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Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town
This study was undertaken in response to two concerns: firstly, that the notion of nature and experiential, aesthetic ways of engaging with nature had declined markedly in environmental education research and practice in South Africa. Secondly, I was concerned that relatively few environmental educa...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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School of Education
2014
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| _version_ | 1867614226853396480 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Ashwell, Alice Nicola |
| author2 | Soudien, Crain |
| author_browse | Ashwell, Alice Nicola Soudien, Crain |
| author_facet | Soudien, Crain Ashwell, Alice Nicola |
| author_sort | Ashwell, Alice Nicola |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This study was undertaken in response to two concerns: firstly, that the notion of nature and experiential, aesthetic ways of engaging with nature had declined markedly in environmental education research and practice in South Africa. Secondly, I was concerned that relatively few environmental education centres in Cape Town offered programmes for teenagers. I therefore decided to enquire into the value of nature-based education and awareness programmes to adolescents in Cape Town, particularly in relation to: their understanding of and sense of belonging to the natural order, and the process of identity development. The study drew on Eriksonâs (1968) theory of psycho-social development, and Archerâs (2000, 2003) critical realist theory of identity development as an embodied process of reflexivity. The phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty (1962, 1968) provided an alternative to dualistic views of the human-nature relationship. Authors who have worked with Merleau-Pontyâs theories helped me clarify my understanding of the need to retrieve nature and embodied practices in education. The study used mixed methods, integrating multiple case studies of nature-based programmes, and surveys of teenagers in Cape Town. Numerical data were displayed graphically, and narrative data were presented as quotations or compiled into poems. A matrix was developed that mapped the various nature-based programmes according to the two main concerns of the study: namely how programmes represented the human-nature relationship, and how they supported the process of youth identity development. I applied Archerâs notion of embodied reflexivity and Merleau-Pontyâs ideas of inter-subjectivity methodologically, undertaking a series of short hikes during which I reflected upon the literature and research findings, and drew on insights from my surroundings to compile the final discussion and conclusion of this dissertation. This study demonstrated that assumptions that teenagers in Cape Town are generally alienated from nature are unfounded; in fact the great majority of youth from all socio-economic groups related positively to nature. It found that nature provides teenagers with a positive context in which to reflexively develop their identities. The conservation community could do much to support adolescents but many education officers felt ill equipped to engage with the senior science curriculum. A variety of alternative approaches to working with youth are therefore suggested. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/7813 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:48:41.105Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | School of Education |
| publisherStr | School of Education |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/7813 Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town Ashwell, Alice Nicola Soudien, Crain This study was undertaken in response to two concerns: firstly, that the notion of nature and experiential, aesthetic ways of engaging with nature had declined markedly in environmental education research and practice in South Africa. Secondly, I was concerned that relatively few environmental education centres in Cape Town offered programmes for teenagers. I therefore decided to enquire into the value of nature-based education and awareness programmes to adolescents in Cape Town, particularly in relation to: their understanding of and sense of belonging to the natural order, and the process of identity development. The study drew on Eriksonâs (1968) theory of psycho-social development, and Archerâs (2000, 2003) critical realist theory of identity development as an embodied process of reflexivity. The phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty (1962, 1968) provided an alternative to dualistic views of the human-nature relationship. Authors who have worked with Merleau-Pontyâs theories helped me clarify my understanding of the need to retrieve nature and embodied practices in education. The study used mixed methods, integrating multiple case studies of nature-based programmes, and surveys of teenagers in Cape Town. Numerical data were displayed graphically, and narrative data were presented as quotations or compiled into poems. A matrix was developed that mapped the various nature-based programmes according to the two main concerns of the study: namely how programmes represented the human-nature relationship, and how they supported the process of youth identity development. I applied Archerâs notion of embodied reflexivity and Merleau-Pontyâs ideas of inter-subjectivity methodologically, undertaking a series of short hikes during which I reflected upon the literature and research findings, and drew on insights from my surroundings to compile the final discussion and conclusion of this dissertation. This study demonstrated that assumptions that teenagers in Cape Town are generally alienated from nature are unfounded; in fact the great majority of youth from all socio-economic groups related positively to nature. It found that nature provides teenagers with a positive context in which to reflexively develop their identities. The conservation community could do much to support adolescents but many education officers felt ill equipped to engage with the senior science curriculum. A variety of alternative approaches to working with youth are therefore suggested. 2014-09-30T13:43:10Z 2014-09-30T13:43:10Z 2010 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7813 eng application/pdf School of Education Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Ashwell, Alice Nicola Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town |
| title_full | Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town |
| title_fullStr | Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town |
| title_short | Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town |
| title_sort | identitiy and belonging urban nature and adolescent development in the city of cape town |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7813 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ashwellalicenicola identitiyandbelongingurbannatureandadolescentdevelopmentinthecityofcapetown |