Relational Processes between People and Place: Understanding Environmental Interest and Identity through a Learning Ecosystem Lens
Item
Title
Relational Processes between People and Place: Understanding Environmental Interest and Identity through a Learning Ecosystem Lens
Abstract/Description
Supporting the development of environmental people–21st century naturalists–is an essential component for addressing the local and global environmental challenges we currently face. My dissertation uses the conceptual frame of learning ecosystems to examine the complex nature of environmental interest and identity development. I explore the benefits of using a learning ecosystem frame as both a theoretical and methodological construct by asking how this opens up ways of thinking about the phenomena of environmental interest and identity development which unfold in dynamic, non-linear ways across time and space.
In this three-paper dissertation, I begin by reviewing the ways that the learning ecosystem framework has been applied in educational literature, coupled with a theoretical proposal for drawing lessons from adaptive biological ecosystem management to improve the use of the framework. I propose two conceptual shifts in learning ecosystem research: 1) the decentering of individuals with a turn towards relational processes as a unit of analysis, and 2) an embrace of place and materiality as a key element of the ecosystem that impacts learning.
I then apply this more robust learning ecosystem framework in two empirical papers that focus on learning ecosystems in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For both empirical papers, I use a collaborative research-practice partnership approach that aims to build trust between researchers and practitioners, uses research to inform action, supports practitioner goals, produces knowledge that informs broader educational improvement goals, and builds capacity for all participants. First, I examine interest development across the learning ecosystem through the analysis of 18 life-history interviews of adult naturalists. For the final paper, I use an ecosystems lens and ethnographic approaches to develop a nested case study of one informal science program with four cases that describe the relational processes between youth, educators, and nonhuman nature. In the cases, I explore how program infrastructures support the transition of environmental interest into identity for the adolescent participants. Taken together, these three papers offer a closer examination of the application of the learning ecosystem framework to help support environmental interest and identity development.
In this three-paper dissertation, I begin by reviewing the ways that the learning ecosystem framework has been applied in educational literature, coupled with a theoretical proposal for drawing lessons from adaptive biological ecosystem management to improve the use of the framework. I propose two conceptual shifts in learning ecosystem research: 1) the decentering of individuals with a turn towards relational processes as a unit of analysis, and 2) an embrace of place and materiality as a key element of the ecosystem that impacts learning.
I then apply this more robust learning ecosystem framework in two empirical papers that focus on learning ecosystems in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For both empirical papers, I use a collaborative research-practice partnership approach that aims to build trust between researchers and practitioners, uses research to inform action, supports practitioner goals, produces knowledge that informs broader educational improvement goals, and builds capacity for all participants. First, I examine interest development across the learning ecosystem through the analysis of 18 life-history interviews of adult naturalists. For the final paper, I use an ecosystems lens and ethnographic approaches to develop a nested case study of one informal science program with four cases that describe the relational processes between youth, educators, and nonhuman nature. In the cases, I explore how program infrastructures support the transition of environmental interest into identity for the adolescent participants. Taken together, these three papers offer a closer examination of the application of the learning ecosystem framework to help support environmental interest and identity development.
Author/creator
Date
Institution
University of Pittsburgh
Committee
Crowley, Kevin
Akiva, Thomas
Pearman, Frances A.
Russell, Jennifer Lin
Tonsor, Stephen J.
Resource type
Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
Thesis/Dissertation
Scholarship genre
Empirical
Keywords
IRE Approach/Concept
Open access/full-text available
Yes
Peer reviewed
No
URL
Citation
Hecht, M. (2020). Relational Processes between People and Place: Understanding Environmental Interest and Identity through a Learning Ecosystem Lens [Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh]. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations/docview/2467802930/abstract/B8F006AC8B446CBPQ/42
Num pages
162
Rights
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
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