Chapter 21: Strengthening Students’ Connection to Nature: A Spiritual Perspective

The purpose of this chapter is to identify principles underlying an approach to strengthening students’ connection to Nature from a spiritual perspective, and to suggest how educators can apply those principles to facilitate the development of such a connection for pre-K to12th grade students. Consequently, this chapter summarizes the work of the Spirituality and Education Network in developing a model for planning learning opportunities that strengthen students’ connection to Nature. The model consists of three components: (1) Two questions concerning goals to consider when planning learning opportunities that strengthen students’ connection to Nature; (2) a description of three eras that identify what is appropriate at different ages to facilitate the development of a foundation for addressing the two questions; and (3) secondary questions to consider when planning learning opportunities that strengthen students’ connection to Nature. Before describing the model, I will briefly discuss the context and methodology for developing the model.