Using socio-cultural learning theory to understand nature journaling as meaning-making and an opportunity to nurture well-being

Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Hayne, Emily
- Graduate Program:
- Recreation, Park and Tourism Management
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 08, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Lucy McClain, Outside Unit & Field Member
Andrew Mowen, Major Field Member
Derrick Taff, Major Field Member
Danielle Lawson, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Andrew Justin Mowen, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Nature journaling
Socio-cultural learning theory
Nature connectedness
Place attachment
Relationships
Well-being - Abstract:
- Local and global systems are failing to produce effective resources that help communities respond to social and ecological challenges that lead to stress and burnout. Therefore, a new approach to public health is needed. There are literature from diverse disciplines that speak to the health benefits that can emerge when people access outdoor spaces and connect with nature. Environmental education may be an appropriate avenue to develop public health programs and support communities who are struggling with socio-ecological burdens. This dissertation focuses on nature journaling as a potential practice and tool for engaging people in outdoor environments to encourage meaningful connections to people, nature, and place and to promote well-being. Socio-cultural learning theory and the people-place-process complex provide a theoretical framework to study complexities and nuances of relationships between people, nature, and place and how relationships developed during nature journaling affect well-being. The dissertation studies use an exploratory research design to investigate nature journaling as a practice and the people who nature journal. The first study uses mixed methods to look at people in the United States who nature journal and to identify relationships and causation between nature journaling practices with meaning-making, place attachment, nature connectedness, and well-being measures. The second study explores nature journaling as a facilitated group experience and how participants perceive the impact of the group nature journaling format on their relationships to people, nature, and place using inductive coding. The third study, using qualitative data collection and analysis, further explores how nature journalers describe nature journaling as a meaningful process and the outcomes of nature journaling on individual well-being. Collectively, these studies show how nature journaling affects relationships, meaning-making, and well-being.