Title Page RELATIONAL PROCESSES BETWEEN PEOPLE AND PLACE: UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL INTEREST AND IDENTITY THROUGH A LEARNING ECOSYSTEM LENS by Marijke Hecht Bachelor of Arts, Hampshire College, 1996 Master of Science, Botany, University of Vermont, 2002 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2020 Committee Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION This dissertation was presented by Marijke Hecht It was defended on March 18, 2020 and approved by Thomas Akiva, Associate Professor, Psychology in Education Frances A. Pearman, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University Jennifer Lin Russell, Associate Professor, Learning Sciences and Policy Stephen J. Tonsor, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biological Sciences Dissertation Advisor: Kevin Crowley, Professor, Learning Sciences and Policy ii Copyright © by Marijke Hecht 2020 iii Abstract RELATIONAL PROCESSES BETWEEN PEOPLE AND PLACE: UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL INTEREST AND IDENTITY THROUGH A LEARNING ECOSYSTEM LENS Marijke Hecht, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2020 Supporting the development of environmental people – 21st century naturalists – is an essential component for addressing the local and global environmental challenges we currently face. My dissertation uses the conceptual frame of learning ecosystems to examine the complex nature of environmental interest and identity development. I explore the benefits of using a learning ecosystem frame as both a theoretical and methodological construct by asking how this opens up ways of thinking about the phenomena of environmental interest and identity development which unfold in dynamic, non-linear ways across time and space. In this three-paper dissertation, I begin by reviewing the ways that the learning ecosystem framework has been applied in educational literature, coupled with a theoretical proposal for drawing lessons from adaptive biological ecosystem management to improve the use of the framework. I propose two conceptual shifts in learning ecosystem research: 1) the decentering of individuals with a turn towards relational processes as a unit of analysis, and 2) an embrace of place and materiality as a key element of the ecosystem that impacts learning. I then apply this more robust learning ecosystem framework in two empirical papers that focus on learning ecosystems in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For both empirical papers, I use a collaborative research-practice partnership approach that aims to build trust between researchers and practitioners, uses research to inform action, supports practitioner goals, produces knowledge that informs broader educational improvement goals, and builds capacity for all participants. First, iv I examine interest development across the learning ecosystem through the analysis of 18 life- history interviews of adult naturalists. For the final paper, I use an ecosystems lens and ethnographic approaches to develop a nested case study of one informal science program with four cases that describe the relational processes between youth, educators, and nonhuman nature. In the cases, I explore how program infrastructures support the transition of environmental interest into identity for the adolescent participants. Taken together, these three papers offer a closer examination of the application of the learning ecosystem framework to help support environmental interest and identity development. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... xii 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Interest and identity development ................................................................................ 3 1.2 A learning ecosystem framework .................................................................................. 5 1.3 Place as a learning ecosystem actor .............................................................................. 6 2.0 PAPER 1: UNPACKING THE LEARNING ECOSYSTEM FRAMEWORK: LESSONS FROM THE ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS .................................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 11 2.3 Learning ecosystems as a lens ..................................................................................... 13 2.3.1 Current application of the framework .............................................................13 2.3.2 Not just complicated, but complex ...................................................................15 2.3.3 Not just scaling up, but thinking across scales ................................................17 2.4 From analogy to framework ........................................................................................ 21 2.4.1 Drawing on adaptive management ...................................................................21 2.4.2 Decentering individual learners ........................................................................22 2.4.3 Attending to boundary crossings and ecotones ...............................................25 2.4.4 Managing and monitoring for ecosystem health .............................................26 2.4.5 Disturbance and resilience ................................................................................29 2.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 31 vi 3.0 PAPER 2: BECOMING A NATURALIST: INTEREST DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LEARNING ECOLOGY ................................................................................. 35 3.1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 35 3.2 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 36 3.2.1 Interest development ..........................................................................................37 3.2.2 Project overview .................................................................................................40 3.3 Methods ......................................................................................................................... 42 3.3.1 Participants .........................................................................................................42 3.3.2 Interviews ............................................................................................................44 3.3.3 Survey ..................................................................................................................45 3.3.4 Coding .................................................................................................................46 3.4 Findings ......................................................................................................................... 51 3.4.1 Participant characteristics.................................................................................51 3.4.2 Interest in nature develops across the learning ecology .................................53 3.4.3 Episodes of situational and individual interest are nonlinear and mutually reinforcing ....................................................................................................................55 3.4.4 Pathways may vary but structural supports and mentors are consistent.....57 3.4.4.1 The serious amateur naturalist ............................................................. 59 3.4.4.2 The environmental educator ................................................................. 62 3.4.4.3 The ecologist ........................................................................................... 66 3.5 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 70 vii 4.0 PAPER 3: TRANSFORMING ENVIRONMENTAL INTEREST INTO IDENTITY THROUGH RELATIONAL PROCESSES BETWEEN PEOPLE AND PLACE ......................................................................................................................................... 75 4.1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 75 4.2 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 76 4.2.1 Individual interest as catalyst for identity development ................................76 4.2.2 Project overview .................................................................................................78 4.2.3 Conceptual framework ......................................................................................79 4.2.4 Project context ....................................................................................................82 4.2.4.1 Landscape setting................................................................................... 82 4.2.4.2 Program context and content ..............................................................