Comments on: Why Nature (and Recess) Might Help Kids Learn

By: Dan Willingham

Dan Willingham — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:14:52 +0000

Paul
To *really* know we’d have to conduct the study which has not, to my knowledge, been conducted. My *guess* is that the tranquility is part of it, and if you (or anyone else talked) the effect would vanish or be greatly attenuated.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:30:52 +0000

As a biology teacher, the question I have is this: If this research implies that my students might benefit from viewing nature slides in class, do I risk losing that benefit if I talk about the slides?

By: Claus

Claus — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:54:25 +0000

Thanks for pointing out that article, Dan. Professor Hirsch makes compelling points about Romanticism and education theory. By quoting Wordsworth, I certainly don’t mean to offer him (or any other Romantic poet) as the pattern for modern education policy.

But his early (and frequently expressed) wariness of enforced distraction and unremitting stimulation seem relevant today, both within and beyond schools.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:44:05 +0000

I think Diana’s on the right track. The effect of being nature as opposed to in class or at work is like the restorative effects of sleep: the environment is comfortable and calmer so you can physically and mentally relax. The distractions are passive, and there’s no pressure, so your mind is able to let go or solve some of the problems you’ve had stuck in your head.

The idea of bringing nature into the classroom would be somewhat fake…it might help a little to put up posters of redwood forests, but really you’d get a better effect by creating a similar comfortable environment, without pressure, with (probably solitary) open-ended free time when students could just relax and think or work on anything they felt like working on.

By: Dan Willingham

Dan Willingham — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:38:02 +0000

Claus
Much as I enjoy Wordsworth, we might be leery of taking educational advice from Romantic poets–see this article by E. D. Hirsch on this point:
http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/3390946.html
Diana
Split (the usual term would be divided) attention is considered a subset of directed–it’s a task that the directed attention system would undertake. . and you’re right that it’s taxing.
Regarding the absence of competing demands on attention. . . that was one of the interesting findings from this study: you get the restorative effect of the nature slides compared to urban slides, both of which are viewed in a quiet lab room. . .so there is probably a restorative effect of some peace and quiet but the nature effect is something on top of that. . .

By: Diana Senechal

Diana Senechal — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:46:06 +0000

I wonder whether natural surroundings might actually enable a certain kind of directive attention. Many find that they are able to work on problems in their minds when surrounded by nature.

Is directive attention inherently exhausting, or more so than other kinds? Perhaps split attention is even more taxing: driving a car and having to pay attention to many things at once while focused on arriving safely at the destination. Or teaching a class and having to stay alert to every hint of mischief in the room as the phone rings and announcements come over the loudspeaker.

There might be a certain restoration that comes from the absence of competing demands on one’s attention: having room to think without interruption or tension. In this case the restoration and the directive attention would happen at the same time.

In any case, thank you for this interesting piece.

And Claus, thank you for the Wordsworth quote! That made my day and reminded me to reread “Tintern Abbey.”

By: Claus

Claus — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:35:44 +0000

Some of this really ought to be intuitive. Wordsworth came to very similar conclusions about the “restorative” effects of nature over two centuries ago:

These beauteous forms,
Through a long absence, have not been to me
As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye;
But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration (Tintern Abbey)

Wordsworth worried even then about the effects of unrelenting “extraordinary incident” on humanity and celebrated nature’s influence on the contemplative mind. These days, it’s even harder than it was in 1800 to make the case for contemplation and quiet reflection.

By the way, I did a telephone interview with Louv some months ago, in which he cited another important reason for greater exposure to nature: How else will we raise the next generation of environmentalists? The interview is available here: http://www.publicschoolinsights.org/node/2295