ECR ASSIGNMENT: REFLECTIVE COMPONENT
Gurmehar Singh Sachdeva
Student ID: 20824373
27 July 2022
REC 230
University of Waterloo
Instructor: Kelsey Johansen
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Reflection enables learners to reanalyse the knowledge they have gained, investigate the
depth of their knowledge and strengthen their learnings (Chang, 2019). Hence, taking the time to
reflect upon my learnings and contemplate upon how I have gained these insights, why these
insights are important and how can I use them to lead a meaningful life going forward is crucial
to my successful participation in this course. This paper allows me the opportunity to reflect on
these crucial themes and hence, reinforces my learnings.
Cordes & Hutson (2015, p. 5) defined outdoor recreation as “the organized free-time
activities participated in for their own sake and where there is an interaction between the
participant and an element of nature”. Likewise, for me, outdoor recreation entails activities that
enrich my relationship with nature, allow me opportunities to appreciate her (nature’s) beauty
while at the same time, restore and boost my energy and well being.
For me, general outdoor places refer to all places which exist outside most human
constructed infrastructures. These infrastructures include buildings and spaces designed for
residential, studying, praying, and socializing purposes etc. and often serve to disconnect us from
the natural environment. In contrast, however, I consider infrastructures such as parks and
protected areas as outdoor places, in addition to local naturalised urban settings, nearby nature
and wilderness.
Spending time in nature either passively by just sitting and observing various elements of
nature, or by engaging actively in outdoor recreation activities has been a spiritual experience for
me. Spirituality can be defined as “search for one’s existence, a greater or ultimate reality; or a
sense of connection with god, nature or other living things” (Cordes & Hutson, 2015, p. 20).
Outdoor experiences, thus, allow me an opportunity to reflect on my ultimate reason for
existence, and encourage me to work on the relationships that I value in my life. This is
especially true for experiences which are characterized with a high level of engagement with the
nature around me, such as when I use all 5 senses during nature journaling. Such experiences
often leave me wondering about my purpose in life, and the impermanence of life. Such
reflections inspire me to make my life worthwhile by being nice to people around me and
investing time and effort in relationships that I hold close to my heart by being empathetic and
listening to them. Such attitudes attract people towards me and allow me to build meaningful
connections with them. At a more personal level, interactions with outdoor places and engaging
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in outdoor recreation gives me an opportunity to think about what makes me happy, what is
important in my life, and how I can realize my potential.
As I started developing these deeper understandings at my chosen place, I started
fostering a deep connection with my place such that when I think about my place, I feel grateful
and nostalgic. I believe nature journaling had a huge role in this because it guided my
interactions with my place in a way that made my visits to the place meaningful and
contemplative. As a result, I have developed attachment with my place. Low & Altman (1992)
used the term ‘place attachment’ to explain a meaningful bond between a place and humans. I
believe my dependence on my place as an escape from reality resulted in this bond. Often, as I
walked to my place and then sat there in solitude, I could sense myself getting disconnected from
all the work and life related stress. Relationship between place identification and well being and
psychological need satisfaction has been researched and documented in recent years. A study by
Scannell and Gifford (2016) validates some of the several positive impacts that I have
experienced. The study concluded that even visualizing a place with which a person holds
attachment boosts their “sense of belonging, self esteem and meaningfulness”. Thus, the study
further provides explanation for my positive feelings and emotions at my place.
Nature journaling entails recording observations and insights regarding nature around us
(Arnold, 2012). Nature Journaling provides an array of benefits. It enhances student’s
understanding of course material and allows them to connect what they study in class with
everyday life (Arnold, 2012). Moreover, journaling “can encourage reflective thinking, foster
writing skills, and encourage creative self-expression” (Arnold, 2012). Personally, beyond these
benefits, nature journaling provided me with an opportunity to redefine my relationship with
nature. Ever since, I joined university, I had felt that my connection with nature had been lost. I
often find myself occupied with either technology or socializing with friends in non-natural
environments. Nature journaling, however, brought me back to a natural space and encouraged
reflective thinking which not only enhanced my appreciation for nature but also served to
improve my understanding of self and my relationships with others. I believe this understanding
of self develops as I attempt to gather insights on key questions, such as how I feel, what
improvements I am making and what areas require further attention etc., throughout the length of
the 12-week nature journaling period. This process was supported by the peer feedback that I
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received throughout the term which gave additional insights on my weekly submissions and
further, amplified my understanding of self.
Nature journaling at my place allowed me to establish a strong connection with my place.
This connection was characterized with appreciation for the beauty of nature at my place and an
appreciation for the positive impact it had on my well being. Research shows that nature
journaling improves participant’s awareness of nature, its importance and helps cultivate a
positive attitude towards outdoor recreation and outdoor natural environment (Arnold, 2012).
Nature further promoted my connection to my place by making me feel better psychologically as
well as physiologically. Psychologically, I realized that my thinking became more focused and I
consistently reported reduced stress levels on the stress scale provided in the course content. I
would often venture out for nature journaling after a full day of classes and work but after
spending an hour at my place, I would feel re-energetic. Such advantages along with the
nostalgia I hold for the time I spent at my place demonstrate the strong connection I have
fostered with my place and the role that nature journaling played in cultivating this connection.
Research has demonstrated a strong connection between participation in outdoor
recreation involving nature appreciative activities and pro-environment attitudes and behaviours
(Stevens, 2022). My personal experiences are consistent with these findings as I observed that
outdoor recreation activities in nature sensitized me towards the issue of conservation of
environment. One example of this was prior to nature journaling, I wouldn’t mind trampling if it
saved time but after regular visits to my place and understanding the environmental impact of
trampling in the course content, I noticed a considerable change in my attitude. I observed that I
was willing to take the longer routes rather than stepping off the walking trail to walk over grass
and soil. Moreover, such attitudes were reflected in how I practiced the ‘leave no trace’ ethic. If
the course content simply advocated that I practice the ethic, it would have been less impactful
but because I was motivated to learn about its impacts and then contemplate about how it
adversely effects my place, the issue, therefore, started feeling personal. This not only motivated
me to practice the ethic but also to take initiative of removing any human trash I see in natural
places. Interestingly, research on this topic further adds that “there is a stronger association
between outdoor recreation and concern with protecting aspects of the environment necessary for
pursuing such activities than between outdoor recreation and other environmental issues such as
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air and water pollution” (Stevens, 2022). While for most part, this stands true for my experience
but I believe my pro-environment worldview regarding observing, recording and appreciating
nature grew beyond my place over the length of this course. I often found myself exploring
various natural places at the university, appreciating its beauty and wondering to myself that I
should come here more often to study or spend time with friends. Moreover, if I saw any litter
that I could throw in trash at such natural spaces, I wouldn’t shy away from doing that.
Therefore, I believe that the characteristics of nature journaling activity are such that the aspects
necessary to engage in nature journaling are common to all natural spaces. Therefore, my
concern revolves around any environmental issue that restricts human appreciation of and
engagement with the natural world.
Research on impact of outdoor and place-based experiences and learnings is extensive.
Recent research has revealed that outdoor learning increases attention and engagement of
students in comparison to indoor/ classroom learning (Llyod et al., 2018). These findings
resemble closely to how I felt when I reflected on course content during nature journaling. I was
able to better understand the class concepts better as I participated in nature journaling because
of the way it engaged all my senses and challenged me at every step. For example- I studied in
the course content that outdoor experiences in natural settings improve the well being and health
of humans. While I understood the message that was being conveyed, I could only experience it
when I reflected on the impact that nature journaling had on my stress levels each week. This
gave me insights on how powerful these experiences really are in boosting my understanding of
self, of those around me as well as whatever I am learning in life. Therefore, these experiences
are vital for my overall development. The research also suggests that the outdoor learning
experience allowed students to acquire insight on their environment (Llyod et al., 2018). Several
nature journaling activities, such as observing and recording distribution of natural elements at
my place, served to improve my understanding of my place and therefore, my experiences in this
regard are consistent with the academic literature. Finally, research has also demonstrated
“outdoor interactions with their peers” allowed the students to develop crucial social skills such
as leadership and sharing etc. (Llyod et al., 2018). While nature journaling in this course had an
element of engagement with peers characterised with exchange of feedback, this component was,
however, implemented online. Since I had no social interaction at my place, the research finding
regarding development of social skills wasn’t applicable to my experiences at my place.
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There are several lessons that I have learnt form experiential, creative and scholarly
research, including my nature journaling experience that can be transferred to various distinct
areas of my life. Foremost, I have learnt the value of self reflection. It entails the process of
listening to and understanding oneself. I believe this skill will provide me with required clarity
for making strong decisions in life. This skill is further complemented by my acquired ability to
ask myself important guiding questions. For example- when engaged in nature journaling, I often
asked myself crucial questions related to what I observed, what questions it raises for me, what it
reminds me of and why it is important for me. I believe such guiding questions are necessary
whenever contemplating on an important decision. For example- while making an important
decision about my career, I may self reflect on questions such as do I enjoy the responsibilities
included, do I have the skills to succeed and so on. Another significant lesson that I learnt is that
progress takes place when we push ourselves outside our comfort zone and when we are willing
to challenge the done. These themes were common throughout my nature journaling experience
and are applicable to life in a broader sense. For example- this lesson can help me in
strengthening my bond with my loved ones by motivating me to engage in difficult conversation
with them which helps us improve our understanding of each other’s perspectives. Similarly,
these principles can be applied to my career where I may achieve excellence as I strive to
develop one challenging skill at a time while constantly be willing to push my limits.
As I conclude this paper, I feel excited yet overwhelmed. I am excited to explore the
innumerable opportunities of learning and growth that future nature journaling endeavours are
going to offer. Learning several skills throughout this 12-week period such as drawing a map,
writing a poem, using meta-data etc., has opened countless doors for me to engage with nature
around me in a creative and meaningful way. At the same time, I feel overwhelmed because I
understand that I must participate in nature journaling by my own will and without much
direction going forward. However, I firmly believe that these overwhelming emotions will be
addressed adequately as I incorporate the learning of my past experiences and keep pushing
myself beyond my comfort zone. This belief is empowering and provides me with strength as I
embark on this tremendous journey ahead.
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References
Altman, I., & Low, S. M. (1992). Place attachment, human behavior, and environment:
Advances in theory and research. Plenum Press.
Arnold, G. (2012). Enhancing college students’ environmental sensibilities through online nature
journaling. Environmental Education Research, 18(1), 133–150.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2011.589000
Chang, B. (2019). Reflection in learning. Online Learning, 23(1), 95-110.
doi:10.24059/olj.v23i1.1447
Hutson, G., & Cordes, K. A. (2019). Outdoor Recreation: Enrichment for a Lifetime (4th ed.).
Sagamore Publishing.
Lloyd, A., Truong, S., & Gray, T. (2018). Take the class outside! A call for place-based outdoor
learning in the Australian Primary School Curriculum. Curriculum Perspectives, 38(2),
163–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-018-0050-1
Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2016). Place attachment enhances psychological need satisfaction.
Environment and Behavior, 49(4), 359–389. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916516637648
Stevens, C. (2022). Walking the walk: outdoor recreation predicts sustainability actions
alongside environmental attitudes, values, and beliefs (T). University of British Columbia.
Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0416317