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Identifier 000451883
Title Διερεύνηση της συνδεσιμότητας με τη φύση (Nature connectedness) των Νηπιαγωγών του Νομού Ρεθύμνου
Alternative Title Inquiry of the nature connectedness of Kindergartens Teachers of the Prefecture of Rethymno
Author Αντωνοπούλου, Στυλιανή
Thesis advisor Καλαϊτζιδάκη Μαριάννα
Reviewer Κορφιάτης Κωνσταντίνος
Σταύρου Δημήτρης
Abstract Connectedness to nature is a feeling of being connected and belonging to the natural world. It captures the emotional component of human-nature relationship. According to cotemporary approaches it is one outcome of Environmental Education (EE) as it is considered a precursor of environmental behaviour. It can be measured with the published tool Connectedness to Nature Scale created by Mayer and Frantz (2004). The purpose of this quantitative study that was performed during the pandemic of Covid19, was to investigate the connectedness to nature of kindergarten teachers that worked in the prefecture of Rethymno during the school year 2020/2021 and its possible correlations with their demographic characteristics (year of graduation, level of study, years of teaching experience, appointment type (contract/tenure), place of origin (urban/rural), kindergarten location (urban/rural) as well as their E.E practices (E.E training, participation in E.E projects, visits to E.E Centers, teaching outside the classroom). Due to the restrictive measures of the Covid19 pandemic, data were collected by a questionnaire that was distributed digitally (on Google Forms). It had 3 sections. The 1st section asked participants’ demographic characteristics and E.E experience and practices. The 2nd section had the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) of Mayer and Frantz (2004) with 14 items on a 5-point Likert scale. The 3rd section had 5 questions regarding teaching outside the classroom, an important aspect of EE. Of the 241 kindergarten teachers in the Prefecture of Rethymno during the school year 2020-2021, 127 responded (response rate 52.7%). Date were analyzed with SPSS (26.0). Correlations were studied with Pearson’s (r) and One way Anova The connectedness to nature of our sample was found to be high (lowest score=42/70, higher score=70/70, M=58,37/70). A moderate negative statistically significant correlation was found between kindergarten teachers’ connectedness to nature and the year of graduation (r=-0.222, p=0.012), that is those who obtained their degree more recently were less connected to nature. A moderately positive statistically significant correlation was found in our sample between connectedness to nature and years of teaching experience(r=0.187, p=0.036),that is those with more teaching experience were more connected to nature. No statistically significant correlation was found between kindergarten teachers’ connectedness to nature and the type of their appointment (tenure/contract)(r=-0.145); between connectedness to nature and level of studies (r=-0.004) neither with the place they spent their childhood (urban / rural area) (r=-0.082), nor their E.E experience (EE training (r=-0.030), participation in E.E projects(r=-0.099), number of E.E projects (r=-0.007), visits to EE Centers. (r=0.060); finaly no correlation was found between connectedness to nature and teaching in the school yard (r=0.062), or other outdoor place(r=0.067). Some interesting findings are related to the demographics of our sample that are worth mentioning namely the high percentage of substitute (contract) teachers (39%) as well as the high percentage of Master degrees (31.5%) Interesting statistically significant correlations were found between kindergarten teachers’ demographic characteristics and their E.E practices as well as with their use of schoolyard for teaching and learning. When one of the variables “training in E.E””years of teaching experience”, “participation in E.E”., “number of participating E.E projects”, “visits to E.E Centers” increases the others also increase. Additionally, the more recent the year of graduation, the lesser the E.E experience (training, participation in projects, number of E.E project participants, visits to E.E Centers). Moreover, contract teachers receive less training, participate less in E.E programs, implement fewer E.E programs and use the schoolyard for teaching and learning less. Also in our sample, kindergarten teachers who spent their childhood in an urban area, tend to use the schoolyard more for teaching and learning. Finally, it was found that the more natural elements the schoolyard has, the more often it is being in used for teaching and learning.
Language Greek
Subject Connectedness to nature
Environmental Education
Kindergarten Teachers
Quantitative research
Νηπιαγωγοί
Περιβαλλοντική Εκπαίδευση
Ποσοτική έρευνα
Συνδεσιμότητα με τη φύση
Issue date 2022-09-13
Collection   School/Department--School of Education--Department of Primary education--Post-graduate theses
  Type of Work--Post-graduate theses
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