‘Come with me where the sky is high and blue...’: the influence of literature by Jaroslav Foglar on readers and their environmental and outdoor experience

ABSTRACT

As part of the empirical survey, we worked with a deliberately selected set of 1,135 respondents who are interested in the work of Jaroslav Foglar. We sought an answer to the question of whether readers appreciate the importance of nature and camping and whether they also look for it in real life. Data were analysed through descriptive procedures and relational statistical analysis. In the context of other monitored variables, we managed to prove that apart from the story itself, camping and appreciating nature is an important area, which respondents also apply to their daily lives. An interesting finding was the relationship between the spiritual orientation of the respondents and the appreciation of the importance of nature. This relation (in a negative sense) was also proven in relation to the amount of earnings and education.

KEYWORDS:

• Description of nature
• experiencing nature
• children’s literature
• influence by reading
• camping

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The manuscript complies with the Ethical Rules.

Data Availability Statement

Data available on request from the authors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Foglaros (foglarovci in Czech) represent individuals and groups who identify with Folgar’s texts and his general idea of interaction with nature and the outdoors.

2. Different income groups of respondents were represented in our sample. Specifically, with income up to 15,000 CZK (97), 15–30 K (395), 31–45 K (247), 46–60 K (74) and more than 60 K (78). Of the total, 125 respondents stated that they did not have a fixed monthly income, and 119 did not answer this question.

3. Respondents could choose the degree of education attained or studied from the categories: 1—basic (13), 2—apprenticeship, or secondary school without a high school diploma, or currently studying (46), 3- secondary school with GCSE, higher vocational school, or currently studying (236), 4—bachelor’s or master’s university study, or currently studying (683), and 5—postgraduate or other scientific training (157). See also Table 1.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Ivo Jirásek

Ivo Jirásek is a professor at the Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic. He deals with philosophical kinanthropology (philosophy of sport), the phenomenon of spirituality and outdoor education in the discourse of experiential pedagogy. He has published at the intersection of pedagogy, kinanthropology and philosophy, e.g. in journals such as Environmental Education Research; Leisure Sciences; Sport, Ethics and Philosophy and others.

Jiří Němec

Jiří Němec is the Dean of the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic. He is a guarantor of the field of Social Pedagogy and Leisure, he teaches pedagogical methodology and pedagogy of leisure. His research interests are education of socially disadvantaged pupils and topics related to development education in the sphere of non-formal education. He publishes mainly in pedagogical journals Pedagogická orientace; Sociální pedagogika; Orbis scholae; Gymnasion, etc.

Richard Macků

Richard Macků is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Education of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic. In his work, he focuses on the professional reflection of educational issues in leisure time, especially the use of non-directive educational approaches and play and experiential methods. He publishes in pedagogical and theological journals, e.g. Pedagogická orientace; E-Pedagogium; Caritas et Veritas, etc.