Developing a Sense of Place through Nature Journaling in School Gardens

Abstract: Nature journaling creates an opportunity for students to observe, wonder about and reflect on the natural world and their place in it. We explored student experiences of nature journaling in third and sixth grade elementary classrooms in a Title I elementary school located in the desert southwest. Data sources included student interviews and their journals. Through a thematic analysis, we identified several benefits of nature journaling. We found that students appreciated freedom of movement, spaciousness and awakening of their senses when learning outdoors. They described positive emotions when reflecting on their journaling experiences and conveyed a strong sense of place about their gardens. Their journal entries demonstrated evidence that some students were developing systems thinking (understandings about organisms and abiotic factors of ecosystems, relationships, and change over time). This study extends prior literature on nature journaling in K-12 settings by interviewing students from 4 classes about how they feel about nature journaling in addition to analyzing their journals.