenandnaturenetwork.org.
Cobb, E. 1977. The Ecology of Imagination in Childhood (New York: Columbia University Press).
Coles, R. 1990. The Spiritual Life of Children (Boston: Houghton Mif_in).
Dunlap, J., and S. Kellert (eds.). 2012. Companions in Wonder: Children and Adults Exploring Nature Together (Cambridge: MIT Press).
Gebser, J. 1985. The Ever-present Origin (trans. N. Barstad; Athens: Ohio University Press).
Heerwagen, J.H., and G.H. Orians. 2002. ‘The Ecological World of Children’, in Kahn and Kellert 2002: 29-64.
Hoffman, E. 1992. Visions of Innocence: Spiritual and Inspirational Experiences of Childhood (Boston: Shambhala).
Kahn, P., and S. Kellert (eds.). 2002. Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations (Cambridge: MIT Press).
Kellert, S.R. 1997. The Value of Life: Biological Diversity and Human Society (Washington, DC: Island Press).
———. 2002. ‘Experiencing Nature: Affective, Cognitive, and Evaluative Development in Children’, in Kahn and Kellert 2002: 117-52.
———. 2005. Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human–Nature Connection (Washington, DC: Island Press).
———. 2007. ‘Connecting with Creation: The Convergence of Nature, Religion, Science and Culture’, JSRNC 1: 25-37. Doi: 10.1558/jsrnc.v1i1.25.
———. 2012. Birthright: People and Nature in the Modern World (New Haven: Yale University Press).
Kellert, S.R., and E.O. Wilson (eds.). 1993. The Biophilia Hypothesis (Washington, DC: Island Press).
Louv, R. 2005. Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-De_cit Disorder (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books).
McFague, S. 1997. Super Natural Christians: How We Should Love Nature (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress).
Myers, N. 1980. The Sinking Ark (London: Pergamon Press).
Nabhan, G.P., and Stephen Trimble (eds.). 1994. The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places (Boston: Beacon Press).
Pike, S. 2009. ‘Why Prince Charles Instead of “Princess Mononoke?” The Absence of Children and Popular Culture in The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature’, Journal of the American Academy of Religion 77: 66-72. Doi: 10.1093/jaarel/lfp009.
Plumwood, V. 2002. Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason (London: Routledge).
Pyle, R.M. 1993. The Thunder Tree: Lessons from an Urban Wildland (Boston: Houghton Mif_in).
Robinson, E. 1983 [1977]. The Original Vision: A Study of the Religious Experience of Childhood (New York: Seabury Press).
Searles, H. 1960. The Nonhuman Environment: In Normal Development and in Schizophrenia (New York: International Universities Press).
Sebba, R. 1991. ‘The Landscapes of Childhood: The Re_ections of Childhood’s Environment in Adult Memories and in Children’s Attitudes’, Environment and Behavior 23: 395-422. Doi: 10.1177/0013916591234001.
Sobel, D. 2008. ‘Appareled in Celestial Light: Transcendent Nature Experiences in Childhood’, Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice 21: 14-19.
Taylor, B. 2010. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).
Van Wieren, G. 2013. Restored to Earth: Christianity, Environmental Ethics, and Ecological Restoration (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press).
Wilson, E.O. 1984. Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
Published
2013-11-01
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Van Wieren, G., & Kellert, S. R. (2013). The Origins of Aesthetic and Spiritual Values in Children’s Experience of Nature. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 7(3), 243-264. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v7i3.243
