Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften Children’s Environmental Identity Development: Negotiating Inner and Outer Tensions in Natural World Socialization: 10 ([Re]thinking Environmental Education)

Children's Environmental Identity Development: Negotiating Inner and Outer Tensions in Natural World Socialization draws inspiration from environmental education, education for sustainability, environmental psychology, sociology, and child development to propose a theoretical framework for considering how children's identity in/with/for nature evolves through formative experiences. The natural world socialization of young children considers not only how the natural environment affects the growth and development of young children but also how children shape and influence natural settings. Such childhood relations with the environment are explicitly linked to familial, sociocultural, geographical, and educational contexts. While the book is theoretical and will be of interest to academics and students, the use of accessible language, vignettes, and figures will make it useful to teachers, policy-makers, parents, and others genuinely concerned with children's relationships with other humans and the natural world. Review "Carie Green offers unique and thought-provoking insights into children's environmental identity development. Her work on a timely topic is well-researched and masterfully presented. Green not only offers information about environmental identity, but also offers guidance on what to do with that information. Her concerns and hopes for children and the natural world are evident throughout the text. I highly recommend this book to readers from multiple disciplines and with a variety of interests." -- Ruth Wilson, Professor Emerita, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, and Research Library Curator, Children and Nature Network "Environmental identity is a cornerstone of acting for sustainable futures, and at this globally perilous time, Carie Green offers unique insights into environmental identity development. She creates a compelling model drawn from psychosocial theory and evocative research narratives. This is an engaging and accessible publication that offers provocations for both researchers and practitioners." -- Sue Elliott, Senior Lecturer and Course Co-ordinator in Early Childhood Education, School of Education, University of New England, Armidale NSW Australia "For everyone who seeks to connect young people with the natural world, Carie Green focuses our attention on a central question: How does an environmental identity of connection and care for nature develop during infancy, childhood, and youth? She has pondered this question at length, drawing on her own research and the work of others, and presents her reflections through a combination of research reviews and observations of children in nature covering different ages, different cultures, and different settings for social and environmental learning. A broad spectrum of readers will find much that is useful here--other researchers, parents, teachers, and staff in parks, nature centers, and institutions of all kinds that bring children and nature together." -- Louise Chawla, Professor Emerita, University of Colorado Boulder About the Author Carie Green earned her Ph.D. in education (2011) from the University of Wyoming. She is Associate Professor of People, Place, and Pedagogy in the School of Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She studies the sociocultural influences of children’s environmental identity development in diverse contexts.