CAREER: A longitudinal study of the emotional and behavioral processes of Environmental Identity Development among rural and non-rural Alaskan children

尽管童年与自然世界的经历对人类发展很重要，但很少有研究关注幼儿与自然的情感接触，或者这些经历如何塑造他们的价值观、感知和行为。这项研究将在五年的时间里系统地检查儿童对自然的行为和情感反应。该项目将研究家庭、文化和地理位置如何塑造儿童在自然中形成身份的方式。该项目将加强对儿童如何学习在自然界中调节他们的情绪的理解，并将扩大关于教育在塑造儿童如何发展同理心和对自然环境中有生命和无生命的方面的关心方面所起的作用的知识。该项目将突出生活在阿拉斯加的阿拉斯加原住民和非原住民儿童的声音和观点，从而扩大极地地区对社会生态科学的参与。该项目采用的方法为涉及幼儿的参与性和自然主义发展研究提供了一个框架。自然之旅的视频将被转化为视频课程，将与公众分享，作为一种手段，说明文化在阿拉斯加原住民儿童学习环境和与环境互动中的作用。这个项目将通过研究以下问题来加强对儿童环境认同发展的理解：是什么影响了阿拉斯加儿童在户外荒野体验中的情绪和行为？随着时间的推移，儿童在阿拉斯加荒野的经历如何影响儿童的发展？研究将在春季和秋季在阿拉斯加的农村和非农村地区进行。这项研究将包括来自阿拉斯加一个与世隔绝的小村庄的儿童，那里的大多数家庭都是阿拉斯加原住民后裔，那里的消费品供应有限。这项研究还将考察非原住民儿童在阿拉斯加城市长大的经历。由于城市里的消费品随处可见，这些孩子可能会也可能不会学习狩猎和采集技能。这项研究将使用家庭调查来了解阿拉斯加农村和非农村儿童在荒野中的不同类型的经历。将收集儿童的图画和对他们绘画的描述，以了解他们最喜欢的户外活动。此外，这项研究将使用儿童带领的自然之旅。巡演将包括可穿戴相机，以检查孩子们与家人一起参加户外活动的经历，以及他们与同学们的野外探索。数据将从4-5岁的农村和非农村儿童中收集，并在他们7-8岁时再次收集。通过这种方式，研究人员将评估儿童如何通过家庭和教育经历随着时间的推移发展与自然的情感和行为互动。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Despite the importance for human development of childhood experiences with the natural world, little research has focused on young children's emotional encounters with nature or how these experiences shape their values, perceptions, and behaviors. This research will systematically examine children's behavioral and emotional reactions to nature over a five-year period. The project will examine how family, culture, and geographical locations shape the manner in which children form their identity in nature. The project will enhance understanding of how children learn to regulate their emotions in nature, and it will expand knowledge about the role education plays in shaping how children develop empathy and care for living and non-living aspects of their natural environments. The project will highlight the voices and perspectives of young Alaska Native and non-Native children living in Alaska, thereby, broadening participation in socio-ecological science in Polar Regions. The approaches used in this project offer a framework for participatory and naturalistic developmental research involving young children. Videos of the nature tours will be transformed into video lessons that will be shared with the public as a means of illustrating the role of culture in Alaska Native children's learning about, and interactions with, the environment.This project will enhance understanding of children's Environmental Identity Development by examining the following research questions: What informs Alaskan children's emotions and behaviors during outdoor wilderness experiences? How do children's experiences in the Alaska wilderness affect development over time? Research will occur in rural and non-rural Alaska during the spring and autumn seasons. The study will include children from a small isolated Alaskan village where the majority of families are of Alaska Native descent, and where access to consumer goods is limited. The study will also examine the experiences of non-Native children growing up in an Alaskan city. Because consumer goods are readily available in the city, these children may or may not learn hunting and gathering skills. This study will use a family survey to understand the different types of experiences that rural and non-rural Alaskan children have in the wilderness. Children's drawings and descriptions of their drawings will be collected to learn about their favorite outdoor activities. Additionally, the study will use child-led nature tours. The tours will involve wearable cameras in order to examine children's experiences participating in outdoor activities with family members as well as their wilderness explorations with classmates. Data will be collected from rural and non-rural children at 4-5 years of age and again when they are 7-8 years old. In this way, the researcher will assess how children's emotional and behavioral interactions with nature develop through family and educational experiences over time.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.