| This qualitative investigation explored childhood sense of place development in a formerly inhabited forest, and how storytelling might affect that development. In this research project, sensing of place was conceptualized as an ongoing, active process of place engagement, expressed through place meanings and attachments. Three classes each of 5th and 4 th grade students from a rural school in New York State participated in the study. The field site comprised ten wooded acres in a state forest, and contained creeks, trails, a graveyard, foundations, and artifacts. Every class visited the site twice, and each time students explored the site and then wrote about their experiences. On their second trips, two classes were told cultural history stories about the area's former inhabitants and their ways of life before exploring, while two other classes were first told natural history stories about the site's geological and ecological history. The remaining classes were control groups, and did not hear any stories. Data included participant observation field notes, solicited writings, and two semi-structured interviews with participants. Data were coded using a part-whole comparative technique to yield both students' place meanings and evidence for place attachment development. Results indicated that children's initial place meanings tended to reflect the site's features and their activities there. Children often expressed these meanings in terms of land use characteristics; for example, the creeks were valued as places for splashing and finding animals. Results further showed that both types of stories affected children's sensing of place. Cultural history stories enhanced an historical recognition dimension of sensing of place, leading children to recognize that the site contained a history, and to attribute value to the site as a result. The natural history stories enhanced a functional engagement dimension, prompting children to make new discoveries that were reflected, in turn, in new meanings. Place attachment development was evident in all classes following both visits, suggesting that it began upon children's initial arrival at the site. Students' expressions of place attachment may have reflected the social context of the field trips, as well as participants' appreciation of the site's land features, plants and animals. |
