What does nature mean to you? A photo analysis of urban middle school students’ perceptions of nature

Abstract

In the present study, we explore the perceptions of urban middle school students’ representations of nature using participatory photography and their nature connectedness. Preadolescents (N = 108, 6th grade, age 11–13) were asked to take a photo of what nature is to them and write a short description of what is in the image. In a mixed method study applying the ‘Inclusion of Nature in Self’ (INS) scale, we investigated (1) what are middle school students’ perceptions of nature as evidenced through their own photography, (2) what are the differences between students who are more connected with nature and those who are less connected and (3) how can photography be used as a tool to investigate students’ perceptions of nature? Students’ nature perceptions were diverse, with a majority showing plants and urban nature. Students mentioned positive emotions and aesthetic aspects of nature. Students who scored higher on the INS, defined as more connected to nature, photographed a greater diversity of phenomena and geographies, many outside of urban areas. Participatory photography proved to be an excellent choice for an inclusive data collection method in Education for Sustainable Development, especially for students with reading or writing difficulties or language barriers.

Keywords:

• Nature perceptions
• middle school students
• participatory photography
• education for sustainable development
• connectedness with nature

Introduction

Humanity is currently facing an unprecedented existential threat in the form of interrelated global crises: rapid climate change and biodiversity loss endanger human livelihoods (IPCC 2022; Steffen et al. 2015). These two phenomena are caused by destructive human activities and bring the Earth into a new geological epoch, often referred to as Anthropocene (Crutzen 2002). Currently, the global action plan to achieve a more sustainable future – ‘Agenda 2030’ – includes 17 interlinked and integrated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 specific targets (UNESCO 2015). The key goal of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is to foster a more sustainable future. In this paper, we focus on students and their role in education for sustainable development. Students are the future decision-makers and leaders and will be both the drivers and recipients of the consequences of environmental actions (Fisher 2019; Skilbeck 2020; Wallis and Loy 2021). A fundamental issue is how students perceive nature and how this relates to their connectedness with nature. Previous studies indicate that a connection to nature correlates positively with pro-environmental behavior (Dutcher et al. 2007; Kals, Schumacher, and Montada 1999; Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002; Otto et al. 2019; Roczen et al. 2013; Whitburn, Linklater, and Abrahamse 2020) and is a key factor to be fostered in formal or informal ESD. By exploring middle school students’ perceptions of nature through photographs, this study opens a new perspective on students’ understanding of nature by exploring their perceptions of nature through participatory photography in relation to their connectedness with nature.

Students’ perceptions of nature

There is concern that people in industrialized countries are losing connection to nature, and experiencing what is described as ‘nature deficit disorder’ (Louv 2006). Researchers have identified the growing level of digitalization (Edwards and Larson 2020; Kuss and Griffiths 2017; Michaelson et al. 2020; Pergams and Zaradic 2007) and the loss of nature experiences (Gaston and Soga 2020; Larson et al. 2019; Pyle 1993; Soga and Gaston 2016) as plausible reasons for this alarming phenomenon.

However, it is important to look critically at the research on the phenomenon ‘nature-deficit disorder’. The literature on ‘nature deficit disorder’ still lacks empirical evidence of this phenomenon (Birch, Rishbeth, and Payne 2020; Malone 2016). In addition, Dickinson (2013) suggests rethinking the ‘nature deficit disorder’ and recommends not just focusing only on children and young people and their time in nature, but rather addressing the deeper structural and cultural social dynamics that influence children’s and young people’s relationship to the environment (e.g. parents’ attitudes to the environment, perceptions of risk, school culture, etc.). Therefore, researchers have suggested conducting more qualitative studies with children to get an in-depth understanding of their connectedness to nature (Tseng and Wang, 2020). It is also important to mention that we need to consider the important role of education school when we discuss the ‘nature-deficit disorder’. Paulsen (2023) calls for the deconstruction of the distinction between inside and outside education in times of the Anthropocene, in which nature is often ‘reduced to a mere scene, background or pile of resources, something you learn how to manipulate or at best visit now and then as something exotic “out there”’ (Paulsen 2021). This can be another reason for the increasing alienation between humans and nature, which is claimed to be one of the factors for growing environmental problems caused by human activities (Jordan 2009; Ponting 2007; Vining, Merrick, and Price 2008). On the other hand, digitalization also has the potential to bring nature closer to those students who prefer to spend time in front of screens rather than outdoors (Ahn et al. 2016; Richardson et al. 2020; Schultz and Tabanico 2007). For example, apps on mobile phones can help identify plant species or bird calls, motivate students to participate in citizen science activities in nature, like counting animals. In any case, visual communication profoundly impacts our lives, especially with the development of information and communication technologies and the evolution of digital mobile technology.

Communicating with photos has become part of our daily routine. This phenomenon is best embodied in the millennial phrase ‘Pics, or it didn’t happen’, which was recently described as ‘the mantra of the Instagram era’ (Silverman 2015). Photography as a method to express oneself also offers an excellent opportunity for students who have writing or reading difficulties (Ford et al. 2017). Including students with a range of academic attainment in the research is essential, as research for sustainable development addresses not only environmental issues but also social justice, equity, and inclusion. In Austria and other German-speaking countries, most studies on education for sustainable development were conducted with students in academic track schools (university preparatory schools), often due to more access to the schools and the higher German reading abilities of students. Students in general track schools more often live in lower-income households, may be recent immigrants to Austria from non-German speaking countries, and stem from communities with less access to academic entitlements, opportunities, and role models/mentors (Pisa 2019). To explore similarities and differences across populations by ethnicity, German-language proficiency, and academic track, our study included students from both types of schools and their perceptions of nature through photography.

Most studies examining students’ perceptions of nature have used questionnaires with open-ended questions or interviews as the research method. For example, Keith et al. (2022) conducted a study in Australia with over 1000 students aged 8–14 years and primarily reported positive feelings about nature. Kleespies et al. (2021) investigated adolescent students’ understanding of the term nature, and based on the results, they developed the extended Inclusion of Nature in Self-scale. Maurer and Bogner (2020b) found that first-year students associated the term nature with positive feelings or emotions and the term nature as the sum of biocentric, ecocentric, and anthropocentric views. Pointon (2014) studied British adolescent students’ perceptions of nature. She found that most students held scientific views on nature (excluding humans) and anthropocentric worldviews. Some studies focus on students’ drawing and their perceptions of nature. The Bolzan-de-Campos, Fedrizzi, and Santos-Almeida (2018) study investigated preadolescent students’ perceptions of nature from different settings (urban, coastal, and rural) in Brazil. They found no differences between settings. Only few studies have used photography as a method for exploring students’ understanding of nature. Results from the Lebanon photovoice study by Mattouk and Talhouk (2017) show that rural students from eight to sixteen years perceive nature not only as woodlands, forests, plants, animals, etc., but also express scenes from nature as symbols of their inner state of mind.

There is a surprising lack of studies about preadolescent students’ perceptions of nature and their connectedness with nature. The research reported in this paper addresses the gap by presenting data on students’ perceptions of nature based on their photographs and their connectedness with nature.

Participatory photography as a data-collection method in ESD

The younger generations have undergone a sociocultural shift towards communication via images and videos in a broader sense, with the ubiquity of applications such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok (Leaver, Highfield, and Abidin 2020). Visual methods in qualitative research have been developed continuously over the last 40 years (Packard 2008). They allow researchers to gain deeper insights into participants’ minds (Ford et al. 2017; Ibanez 2004; Knoblauch et al. 2008; Meo 2010), and address a broader range of senses with visual images rather than focusing only on written material (Lehman-Frisch, Authier, and Dufaux 2012; Pullman and Robson 2007). In addition, photography taps into emotions and visual senses in a way that reading, writing, and talking may not. Photographs provide an alternate way to express ideas and feelings (Cappello 2005) or elicit participants’ sense-of-place values (Beckley et al. 2007). Participatory Photography is a method in which individuals or communities are actively involved in the process of creating and using photographs as a means of expressing, communicating and empowering. The goal of participatory photography is to empower individuals to tell their own stories and share their perspectives, in opposition to traditional photography where the photographer often acts as an external observer capturing images of subjects (Langmann and Pick 2018; Pink 2007; Prins 2010; Ray and Smith 2012). This participatory research method is usually combined with interviews, journaling, or photo captioning, which provides an opportunity to gain more insight into the participants’ perspective behind the images. Participatory photography has been a popular method with children and young people who have difficulty with traditional forms of qualitative research, such as open-ended questionnaires, due to reading and writing levels (Byrne, Daykin, and Coad 2016).

In addition, the participatory photography method was an excellent choice during the COVID-19 pandemic to implement an intervention with direct experience of nature. A similar method that uses photographs is photovoice, a popular method in education research and ESD (Derr and Simons 2020; Herrick, Lawson, and Matewos 2022; Mattouk and Talhouk 2017), but the goal of the method is different. The photovoice empowers participants through participatory dialogic processes (Strack, Magill, and McDonagh 2004; Wang 2006). Participatory photography as a method in ESD is not well known; we find only a few studies using this method (Ardoin et al. 2014). This prompts the research question of how students’ photography can be used as a research tool in the field of ESD.

Research aim

The study is based on social constructivist perspectives. Students’ perceptions of nature are based on the interplay of the past and the present and change during students’ development (Driver 1985; Piaget 1960). Research by social constructivists underlines that learning is primarily a social activity and involves cognitive processes in which the learner’s new knowledge is co-constructed with others based on what the learner already knows and believes (Vosniadou et al. 2001; Vygotsky and Cole 1978). The understanding of nature can be influenced by the historical, geographical, and the social context of their lives (Payne 2014).

The use of triangulation of data, photo descriptions, and questionnaires enabled the present study to investigate students’ perceptions of nature in urban areas. The following research questions guided the study: (1) What are middle school students’ perceptions of nature as evidenced through their own photography? (2) What are the differences between students who are more connected with nature and those who are less connected? (3) How can photography be used as a tool to investigate students’ perceptions of nature?

Materials and methods

In this study, we follow a mixed-method approach. Qualitative inductive research methods were adopted (Mayring 2010). Quantitative methods in the analysis were used to extract the essence of the qualitative answers. An anonymous questionnaire and intervention with photos were used to collect the data.

Sample and methods

The final sample consisted of 108 students from eight Austrian middle schools in Vienna (grade 6, M_age: 11.41, SD:0.65, 46.5% female). In Austria, after completing elementary school in 4th grade, students either enroll in a general track or an academic track middle school. The former usually continue education in vocational schools and the latter mostly continue to college/university (Oberwimmer et al. 2019). Usually, students in general track schools generally stem from lower income households and their parents more often have a nonacademic background (no college or university degree) (Pisa 2019). The curricula in both types of middle school are equivalent. In order to ensure a balanced sample of middle school students, we included students from both types of schools in our sample. 64 students enrolled in general track schools (M_age: 12.06, SD: 0.85, 46.5% female) and 44 students enrolled in academic track schools (M_age: 11.32, SD: 0.65, 45.0% female) took part in the study. Data collection was carried out in the spring of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Austrian schools were closed at that time, only performing lessons online (home schooling). However, travelling in Austria and Europe was allowed. The criteria for the school selection were the teachers’ willingness to participate in the research project. All schools are public middle schools that are government-funded (no private schools).

Data collection

Students were asked to take photos of nature by their biology teachers who received instructions from the researchers. Researchers organized online meetings and explained teachers the goal of the study and the instructions for the students. The instructions read: ‘Take three photos of what nature means to you. There is no right or wrong way to do this. You should proceed intuitively and photograph something that means nature to you. The best way to do this is with your smartphone. Take three photos, choose one, and write a short description for the photo. You have four weeks time to complete for this task’. Teachers collected the photos and descriptions digitally and sent them back to the researchers. Before students took their photos, they completed a short paper-and-pencil questionnaire. The questionnaire included the one-item environmental attitudes scale ‘Inclusion of Nature in Self’ (INS) (Schultz 2002). The INS measures students’ connectedness with nature by using ‘nature’ and ‘self’ as two circles, with students selecting the overlap level that describes their interconnection with nature. Scores range from 1 to 7, with the least overlapping circle receiving a score of 1 and the most overlapping circle receiving a score of 7. The INS test-retest after four weeks provides a very high reliability of 0.94 (Schultz et al. 2004). Students also answered general demographic questions (gender, age).

Data analysis

Originally, a total of 121 students participated in the study and turned in 173 photos. Twenty-six students handed in more than one photo; in those cases, we compared the photos. Students whose photos were placed in different categories were excluded from the analysis (10 students). For students whose multiple photos fitted all in the same category, we selected one of the photos to remain in the analysis (11 students). Three students submitted old vacation photos taken before covid-19 pandemic which we excluded from the analysis as well. In addition, we have to exclude another 26 photos from the analysis because the students did not provide a description with their respective photo. As a result, 108 photos from 108 students remained for the analysis. The analysis was conducted with the Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) software MAXQDA 2022, which also allowed a semi-quantitative analysis (e.g. the occurrence of technical terms) (Kuckartz and Rädiker 2019). The coding was dominantly inductive, focusing on the most common patterns emerging from the dataset. The coding frame was data-driven, with codes and themes emerging from the students’ descriptions (Schreier 2012). The lead author and one trained graduate research assistant applied the coding guideline, which was continuously adapted throughout the analysis, involving iterative reviews, discussions, categorizing, and re-coding. The final coding structure was also validated through discussions and refinement through consulting and test coding by co-authors. We first did the analysis in German and then translated a selection of the students’ statements for our manuscript. The translation was done by a bilingual researcher and was then retranslated in order to confirm the original meaning and information. Additionally, all translated photo descriptions were then discussed in the bilingual authors team (native language: German and English), as we are aware of the risk that information may be changed or misrepresented.

The developed coding guideline includes a clear category definition and an example from the student’s answers for each category to ensure the validity of the coding scheme (Table 1). As described in similar studies, we allow data to be coded into multiple categories within the diverse categories of participants’ photos and descriptions (Beckley et al. 2007; Stedman et al. 2004). Statistics were calculated using the SPSS Software package.

Table 1. Coding guideline and examples from the student’s photos and descriptions to the question ‘what is nature to you?’, sorted by the three categories (a) location of the photo, (b) content of the photo, (c) complexity of statement (n = 108 students).

Category number	Category name	Description	Examples
1	At home (a)	Apartment, balcony, backyard, garden, pets, indoor plants	Those are strawberries from our balcony. Photo S01, Female, 11 years
2	Urban area (a)	Human-dominated areas in the city	This is my favorite park! I often go there with my friends and have fun. Most of the time, we hang our hammocks on a tree and enjoy the fresh air. Photo S02, Female, 11 years
3	Natural area (a)	Non-human dominated areas (in the city, suburban areas, the countryside or in wilderness)	A lot of nature and a strange tree whose trunk is wavy. Photo S03, Male, 11 years
4	Plants (b)	Trees, meadows, flowers, plants in pots	Plants are nature to me. On the picture you can see two kinds of flowers. When someone mentions ‘nature’, I automatically think of flowers. One single plant can make your home much more natural. Photo S04, Female, 11 years
5	Animals (b)	Diverse types of animals	On this photo you can see two swans that swim in a pond. Photo S05, Male, 12 years
6	Human-made structure (b)	Urban areas, rivers in concrete, parks etc.	Setagaya Park in Vienna. Photo S06, Female, 11 years
7	Humans (b)	Family, friends	The Photo shows me with my sister in the Wienerwald [Forest close to Vienna]. Photo S07, Male, 12 years
8	Landscape (b)	Diverse types of landscapes	Nature on the Danube Island. Photo S08, Male, 12 years
9	Activates in nature (b)	Sports, hanging with friends, playing	I like riding in nature with my friends, galloping through woods and meadows. We discover a lot of animals and plants. Photo S09, Female, 12 years
10	Phenomena (b)	Sunset, sunrise, rainbow	Here you can see a sunrise on a mountain in Vorarlberg. I like the photo because I like the color transitions at a sunrise. Photo S10, Female, 11 years
11	Descriptive (c)	Facts about photos	On this photo you see a flower. Photo S11, Male, 12 years
12	Affective (c)	Variable emotions, feelings, and sensations	For me nature is a place where you are well. Where you think how beautiful the world can be after all. Where one feels free from all that stress. Photo S12, Female, 12 years
13	Elaborative (c)	Variable elaborate descriptions, sometimes referring to biological content knowledge	This is nature because it stems from a tree. The tree stems from the earth. Everything is related to nature. Photo S13, Male, 11 years
14	Reflective (c)	Reflective descriptions about nature and its importance; often referring to biological content knowledge, often expressing concerns about nature being endangered and its necessary protection	I am very peaceful and happy because I am intertwined with the trees but not only with them. Nature is plants, insects, and trees for me. To me, trees have the most important role in nature. I really want that we humans care for nature and the creatures that live in it. Photo S14, Female, 13 years

Corresponding photos are not shown due to space limits but can be found in the supplemental material (photos S1–S14).

To assess the reliability of coding, 20% of all the data were randomly selected six months after the first coding from the first author (intra-rater reliability) and one trained graduate research assistant (inter-rater reliability) to test the validity of the coding scheme. We applied Cohen’s kappa as recommended in the literature and scored perfectly above 0.75 and above 0.60. A zero value would have suggested no correlation between each pair of coding activities (Cohen 1960). The resulting Cohen’s kappa scores indicate an overall open question and a good agreement between the rates (Table 2).

Table 2. Cohen’s kappa scores for inter- and intra-reliability (n = 108 students).

	Cohen’s kappa
Categories	Interrater reliability	Intra-rater reliability
Location of photos	0.95	0.85
Content of photos	0.74	0.70
Statement complexity	0.65	0.71

Finally, the categories were related to the INS statements (range: 1–7) to investigate connections between the students’ connectedness to nature and their perceptions of nature, feelings, and emotions towards nature. Based on the model by Kossack and Bogner (2012), three response categories were formed for further analysis: low connectedness level (1–3), medium connectedness level (4), and high connectedness level (5–7).

Findings

The aim of our study was to investigate the perceptions of nature among urban middle school students using a participatory photography method. We found that students covered a wide range of content in the photos and descriptions (Tables 3–5). These tables present the findings of an analysis describing the percentage of photos with student descriptions that fit our main categories of perceptions. The categories do not always total 100%, as some students’ answers include elements in several categories. The results are divided into two main sections: perceptions of nature (where students take photos, what is on the photo, and how they describe the photo) and students’ perceptions of nature related to connectedness to nature based on the INS scale.

Table 3. Students’ perceptions of nature based on the location of the photos (n = 108 students).

Category	Category elements	Frequency of photos and descriptions (in percent)
Urban area	Nature in the city	50.9
Natural area	Forest, lake, see, mountains	35.2
At home	In the apartment, in the garden	13.9

Students’ perceptions of nature – location of the photo

First, we divided the photos based on the location of the photos. Three categories were defined inductively: (1) Photos taken at home (in the apartment, in the garden, in the backyard), (2) photos taken in urban areas (in human-dominated areas of the city), and (3) photos taken in natural areas (in the city, suburban areas, in the countryside or in wilderness) (Table 3).

Urban area

We allocated more than 50% of the photos into the category ‘urban area’. These photos were taken in the city of Vienna. Students took photos of parks, the Danube River, inner courtyards, street trees, and playgrounds.

An example:

Figure 1. ‘I was on Mariahilferstraße [name of the street] and saw this tree. It is like a little piece of nature for me because even though this is a shopping street, there is still a bit of green. And that is great. You always have a little piece of nature on your way, so to speak!’ Male, 11 years.

Natural area

One-third of the students (35,2%) sent us photos of nature that represented ‘natural areas’ in the city, suburban areas, the countryside, or wilderness. Students’ photos depicted mountains, lakes, rivers, forests or even glaciers. An example:

Figure 2. “In the picture, you can see a beautiful flower meadow with lush green grass framed by giant trees and the Dachstein [a mountain] with the last snow-capped peaks in the background. During vacation it is always beautiful and always smells so good – like fresh air.” Male, 12 years.

At home

We sorted 13,9% of photos into the category ‘at home’. Students took photos of their plants at their balcony, their garden, pets, fresh cut flowers, plastic flowers, and indoor plants.

An example:

Figure 3. “This is our raised bed that we have built together. We have planted various things in the raised bed, such as onions, carrots, strawberries,” Female, 11 years.

Students’ perceptions of nature – content of the photo

Concerning students’ perceptions of nature, we divided the photos into seven categories based on the content analysis of the photos and students’ descriptions (Table 4). The majority of photos and descriptions (70.4%) contained references to plants, especially trees (Figures 1–4). Plants were often mentioned in relation to green as a definition of nature. Students also described them as being important for humans and the climate by producing oxygen through photosynthesis. Landscape was the second most often identified category based on the content analysis (28.7%). Students photographed mountains, fields, meadows, and lakes (Figure 2). More than 18% of students mentioned human-made structures such as gardens, parks, and yards (Figure 5). In 14.9% of the photos, we found animals, most often birds, insects (bees, beetles) and pets (dogs, horses) (Figure 6). Some students (10%) mentioned activities like playing at the playground, doing sports, hiking, and meeting friends. A smaller number of photos (4.6%) showed humans (family members, friends) often in combination with activities. In 3.7% of the photos, we observed phenomena such as sunsets or rainbows.

Figure 4. “It is simply a tree. When someone mentions the word “nature”, Ithink of a tree. Because a tree is nature as well as meadows, plants, flowers and the soil. And a tree is somehow all that at once.” Male, 11 years.

Figure 5. “I photographed the view from my window, and this is my yard. For me, it is beautiful.” Male, 12 years.

Figure 6. “Animals are also part of nature. In this picture, we see a brown and white dog that sleeps all day. But this seems to be normal for dogs. Animals are very important for nature.” Female, 12 years.

Table 4. Students’ perceptions of nature based on the content analysis of the photos (n = 108 students). note that some students’ answers include elements of several categories.

Category	Category elements	Frequency of photos and descriptions (in percent)
Plants	Trees, forest, flowers, meadows	70.4
Landscape	Mountains, rivers, streams	28.7
Human-made structure	Parks, courtyards, gardens	18.5
Animals	Insects, birds, pets, horses, cattle	14.8
Activities	Sports, playing, meetings friends	10.2
Humans	Parents, friends, family	4.6
Phenomena	Rainbow, sunset, sunrise	3.7

Students’ perceptions of nature – statement complexity

Furthermore, we analyzed statement complexity as an additional metric to explore participant description in photo captions and compare simple descriptive statements, affective responses, and reflective responses. More than 47% of students wrote only descriptively. They wrote just short facts about what you can see in the photos. Some examples of students’ descriptions:

This picture shows a pink tulip. Female, 12 years

A bee that is on a rose. Male, 11 years

More than a third of the students’ descriptions (35.2%) fit into in the affective response category. Here we recognize various positive emotions regarding nature. The most frequently mentioned emotions were the aesthetic aspect. As an aesthetic aspect, we define all the descriptions that value the beauty of nature. Students explain their choice by writing that nature is beautiful. An example:‘I went to the Botanical Garden near Belvedere castle with my family on May 1st. It was beautiful; there were so many kinds of plants. I liked the plane trees, the black poplars because they look like the trees from the storybooks Lord of the Rings’. Male, 11 years

This flower is beautiful and smells nice. Nature is beauty for me. Female, 12 years

Students also describe nature as a place where they can feel free, relax and forget about their worries:

For me, nature is a place where you can relax. Hiking in the mountains is a great way to forget everyday life. Female, 12 years

Nature also means free time for me. In the forest I have free time and can relax very well. Male, 12 years

For me, nature is a place where I can be free and be myself. Female, 11 years

Students often describe the different sounds and smells they have noticed in nature. Some examples:

A lake and much forest and the sounds of animal. Female, 12 years

I love it when it rains, which you cannot see on the picture, but I like the smell the next day after the rain. Male, 12 years

About 11% of students’ photos of nature were described quite elaboratively. They did not only describe the content of their photos but elaborated further on things, sometimes referring to biological content knowledge or their ideas about the photo location. One example:

On this photo you see green grapes that are almost grown big and ripe. There are also leaves and twigs. This makes you realize that summer has arrived. Female, 12 years

Only 6.5% of students described nature reflectively, mostly stating how important nature is, referring to their biological content knowledge. Some express their concerns about nature being endangered:

Nature means much to me. And not only for me but for us all. We cannot live without plants like trees. We also get fruit from nature etc. Without nature it will become quite creepy, I believe. Male, 11 years

For me, nature means an untouched piece of land (even if the photo shows a trail.) A place where you can be free and let your mind wander. And even if humanity destroys these wonderful places… I still wonder why they do that. Nature is something unique that will never come back, so every tree and every blade of grass is worth protecting. Also, all animals, of course. Male, 12

Students’ perceptions of nature related to connectedness with nature

In the following section, we present students’ perceptions of nature related to Connectedness with Nature based on the (Schultz 2002) scale Inclusion of Nature In Self. Students with high INS scores more often took photos in natural areas compared to those with lower INS scores who tended to take photos in urban areas (Table 5). More connected students also have a more diverse perceptions of nature. Students with higher INS scores were more likely to mention the following categories: activities, humans, and phenomena (Table 6). We did not conduct a statistical test of the differences because due to the qualitative approach of the study, some of the numbers were too small.

Table 5. Students’ perceptions of nature and their INS level (n = 108 students).

Category	Total N	Low INS score (1–3) f (f%)	Middle INS score (4) f (f%)	High INS score (5–7) f (f%)
Urban area	55	20 (76.9)	13 (48.1)	22 (40.0)
At home	15	1 (3.9)	5 (18.6)	9 (16.4)
Natural area	38	5 (19.2)	9 (33.3)	24 (43.6)
Total	108	26 (100)	27 (100)	55 (100)
Descriptive	51	17 (65.4)	14 (51.9)	20 (36.4)
Affective	38	7 (26.8)	5 (18.6)	26 (47.3)
Elaborative	12	1 (3.9)	5 (18.6)	6 (10.9)
Reflective	7	1 (3.9)	3 (10,9)	3 (5.4)
Total	108	26 (100)	27 (100)	55 (100)

Table 6. Students’ perceptions of nature and their INS level (n = 108 students).

Category	Total N	Low INS score (1–3) f (f%)	Middle INS score (4) f (f%)	High INS score (5–7) f (f%)
Plants	76	24 (31.6)	18 (23.7)	34 (44.7)
Landscape	31	6 (7.9)	6 (7.9)	19 (61.3)
Human-made structure	20	5 (25.0)	4 (20.0)	11 (55.0)
Animals	16	5 (31.3)	5 (31.3)	6 (37.0)
Activities	10	1 (10.0)	2 (20.0)	7 (70.0)
Humans	5	0	1 (20.0)	4 (80.0)
Phenomena	3	0	1 (33.3)	2 (66.7)

Note that some students’ answers include elements of several categories.

Discussion

Recent studies indicate that connectedness with nature is an important factor to promote in formal or informal ESD (Otto and Pensini 2017; Roczen et al. 2013; Whitburn, Linklater, and Abrahamse 2020). By exploring middle school students’ perceptions of nature through photography, this study opens a new perspective on students’ understanding of nature by exploring their perceptions of nature through participatory photography in relation to their connectedness to nature.

As reported in a previous study with middle school students, we found that many students in general track schools may lack high level German reading and writing comprehension, which can influence how they express their connections to nature through writing [Bezeljak, Torkar and Möller 2023]. For this reason, we used a visual method that allows students to express themselves through photographs than through writing alone. Studies show that participatory photography reflects not only cognitive but also affective aspects (Lehman-Frisch, Authier, and Dufaux 2012).

Our findings generated several essential themes for further discussion. First, we examine students’ perceptions of nature regarding the location of the photo. Second, we discuss positive feelings toward nature. Lastly, we discuss the role of connectedness to nature: access, meaning, and measurement.

Where is nature?

Students took photos in their free time during spring in the year 2020. We received 121 photos from different surroundings, from local and global environments. The photos were divided into three categories: at home, urban areas, and natural areas. Our findings highlight that most students (50.9%) took their photos in urban areas (in the city of Vienna). It is important to note that access to nature is not a problem in Vienna since it is one of the world’s greenest cities, with 53% of its area covered by green spaces and water bodies and a national park accessible by public transport (Vienna City Statistical Yearbook 2020). On the other hand, one-third of the students took photos at home. Here, it must be considered that the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many people spent their free time at home and surroundings. However, public transportation was available at that time. We noted that students who scored higher on the INS (connection with nature scale) were more likely to include photos from natural areas. An important critical issue to discuss here is access to nature outside the city. The perceptions of and connection to urban nature will become increasingly important as it is predicted that by 2050, two out of three people will be living in urban areas (United Nations Population Division 2019). This has important implications both for environmental education as well as conservation and expansion of nature in urban areas.

We applied content analysis to the photos and found that plants were the most frequent category of photos taken. Students connect plants with the color green, as representing nature and often mention photosynthesis. These findings are interesting in the light of the phenomenon known as ‘plant blindness’, which suggests that students do not recognize the important role of plants as part of nature (Balding and Williams 2016; Pany et al. 2022; Wandersee and Schussler 1999). Some students also mention that plants are essential for humans due to their ability to produce oxygen, which can be explained by the fact that photosynthesis is an important topic in the curriculum (BMBWF 2023). This finding also suggests an important question: is nature only important for humans? Students mention that nature provides humans with resources, which is consistent with the previous literature (Pointon 2014) that shows that their own dependence on nature drives people to protect it (Lenart 2020). On the other hand, the frequency of plants in the photos could also be explained by practical reasons. Animals move and cannot be photographed so easily.

Positive feelings toward nature

More than a third of the students mentioned positive feelings, emotions, and sensations about nature and there was no negative connotation to it. Students connect their positive emotions with aesthetic aspects of nature. This finding further supports the idea found in other studies (Keith et al. 2022; Kellert and Wilson 1993; Maurer and Bogner 2020a; Sjöblom and Wolff 2017), that youth tend to identify with aesthetic aspects of nature focusing on beauty, colors, and other positive visual characteristics. It is interesting to note that students noticed beauty in very different settings: in picture postcard settings in the mountains but also in the backyard of their city apartment building (see Figures 4 and 5). This is an important finding, since previous research shows that when humans perceive that an environment exemplified as having ‘natural beauty’, they are more likely to view conserving nature as a moral obligation (Clayton and Myers 2015; Kellert and Wilson 1993). Similarly, humans will conserve species if they perceive the species as ‘beautiful’. (Billmann-Mahecha and Gebhard 2009). In this study, most photos represent idealistic views of nature, not critical ones, mirroring findings by Keith et al. (2022) whose research focused on Australian students aged eight to fourteen. In our analysis, we did not identify negative feelings, emotions, or perceptions.

When analyzing the complexity of the descriptions, we do not find many reflective captions; most of them are descriptive or affective. We can argue that students develop abstract reasoning as part of their last stage of development (age 11–16 years) (Piaget 1960). It would be interesting to conduct a cross-sectional study to compare various ages or developmental stages in relation to how they perceive and describe the term ‘nature’. Future research would also benefit from asking students to take photos of actual biodiversity crises or climate change problems they observe in their (local) environment, not just about nature in general.

Connectedness to nature: access, meaning, and measurement

When it comes to connectedness to nature, we found that students who are more connected to nature have a broad and varied perceptions of nature. Students who are more connected with nature also often take photos in natural areas. Here the results can be explained by social constructivism, family experiences, cultural background, and the free time setting of students. All these factors play a key role in our perceptions of nature (Payne 2014; Vygotsky and Cole 1978). It would be interesting to conduct an international study on whether culture influences students’ perceptions of nature.

A significant strength of this study is the triangulation of data to analyze students’ perceptions of nature from different perspectives. It reflects students’ thoughts, which we cannot get insight into only by using questionnaires. Using participatory photography is not well established in ESD yet (Ardoin et al. 2014). The photography approach provides an excellent chance for an inclusive data collection method, especially for students who have difficulty expressing themselves in writing or for students whose first language is not the language of instruction (Ford et al. 2017). We need more studies on ESD research, especially in place-based education and using photos as a method. Using photography as a method of exploring students’ perceptions of nature and as a tool in environmental education programming provides connections to many potential avenues for youth to explore, communicate, and connect with nature and place wherever that may be. Photography’s connection to social media use also gives it an added relevance to youth as relevant and engaging. We would add that in research or ESD programming, photos should be combined with students writing or recording (audio) their own perceptions of their images. Going further, one-on-one interviews would be even more instructive.

Study limitations

There are several limitations to note. First, our sample is not representative. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized. We asked only students in the urban region of Vienna and its surroundings, which is why further studies, including students from rural areas, are needed. Another limitation of the study is that preadolescent students are dependent on their parents, so it would be interesting to conduct a study and interviews with parents as well, to conduct a study at the community level to get a better insight into the perceptions and understanding of the concept of nature. During the study design, we were aware of the influence of parents, siblings, and friends on the directing, guiding, and editing of photos that middle school students sent us because students got this task as homework and took photos in their free time (Ford et al. 2017). Another limitation is that we did not ask students about cultural identity, immigration background (place connections/experiences with the previous place of residence), and socio-economic status. Studies show that cultural identity may have an influence on defining/measuring/being connected to nature in a current local environment (Horolets, Stodolska, and Peters 2019; Lovelock et al. 2011).

Conclusions and suggestions for further research

Overwhelmingly, Austrian middle students in grade six have broad and varied perceptions of nature. The most popular content in students’ photos was associated with plants. Students connect nature with positive emotions and feelings (joy, calmness, relaxation, and freedom). Students who are more connected to nature photographed diverse places in natural areas and had a broader understanding of nature. On the other hand, students more connected with nature often mention anthropocentric elements in their description of nature, for instance, activities in nature and spending time with family and friends in nature. It might be argued that when students feel ‘being included’, they do not consider themselves ‘being separated’ from nature. Consequently, photos presenting social activities in nature may represent their inclusion.

The main advantage of this study is that it analyzes the perceptions of nature based on photographs of the affective as well as the contextual view of the students’ perceptions to get a more in-depth perspective and is based on analysis of the photographs rather than just the written captions. In the following paragraphs, we detail three main implications for the practice of ESD:

1. Provide opportunities for students to learn about and visit different environments, including urban areas, diverse landscapes and wilderness.

2. Encourage students to think critically about nature and current environmental issues through reflection, art/photography, and sharing/communicating.

3. Use photography as a method for environmental education and environmental education research across all academic levels.

Our findings suggest that it is essential that middle school students also gain the opportunity to experience nature in their free time and not only in a school context. Results show that students less connected with nature have a narrower perspective of what defines ‘nature’. Here, we recommend creating free offers for this target group via federal states, cities, and municipalities, through which students and families can spend free time in nature. In the school context, it is vital to support place-based education (Cincera et al. 2019), learning about the local environment and communities (Smith 2002) and go beyond inside/outside education, but focus on education in earthly life-critical zone (Paulsen 2023). We think that photographing the students’ local environments and changes in the local environment is an effective way to develop critical thinking about the environment, especially at a time when climate change and the biodiversity crisis are becoming increasingly visible and urgent.

Participatory photography is an excellent opportunity to gain insight into students’ perceptions and ways of thinking, especially in times of social media, where photos are a common way of communicating. Most of the students in our study have broad and varied perceptions of nature. Students describe nature with positive feelings, emotions, and sensations, which is a useful starting point to create the opportunity to think critically about our environment. Bignante (2010) explained in his study, ‘The photo must be considered not a point of arrival but of departure in exploring information, understandings and perceptions (p. 11)’. For the field of ESD, it would be interesting to include participatory photography more often as part of its research, with triangulation of data to get better insight into students’ perceptions. Understanding students’ perceptions of nature, in combination with connectedness with nature, allows educators and researchers to engage students with diverse programs. This is important, especially because the results show that students who are more connected with nature perceive and appreciate nature in more various and diverse settings (backyard, mountains, pet dog on the couch etc.). This is a relevant issue for future studies answering questions such as, does a more broad and diverse perceptions of nature mean that we are willing to protect this diversity of nature?

Ethical approval

For this study, ethical approval was not required. The sample was informed in advance that participation is voluntarily, and that data collection takes place anonymously. According to Austrian law, approval of an ethics committee was not necessary as this study did not involve patients, was non-invasive, and participation was voluntary and anonymous.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to all participating students and teachers for their time and engagement in this study. Without them, this study would not have been possible. We would like to thank Dr. Corey J. Knox for her proofreading and excellent ideas, which have contributed significantly to the improvement of this manuscript. We thank Alexander Bader, Stephan Huynh and Daniel Opavsky who helped with data analysis. We also thank Dr. Alexander Georg Büssing for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.