The “Place Meaning” Concept in Education: A Case Study From the Bohemian Paradise Protected Landscape Area, Czechia

Abstract

The local landscape is a part of the space that surrounds people from childhood and offers them opportunities for cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor development. Students grow up within this landscape, forming a relationship with it, that can extend over large areas throughout their lives. This relationship can be influenced by the meanings that students attribute to the given territory. There is limited research focusing on the concept of "place meaning" in education. The presented study aims to fill this research gap. The respondents are 257 fifth-grade students from primary schools located in the Bohemian Paradise Protected Landscape Area and its immediate vicinity (44% of all fifth-grade students). Data was collected through field research using questionnaires and supplemented by interviews with students in focus groups. Responses were evaluated through content analysis, descriptive statistics, and statistical analysis. The results indicate that, with regard to specific places, students most commonly associate the term Bohemian Paradise with Trosky and Turnov. Additionally, students most commonly recognized these places in photographs. Students most commonly associate the Bohemian Paradise with adjectives such as "beautiful", "nice", and "protected". Boys recognized a greater number of important places in the Bohemian Paradise than girls, and overall, knowledge of these places significantly increases with the time children spend in nature. The results contribute to research on sense of placean important theme of environmental education.