Finnish Early Childhood Education Student Teachers' Mental Images of the Environment

This article explores Finnish early childhood education student teachers' mental images of the concept of the environment. The empirical dataset consists of drawings made by the student teachers (n = 106) and their written reflections (n = 40). A qualitative content analysis was performed on the drawings, utilizing the concepts of geography. Consequently, the elements of the natural environment, the built environment, public space, and private space in the drawings were explored. The results show that over half of the drawings do not depict any elements of the built environment, which is why these drawings depict the concept of nature rather than that of the environment. In everyday language, 'nature' is often regarded as a synonym for the 'environment'. In addition, more than 80% of the drawings lacked people. The natural environment, instead, was depicted as ideal without any environmental problems. The results suggest that the student teachers do not associate people and the built environment with the concept of the environment, culminating in a lack of interaction between people and the environment. Therefore, the study recommends diversifying student teachers' perceptions of the environment. Future teachers who have a better conceptual understanding of the environment are more likely to provide children with increased opportunities for exploring and investigating both the natural environment and the built environment.