Natural Solutions To Tackling Behavior and Performance in Urban Schools Curry Education Research Leadership Series 2 nd September 2016 Jenny Roe, PhD Director of the Center for Design and Health
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Natural Solutions To Tackling Behavior and Performance in
Urban SchoolsCurry Education Research Leadership Series
2nd September 2016
Jenny Roe, PhDDirector of the Center for Design and Health
Outline• The theoretical context;• The evidence base for effects of nature in
school settings;• 3 studies exploring outdoor classrooms and
effects of natural settings:o Primary school children, mainstream schoolo Adolescents aged 11-13:
(i) mainstream school (ii) specialist school
Key theoretical concepts
Restorative environments offering:- short term restoration from cognitive fatigue,
stress and poor mood; - longer-term restoration called ‘instoration’
Nature nurtures us (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989)
© National Geographic January 2016
Directed Attention: urban environments demand our attention dramatically – once it’s depleted we become cognitively fatigued, less effective and stressed.
Involuntary Attention: the ‘soft’ stimuli of nature – trees, water, light patterns – allows the brain to disengage – and restore its capacity for directed attention.
• Better health is related to access to green space regardless of socioeconomic status and income;
• Some limited evidence showing that interventions using the natural environment to improve health can deliver costs savings for health and related services.
Natural solutions to health
Natural Solutions for Tackling Healthy Inequalities, Allen and Balfour 2014
Natural solutions to health in children & teens
Short-term restorative effects Attention restoration (Faber Taylor et al 2002, Kuo 2001, Wells 2000)Affective restoration (Faber Taylor and Kuo 2008)Stress reduction (Wells and Evans 2003)
Instorative effects over time: Roe and Aspinall 2011(a)
Specific psychiatric conditionsReduction in ADHD symptoms (Faber Taylor et al 2001, Kuo and Faber Taylor 2004, Faber Taylor and Kuo 2008) Reduced symptom severity in children with autism (Natural England 2014)
Evidence of differential capacities for restoration: the intensity of a restorative experience can be influenced by mental health state in response to different settings (Roe and Aspinall 2011b, 2011c).
Roe (in press) Cities, Green Space, and Mental Wellbeing, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science
Natural Solutions and School Performance
• Greater levels of social interaction and greater non-verbal communication outdoors in young children (Waite et al., 2012).
• Improved memory recall in 13-15 year olds (n=85), better recall of biology tasks outdoors vs. indoor classroom activities, 5 months post experiment, plus evidence of better social interaction and affective impact (Fagerstam & Blom 2012)
• Evidence of greater creativity in children’s activities in natural settings (Waite and Davis 2007)
Spectrum of mental health in children & teenagers
Buchanan et al., 2004
Some behavior problem
Significant behavior problem:‘poor mental health’
Severemental disorder
No behavior problem:‘good mental health’
Study 1
Primary School Memory Recall: Indoor Task vs Outdoor Task
McKenzie Hamilton, J (2016): Environment and Cognition in Primary Schoolchildren (unpublished PhD Research)
Jenny Roe, Pete Higgins, Peter Aspinall and Caroline Brown
• RH1. The cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren on a curriculum task will be better in a natural setting than a classroom.
• Design: quasi-experimental, 3 Scottish primary schools (n=57), mean age 5 ½ years, repeat measures performed the same curriculum task indoors vs natural setting, children matched on SES variables.
• Main outcome variable: cognitive performance as measured by memory recall, 6 months post task. Open ended recall question “tell me one thing you remember about the lesson?”, and then requesting further recollections using the simple open-ended prompt, “anything more / else?”
• Mixed Methods: child task recollections, teacher interviews, observation, child and teacher survey on setting preferences and setting richness.
RQ & Methods
Total m f UnderA Setting 1 Setting 2 Setting 1 Setting 2Group 1 13 7 6 3 Indoors Wild Indoors IndoorsGroup 2 16 8 8 4 Indoors Indoors Wild Indoors
Totals: 29 15 14 *7*Underachievers: All male, except one girl in Group 1
KEY:
Children (Av Age 5yrs) Task 1: Make a Toy Task 2: Puppet Tour
ExperimentalControl
Research design: example
Make a Toy: Comparison of Indoor and Outdoor Toys
Survey Measures
• Outdoor tasks were recalled more readily and in richer detail than the classroom, with stronger recall in the wilder setting over the playground.
• Children – and teachers – preferred the outdoor tasks.
• Underachievers recalled more outdoors than their peers.
• Observational data showed great movement, social interaction and creative diversity outdoors.
Main findings
Recollections 6 months post task
25.8%
74.2%
Location of 1st Recollection Children (n = 31)
indoorsoutdoors
The first recollection was most often the outdoor task
Boxplot of Underachievers vs Able Children, significantly different outcomes in the wilder outdoors setting only
Recollections between groups
Study 2
Secondary school: restorative outcomes of forest vs indoors settings in young people with varying behaviour states.
Roe, J. and Aspinall, P A. (2011b), Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, issue 3, Volume 10.
Deprived, inner city school in Glasgow, n=18, aged 11
Mainstream school Urban forest school
Study Design: two behavior groups: good vs poor behavior
Context: School day vs Forest School day x 2
Outcome measures: -Mood: stress, anger, hedonic tone and energy (UWIST MACL 1990); -Dimensions of personal goals (manageability, mastery, meaning, fun and stress).
Methods
Anger Outcomes
Scho
ol
Fore
st 1
Fore
st 2
-4-3-2-1012345
Between group differences for anger
good behaviourpoor behaviour
setting
estim
ated
mar
gina
l mea
n *
*
*significant difference between group
A higher value on the y axis = higher anger level
Hedonic Tone Outcomes
School Forest 1 Forest 2-4-3-2-1012345
Between group diffrences for hedonic tone
good behaviourpoor behaviour
setting
Estim
ated
mar
gina
l mea
ns
A higher value on the y axis = higher HT
Participatory Video
Video Diary Boxhttps://vimeo.com/user11133442/videos
Study 3
Residential School: outcomes of forest school in children with severe mental health problems
Roe, J. and Aspinall, P A (2011c): The emotional affordances of forest settings: an investigation in boys with extreme behavioural problems, Landscape Research. 22 March 2011 (iFirst), 36 (5).
Residential school, Glasgow
Participatory Video
https://vimeo.com/151261536
Affective Outcomes, n=8
_x0003_Pre _x0004_Post4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Stress
GoodPoorExtremeM
ean
Differing rates of restoration across the behavior spectrum in the outdoor setting
Blue light exposure across the life span
Amanda Nioi, PhD Jenny Roe, Peter Aspinall, Bal Dhillon, David McNair
Blue light exposure across the life span
Proposition study: autism and blue light exposure
The non-visual eye
Body clock: SCN
Melatonin – the sleep hormone, suppressed by blue light
Non-image forming cells at the back of the eye send signals to the brain synchronizing environmental cues and the body clock
Czeisler et al., 1995: Suppression of melatonin secretion in some blind patients by exposure to bright light
Pineal gland
Key findings
• Sensitivity to fluorescent light – can cause over arousal in behavior.
• Disruption in the melatonin rhythms – sleep/wake cycle can become out of sync.
Gaps for further study
• Quantify amount of blue light reaching the eye and the level of sleep disruption.
• Limited research on light therapy as a non-pharmaceutical to synchronize circadian rhythms.
• Simple light intervention measuring the effects of sleep.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
http://blog.lightingvanguard.com/2011/11/miami-airport-installation-harmonic.html
Adolescents
Key findings
• Lack of blue light in the am or over exposure in the pm causes disruption to sleep cycles.
• Blue light in the morning proven to help daytime alertness during the school day.
Gaps for further study
• Exploration of the connection between morning blue light exposure and academic performance.
• Examine the longer term implications on sleep and well-being due to over exposure to evening blue light.
• Increasing reliance on prescriptions (Ritalin, Adderall) being used to manage behavior
• “We’ve decided as a society it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment. So we have to modify the kid”
Clinician quoted in ADHD Nation, Alan Schwarz 2016
Natural solutions … why is this important ?
Next steps … • Exploring the convergence of environment,
education and health and wellbeing.• Establish a ‘natural connections’ school
demonstration project.
Appendices
Name FSM* Teachers School Yr Sample Av Age m f UA** Settings Tasks
1. Playground 14% n=1 P1 n=19 5yrs 10 9 6 Classroom / Playground (1) Autumn Leaves***; (2) Build a Den
2. Urban Wood 72% n=1 P1 n=29 5yrs 15 14 7 Classroom / Wood (1) Make a Toy; (2) Puppet Tour
P1/ 2 n=9 5.5yrs 4 5 0P5/ 6 n=14 9.5yrs 6 8 1
***Pilot Study*FSM: Free School Meals **UA: Underachievers
SCHOOLS CHILDREN TASK
3. Rural Wood 14% n=2 Classroom / Wood (1) Alien Adventure
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