Potentials and Challenges of Research on “Significant Life Experiences” in Japan

Abstract

“Significant life experiences” (SLE) is a research area of environmental education that aims to identify formative influences in the lives of individuals who demonstrate “responsible environmental behavior.” We chose 188 environmental educators as the subjects for the first research of this kind in Japan, along with 25 subjects from users of a community center as a control group. In workshops and interviews, we asked about subjects’ environmental behavior and formative experiences. Differences were found between the most frequent responses of the environmental educators and those of the control group. In addition, in follow-up interviews, 12 environmental educators reported that they spent many hours in natural areas accessible on a daily basis in their childhood and youth. Some of them suggested that there are two types of SLE: “fundamental SLE” and “directly influential SLE.” The former are the experiences that form environmental sensitivity in childhood and youth. The latter are the experiences that trigger environmental actions later in life.