Nature-Based Early Childhood Education and Children’s Social, Emotional and Cognitive Development: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review

Autor: Avril Johnstone, Anne Martin, Rita Cordovil, Ingunn Fjørtoft, Susanna Iivonen, Boris Jidovtseff, Frederico Lopes, John J. Reilly, Hilary Thomson, Valerie Wells, Paul McCrorie
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19:5967
ISSN: 1660-4601
1661-7827
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19105967
Popis: This systematic review synthesised evidence on associations between nature-based early\ud childhood education (ECE) and children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. A search\ud of nine databases was concluded in August 2020. Studies were eligible if: (a) children (2–7 years)\ud attended ECE, (b) ECE integrated nature, and (c) assessed child-level outcomes. Two reviewers\ud independently screened full-text articles and assessed study quality. Synthesis included effect\ud direction, thematic analysis, and results-based convergent synthesis. One thousand three hundred\ud and seventy full-text articles were screened, and 36 (26 quantitative; 9 qualitative; 1 mixed-methods)\ud studies were eligible. Quantitative outcomes were cognitive (n = 11), social and emotional (n = 13),\ud nature connectedness (n = 9), and play (n = 10). Studies included controlled (n = 6)/uncontrolled\ud (n = 6) before-after, and cross-sectional (n = 15) designs. Based on very low certainty of the evidence,\ud there were positive associations between nature-based ECE and self-regulation, social skills, social and\ud emotional development, nature relatedness, awareness of nature, and play interaction. Inconsistent\ud associations were found for attention, attachment, initiative, environmentally responsible behaviour,\ud and play disruption/disconnection. Qualitative studies (n = 10) noted that nature-based ECE afforded\ud opportunities for play, socialising, and creativity. Nature-based ECE may improve some childhood\ud development outcomes, however, high-quality experimental designs describing the dose and quality\ud of nature are needed to explore the hypothesised pathways connecting nature-based ECE to childhood\ud development (Systematic Review Registration: CRD42019152582).
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: