C&NN Connect was created to support people and organizations working worldwide to reconnect children and nature.
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Fantastic question, Todd.....it is so difficult to formulate objective assessments of emotional/spiritual/creative connections. I worry about assessment tools becoming "product-driven." I believe the process of community with nature is much more important than the end product. Our society is obsessed with end products, with the end result of a lack of enjoyment of the process. Having said that, to be considered a "legitimate" program and to be taken seriously by professionals there must be assessment and data to plug into statistical models. There is a group of neurologists that figured out a way to test immune system changes due to facilitated drum circles. The tests did show a positive affect on the immune system in several different demographics after drum circle participation. This research led to a highly respected protocol for drum circles. (Remo Health Rhythms).....the questions you posed are some of the same ones these researchers used. Maybe there is a way to quantify nature connections. We know they are there! We have plenty of anecdotal evidence of the connections, so there must be biological evidence as well. So....obviously I have no answers, but I love the question.
Hi Todd
I am about to start a psychology Masters here in New Zealand and I am interested in that very question. There is a Connection to Nature scale, but this was designed for adults and has criticism of its reliability. I am interested in finding a way to measure the connection quantitatively and sensitively and then look at ways to increase this connection.
Katy Hoskins said:
Fantastic question, Todd.....it is so difficult to formulate objective assessments of emotional/spiritual/creative connections. I worry about assessment tools becoming "product-driven." I believe the process of community with nature is much more important than the end product. Our society is obsessed with end products, with the end result of a lack of enjoyment of the process. Having said that, to be considered a "legitimate" program and to be taken seriously by professionals there must be assessment and data to plug into statistical models. There is a group of neurologists that figured out a way to test immune system changes due to facilitated drum circles. The tests did show a positive affect on the immune system in several different demographics after drum circle participation. This research led to a highly respected protocol for drum circles. (Remo Health Rhythms).....the questions you posed are some of the same ones these researchers used. Maybe there is a way to quantify nature connections. We know they are there! We have plenty of anecdotal evidence of the connections, so there must be biological evidence as well. So....obviously I have no answers, but I love the question.
Hi Todd and all,
A question certainly worthy of exploration. Prior to joining this forum I hadn't taken steps to connect my counseling life with my love for nature. A child's connectedness with nature seems an easy question for any adult - requests for outings, engagement while in nature and those great rosy cheeks seem to tell the tale. I like some of the work by Corey Keyes where mental health as flourishing/languishing provides us with a road map to consider health and well-being. When children experience things larger than themselves and connect in real ways with others, demonstrating well-being, could we quantify this flourishing?
Fantastic question, Todd.....it is so difficult to formulate objective assessments of emotional/spiritual/creative connections. I worry about assessment tools becoming "product-driven." I believe the process of community with nature is much more important than the end product. Our society is obsessed with end products, with the end result of a lack of enjoyment of the process. Having said that, to be considered a "legitimate" program and to be taken seriously by professionals there must be assessment and data to plug into statistical models. There is a group of neurologists that figured out a way to test immune system changes due to facilitated drum circles. The tests did show a positive affect on the immune system in several different demographics after drum circle participation. This research led to a highly respected protocol for drum circles. (Remo Health Rhythms).....the questions you posed are some of the same ones these researchers used. Maybe there is a way to quantify nature connections. We know they are there! We have plenty of anecdotal evidence of the connections, so there must be biological evidence as well. So....obviously I have no answers, but I love the question.
Hi Todd and all,
A question certainly worthy of exploration. Prior to joining this forum I hadn't taken steps to connect my counseling life with my love for nature. A child's connectedness with nature seems an easy question for any adult - requests for outings, engagement while in nature and those great rosy cheeks seem to tell the tale. I like some of the work by Corey Keyes where mental health as flourishing/languishing provides us with a road map to consider health and well-being. When children experience things larger than themselves and connect in real ways with others, demonstrating well-being, could we quantify this flourishing?
Hi Todd
I am about to start a psychology Masters here in New Zealand and I am interested in that very question. There is a Connection to Nature scale, but this was designed for adults and has criticism of its reliability. I am interested in finding a way to measure the connection quantitatively and sensitively and then look at ways to increase this connection.
Katy Hoskins said:Fantastic question, Todd.....it is so difficult to formulate objective assessments of emotional/spiritual/creative connections. I worry about assessment tools becoming "product-driven." I believe the process of community with nature is much more important than the end product. Our society is obsessed with end products, with the end result of a lack of enjoyment of the process. Having said that, to be considered a "legitimate" program and to be taken seriously by professionals there must be assessment and data to plug into statistical models. There is a group of neurologists that figured out a way to test immune system changes due to facilitated drum circles. The tests did show a positive affect on the immune system in several different demographics after drum circle participation. This research led to a highly respected protocol for drum circles. (Remo Health Rhythms).....the questions you posed are some of the same ones these researchers used. Maybe there is a way to quantify nature connections. We know they are there! We have plenty of anecdotal evidence of the connections, so there must be biological evidence as well. So....obviously I have no answers, but I love the question.
Hey Tim,
Is this the The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of individuals’ feeling in community with nature by F.Stephan Mayer and Cynthia McPherson Frantz? Have you seen the Nature Relatedness Scale by Elizabeth K. Nisbet John M. Zelenski Steven A. Murphy ?
Tim Heetkamp said:
Hi Todd
I am about to start a psychology Masters here in New Zealand and I am interested in that very question. There is a Connection to Nature scale, but this was designed for adults and has criticism of its reliability. I am interested in finding a way to measure the connection quantitatively and sensitively and then look at ways to increase this connection.
Katy Hoskins said:Fantastic question, Todd.....it is so difficult to formulate objective assessments of emotional/spiritual/creative connections. I worry about assessment tools becoming "product-driven." I believe the process of community with nature is much more important than the end product. Our society is obsessed with end products, with the end result of a lack of enjoyment of the process. Having said that, to be considered a "legitimate" program and to be taken seriously by professionals there must be assessment and data to plug into statistical models. There is a group of neurologists that figured out a way to test immune system changes due to facilitated drum circles. The tests did show a positive affect on the immune system in several different demographics after drum circle participation. This research led to a highly respected protocol for drum circles. (Remo Health Rhythms).....the questions you posed are some of the same ones these researchers used. Maybe there is a way to quantify nature connections. We know they are there! We have plenty of anecdotal evidence of the connections, so there must be biological evidence as well. So....obviously I have no answers, but I love the question.
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