The environmental education of children is being promoted as essential to the establishment of a citizenry which is more caring toward the environment. But education will not be enough. In this essay I will argue that deep, lasting concern of the natural world must come from a genuine affection for it, and how this affection is engender is an important question for us all. Within this broader question, I will consider the important of gardening in fostering children’s general caring for the environment, or “earth stewardship” as some have called it.

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Title:  Affection for Nature and the Promotion of Stewardship in Childhood

Author(s): Roger Hart

Publication Date: 1995

Publisher: The NAMTA Journal