Moral relations in encounters with nature

Abstract

The overall aim of this article is to develop in-depth knowledge about the connection between outdoor experiences and moral attitudes towards nature. The study focuses on processes in which moral relations are at stake in encounters between students and nature. The purpose is to identify such events, describe their specific circumstances and clarify how moral relations are established in these events. The empirical material consists of video-recordings of activities in three different outdoor education practices. In order to identify and categorise moral situations, an analytical tool called the ethical tendency is used. This tool is based on Wittgenstein’s language game method. The findings show that in the investigated outdoor education practices, moral relations towards nature are established in several different ways. The article concludes with four educational implications: responsibility when dealing with moral reactions; bringing ethical questions to the fore; different educational conditions create different encounters with nature; and the consequences of different language games.

Keywords:

• outdoor education
• nature experience
• nature connectivity
• moral relations
• ethical reflections
• environmental concern

Acknowledgements

Research for this article was carried out within the project ‘Encounters with Nature and Environmental Moral Learning’ and the research programme ‘Outdoor Recreation in Change’. The authors also wish to thank members of the research group SMED (Studies of Meaning-making in Educational Discourses) for their valuable comments.

Notes

1. This term was developed from Wittgenstein’s ‘A Lecture on Ethics’, in which he talks about ethics as ‘a document of a tendency in the human mind’ (Wittgenstein, 1993, p. 44).

2. For a more thorough illumination and examples of these situations, see Öhman (2006a) and Öhman and Östman (2008).

3. See Öhman (2006b), Kronlid and Svennbeck (2008), and Öhman and Östman (2008).

Additional information

Funding

Research carried out within ‘Encounters with Nature and Environmental Moral Learning’ was supported by the Swedish Research Council [grant number 2004–2295] and research within ‘Outdoor Recreation in Change’ was supported by grants from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

Notes on contributors

Karin Andersson

Karin Andersson is a PhD Candidate in Sports Science at the School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden. Her main interest is moral relations in encounters with nature, in educational practices.

Johan Öhman

Johan Öhman is a Professor at the School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden. His area of research is environmental ethics and democratic issues within the sphere of education in education for sustainable development, environmental education and outdoor education.