Essay Sample on Exploring Place Attachment and Outdoor Learning: Insights from Korpela and Schantz

’ Place Attachment’ by Kalevi M. Korpela: A Summary

The article ’Place Attachment’ by Kalevi M. Korpela presents a literature review into the concept of place attachment at the individual level. The report focuses on the antecedents, developments, and consequences of place attachment. The article also looks at the different theories like mere-exposure theory, attachment theory, privacy and friendship regulation, and other theories associated with place attachment (Korpella, 2012). The summary presented in this paper touches on physical activity, place relations, and outdoor activities (pedagogies and health).

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Physical Activity

The article defines place attachment as the bind between an individual and a specific place concerning physical activity. The person develops a tendency to maintain closeness to such a place. Looking at the article, the author presents the idea that people get attached to a different scale or scope of the environment, including microenvironments, personal objects, homes, settings of care, towns, and cities (Korpella, 2012).

The object of an attachment may not be only the physical environment but also social relations (Korpella, 2012). However, the physical attachment dimension includes an extension to geographical scales. Thus, the strength of an attachment cannot be measured with scales without adding the meaning that people attribute to places and the dynamics process of developing relationships (Korpella, 2012).

Place Relations

Place relations roots itself in a series of interactional attachment and affiliation to human affection that enables one to explore and enjoy the physical environment and place (Korpella, 2012). The article emphasizes that when place interactions seize to produce a sense of mastery, pleasure and adventure, pain, or anxiety crops, a person seeks comfort from the attachment figure (Korpella, 2012). This happens until one regains emotional arousal coupled with a self-regulated sense of connectedness. Consequently, one begins to explore the outer world again. The author also presents the idea that for place relations, an effective process is implicit and fundamental in place identity in that development is conscious, time-consuming, and cognitive (Korpella, 2012).

How is attachment to a place generated? When answering these questions, some questions need to be answered. For example, is there a transfer of a sense of passion to a human figure? Do the experiences of pleasure and mastery in the place suffice to create attachment towards a particular area? Concisely, repeated enactments of arousal, interaction, and satisfaction within a place generates an internal working model of one's relationship with the environment (Korpella, 2012). The soothing and refreshing environmental qualities are analogous to the relaxing effect of affective connection with a place (Korpella, 2012). There also exist some variations in the degree of attachment and affective relationship with a site.

Outdoors Activities Pedagogy and Health

Outdoor activities meant to promote health and learning are crucial in the development of place attachment. Thus, outdoor activities that lead to place attachment include social influence, individual and collective values and meanings, automatic processes, and personality characteristics (Korpella, 2012).

Recent studies reviewed in the article presents that being outdoors has vitalizing effects. Anyone who achieves place attachment develops a positive tone and reaches an energized state (Korpella, 2012). The individuals in the outdoors will also positively impact feelings or personal autonomy and intrinsic aspirations. Concisely, outdoor activities present an individual's achievement of inherently rewarding psychological needs like intimacy and personal growth (Korpella, 2012).

In conclusion, place attachment in whatever dimension is fundamental in forming experiences and cognitions in places that play an individual's emotions and self-regulation.

’ Framing Views of Nature’ by Peter Schantz: A Summary

The article ’ Framing Views of Nature’ by Peter Schantz presents perspectives on learning in outdoor life. It presents the many opportunities that arise while learning about nature. The article brings out aspects of place attachment, especially those that come from outdoor life. The summary of the article is presented in this paper.

Physical Activity

The article presents different reactions and relationships when people interact with the environment physically. In the coexistence between man and the landscapes and environment, many reactions arise, ranging from sensory impressions to conscious and sub-conscious relationships (Schantz, 2020). Thus, place attachment illuminates various aspects that provide synergy to form knowledge about the impact between man and landscape (Schantz, 2020).

Having physical activity and developing an attachment to a place is dependent on different inflows such as sensory impressions of that place and the specific knowledge about it (Schantz, 2020). Thus, a difference exists between what we see in a home and explaining the relationships tied to the environment. When one achieves all these, he/she becomes enriched. Such enrichment is only achieved through outdoor life (Schantz, 2020).

The different sensory impressions that one gets from the interaction with the environment also result in different perceptions. These include no reaction, somatic and psychic reactions, memory, and knowledge. If one has experience of the names, appearances, and sounds of birds species, it brings out sensory impressions within the quantity and diversity of stimulus (Schantz, 2020).

Place Relations

In developing place relations and attachment, the author of the article presents that knowledge of the somatic and psychic reactions and how they link to nature is vital. Place attachment is also essential because natural elements contribute to faster and more comprehensive physiological recovery from stress—additionally, individuals who develop place attachment experience shorter and more easy rehabilitation after surgery (Schantz, 2020).

The article also presents that different studies show that nature encounters can counteract diseases and premature mortality (Schantz, 2020). Place attachment also leads to sustained interest and attention, positive emotional state, reduced fear in stressed individuals, blockage of stressful thoughts, and recovery from anxiety (Schantz, 2020). Individuals can use landscapes to shape behavior or a specific action. Whichever the case, the activity is always tied to an intention while the behavior is not. Concisely, human relationships can show to what extent the landscape affects man.

Outdoors Activities Pedagogy and Health

The article presents that outdoor life has its own pyramid needs, including some necessary skills within the primary competence areas if movement. Outdoor activities in learning come with many knowledge opportunities, especially those that span between nature and culture (Schantz, 2020). Outdoor pedagogy requires affirmed interest and curiosity to have the adequate motivation (Schantz, 2020). Therefore, outdoor learning aims to bring in value in basic dimensions that reflect cultural aspects like societal dimensions coupled with pure elements of nature.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the article is inspirational, bringing out ways to make meaningful discoveries and develop a great attachment to the outdoor landscapes. Most inspiring is the idea that every human being has a landscape that determines their external conditions; the inner and outer landscapes connect and give one an identity.

References

Korpela, K. (2012). Place Attachment. The Oxford Handbook Of Environmental And Conservation Psychology, 148-163. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199733026.013.0009

Schantz, P. (2020). Framing Views of Nature: Perspectives on Learning in Outdoor Life [Ebook]. The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences.