Alienation from Nature and Its Impact on Primary and Pre-Primary Education

Th e alienation from nature has a major impact on the education of primary school pupils and pre-school children. In the review paper we focus on research into this phenomena. We chose 79 articles on Web of Science, 39 on Scopus, and two in the Czech database RIV. From this a total number of 21 articles were selected, analysed and presented to the readers in this article. It turned out that alienation from nature is a fuzzy concept. Many experts rely on it. But it is not precisely defi ned in the literature. Two main topics appeared in the articles that were considered: connectedness and relation to nature and fear of animals and disgust aroused by them. Th e main fi ndings are: a) teachers and parents are already alienated, b) examples of good practice show ways of bringing nature closer to children, c) children’s attitudes to nature are changing; they are more afraid of animals and disgusted by them, d) a certain degree of fear and disgust is useful, e) diff erences between the sexes appear only at an older age. Th is phenomenon needs to be studied further.


INTRODUCTION
Th e development of industry, science, and technology has had a major impact on human lifestyles in the last two centuries. Generations are changing rapidly. Sociologists have categorized generations of people with diff erent lifestyles since the 19 th century. Th ey fi rst call them by Latin letters and then use the Greek alphabet (cf. Posnick-Goodwin, 2010a, 2010b. Although we realize that the boundaries between generations are not sharp and are infl uenced by diff erences between families, cultures, and states, this system helps to classify, typify, and follow certain trends in society. Alienation from nature is one of these trends.
Alienation from nature is defi ned as a phenomenon of Euro-American culture. Its beginning was associated with the Industrial Revolution. It gradually changed agriculture, industry, and, in close connection with these, the lifestyles of families. Th e modern lifestyle is pleasant; it has brought many positives, but it also has negative eff ects.
Th e French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau drew attention to the risks of a new lifestyle in his most famous book "Emil" as early as 1762. Rousseau pointed out the negatives of the urban environment and recommended that children grow up in the countryside with the possibility of living in a natural environment, in contact with nature. He wrote that taking children out of a natural environment is a great risk (Rousseau, 1908).
Th e Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and Nobel Prize Winner Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was apparently the fi rst to use the term "alienation from nature". Lorenz wrote that people lose the ability to handle living systems and cease to understand them. He identifi ed the cause of this phenomenon as a fundamental change in lifestyle, namely that people are more often in contact with artifi cial objects than with animals or plants (Lorenz, 1974).
Other experts have also pointed out the negative eff ects of these changes recently. Louv (2005) stated that alienation is accompanied by a "Nature Defi cit Disorder" and began to look for ways to bring children closer to nature. Bakari (2014) and Huba (2015) identifi ed alienation as one of the most serious issues of sustainable development.
Th e consequence of these observations is, among other things, an increase in research on the relationship between man and nature (cf. Restall & Conrad, 2015). Th e research in the fi eld of environmental psychology, pedagogy, and health sciences has shown a number of positive eff ects of contact with nature on humans. Contact with nature has a positive impact on the health (Kuo, 2015), well-being (Howell et al., 2011), and happiness (Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy, 2011;Zelenski & Nisbet, 2014) of humans. Simply put: "Th ose who are more connected to nature tended to experience more positive aff ect, vitality, and life satisfaction compared to those less connected to nature" (Capaldi, Dopko, & Zelenski, 2014).
Hand in hand with the growing number of research studies, the number of research tools used to measure the relationship between man and nature has also grown. Th e widely-used Nature Relatedness Scale (NRS) was developed by Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy (2009). Later, the authors simplifi ed this scale to a shorter version, the NR-6 scale (Nisbet & Zelenski, 2013). Th e NRS was adapted into the Czech language by Franěk (2012) and used in several research studies that mostly focused on pre-service teachers (Kroufek, Janovec, & Chytrý, 2015;Kroufek, Chytrý, & Uhrinová, 2018). Th e NRS has also been used in various other countries, such as Turkey (Sariçam & Şahin, 2015;Çakır et al., 2015), Singapore (Leong, Fischer, & McClure, 2014), or Switzerland and South Korea (Barthelmess et al., 2013). A similar approach to measuring the relationship between humans and nature is used by the Connectedness to Nature Scale (Mayer & Frantz, 2004) or the Love and Care for Nature Scale (Perkins, 2010). Another, and in terms of research on younger children, interesting approach is the single-item graphic research tool Nature in Self (Schultz, 2001).
Czech scientists also deal with alienation from nature. Th e philosopher Erazim Kohák defi ned alienation as a blunting of the capability of compassion and the will to protect (Kohák, 2000). Th e ecoeducator Aleš Máchal (2000) described two estrangements of man: 1. alienation from nature and 2. alienation from responsibility for its present and future. Emilie Strejčková initiated interdisciplinary research on alienation from nature in the Czech Republic at the beginning of the 21st century. Many examples of the alienation of man from nature have been documented in terms of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour (Strejčková, 2005;Strejčková & Loubová, 2006). Vladimíra Spilková wrote that "alienation from nature, along with consumerism, the increase in violence, and increasing passivity, is seen as a global problem (Spilková, 2005). Th e sociologist Petr Sak (2006) pointed out that the phenomenon of human alienation from nature has two dimensions: a) the individual human dimension (i.e. impacts on individuals) and b) the social dimension (i.e. impacts on society).
We assume that this phenomenon also aff ects education. Children and pupils attending pre-primary and primary grades belong to the alpha generation. Strejčková (2005) spoke about them as "the third generation of children from a block of fl ats". Th is is in line with sociologists' assertion that these children were born to parents of generations X and Y after 2010. Computers, an internet connection, mobile phones, and tablets are a common part of the household. Th eir parents spend a lot of time playing computer games or participating in social networking activities. Th ey spent little time playing on the streets or in nature in childhood. From birth the children watched their parents manipulating technology and they themselves began to manipulate it soon. After all, the number of applications for children is growing (Krišová, 2015). Th ere are fewer family activities in the countryside. Children of the alpha generation are often afraid of animals or romanticize and love them all, but without respect for their basic welfare needs. Some of them are also afraid of trees and forests. By the word "mouse" they imagine a computer mouse, not an animal (Jančaříková, 2019). Forecasters estimate that, at a later age, people of the alpha generation will be less respectful of teachers or bosses, will prefer sedentary jobs with the possibility of working from home, will be very cooperative, and will be very creative (White Wolf Consulting, 2009;Posnick-Goodwin, 2010b).
We decided to give a comprehensive overview of what preschool and primary education experts write about alienation from nature.

METHODOLOGY
In order to map the area of alienation from nature with regard to the objectives of this study, with the aim of the identifi cation of research trends in this area, a systematic review (cf. Mareš, 2013) of research papers and literature published from 2000 to the present was conducted.
Th e papers and literature used in the review study were searched for in three ways. Keyword-based searches in the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus databases were used to map foreign publications. To map work published by Czech authors, the texts were searched for in the same way in the Information Register of R&D results (RIV). Th e third way of obtaining texts was searching through Czech peer-reviewed journals with a focus on natural science and environmental education and pedagogy.
Th e texts from the given period were searched for in databases and RIV using the following combinations of keywords: • Alienation from Nature • Nature connectedness + pre-primary education/primary education • Nature relatedness + pre-primary education/primary education • Nature defi cit disorder + pre-primary education/primary education Th e keywords were chosen on the basis of the authors' experience with the topic under analysis so that as a key element it always refl ects the relationship between humans and nature (natureconnectedness, nature-relatedness) and its possible problems (alienation from nature, nature defi cit disorder). Th e type of text was restricted to papers in journals and conference proceedings. Th e keywords were searched for in the whole record of the published text. In order to search for relevant texts only, the keywords were searched for only as phrases.
Duplicate occurrences of the same text were excluded from the texts selected for analysis. Titles and abstracts were analysed in order to exclude texts not related to the topic under research. Th e remaining texts were subjected to a deeper analysis with regard to the objectives of the study.
More texts related to the topic of alienation from nature were searched for in Czech peer-reviewed professional journals. Th e search included all journals focusing on science and environmental education (the publisher is given in brackets): Scientia in educatione (Charles University, Faculty of Education), Biologie-Chemie-Zeměpis [Biology-Chemistry-Geography] (Charles University, Faculty of Education), Envigogika (Charles University), and Arnica (University of West Bohemia, Faculty of Education). Other journals that were included were professional journals in general pedagogy that publish papers focusing on pre-primary and primary education: e-Pedagogium (Palacký University Olomouc), Magister: refl exe primárního a preprimárního vzdělávání ve výzkumu [Master: refl ection on primary and pre-primary education in research] (Palacký University Olomouc), Orbis scholae (Charles University), Paidagogos (Paidagogos -společnost pro fi losofi i, teorii a praxi výchovy a vzdělávání [Paidagogos -Society for Philosophy, Th eory, and Practice in Education]), Pedagogická orientace [Pedagogical Orientation] (Masaryk University), Pedagogika [Pedagogy] (Charles University), and Studia paedagogica (Masaryk University).
All issues of the above-listed journals published from 2000 to the present were searched through. All papers discussing alienation from nature from a broader perspective were included, even if the term 'alienation from nature' was not used explicitly. Papers focusing on the following areas were included in the systematic review: • Th e phenomenon of alienation from nature and its manifestations • Socio-culturally conditioned decline of scientifi c knowledge • Attitudes to nature and perception of its value • Th e infl uence of scientifi c knowledge and attitudes on decision-making processes in everyday life • Changes in lifestyle and human health in relation to nature and natural laws Th e procedure for searching for all the texts included in the systematic review and their selection for analysis is summarized in Figure 1.
All the texts included in the systematic review were read. Papers that did not correspond to the purpose of the study were excluded. Th e remaining texts were analysed qualitatively. Th e following aspects were monitored: in which journal or conference proceedings they were published, what type of text they are, how the concept of alienation from nature is perceived in the text, and how it is dealt with in the text. In the case of research papers, the research methods and fi ndings were monitored.

Quantitative overview of the analysed articles
According to the research design, more than two-thirds of the articles that were analysed (15) used a quantitative approach, fi ve of them used a qualitative approach, and only one article had a mixed design. Th e papers that investigated the connection to nature frequently used wellknown scales such as the Connectedness to Nature Scale (Mayer & Frantz, 2004), Nature Relatedness Scale (Nisbet et al., 2009) or the one-item Nature in Self tool (Schultz, 2002). Th e rest of the quantitatively-oriented research used newly-created research tools.
One of the key questions is how the authors use the concept of alienation from nature. For two of the articles that were analysed, this concept is a starting point from which the authors continue. Five of the texts use alienation from nature as a key concept and the subject of research. Th e rest of the texts use the observed concept only marginally, while their research interest is wider (connection to nature, preconceptions, knowledge of natural phenomena, attitudes towards nature, especially fear and disgust aroused by animals).
Th e observed articles were published in a wide range of journals. Only two of them appear in the list more than once, the Czech journal Envigogika, with two texts by the leading Czech scholar Jan Činčera, and Environmental Education Research, the leading journal in the fi eld of environmental education. Six of the articles that were analysed were published in this journal. Th e rest of the journals were education-oriented ones, with the exception of the German-based ecology-oriented journal Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung.
Just as there is a wide range of journals, there is a wide range of nationalities of the authors of the articles that were analysed. Five of the teams of authors were from the Czech Re- public, four from the United States, three from Turkey, two from Germany, as well as from the United Kingdom, and the rest of the authors or teams of authors were from Brazil, South Korea, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Uruguay.
Out of 21 papers that were analysed we found six articles that focused on teachers. Four of them focused on primary teachers and two focused on pre-primary teachers. Two papers dealt with the parents of preschool and primary school pupils.
Considering the year of publication of the articles, there is a rising tendency towards the present (see Fig. 2).

Qualitative
Several papers are focused on general connectedness and the relationship to na-ture. Th ey are aimed at both pupils and pre-service teachers. While some of the researchers used previously developed instruments (Nature Relatedness Scale, Nature in Self, Connectedness to Nature Scale), others, mainly the qualitative ones, developed their own approaches (using pictures, photographs, storytelling, etc.).
Th e following papers explored the participants' actual level of connectedness to nature without any experimental interventions. Th ey work mainly with previous life experience from early childhood to university age.
Th e paper of Ahmetoğlu (2017) deals with the pupils' family background and its infl uence on pupils' connectedness to nature. Th e connectedness is represented by the biophilia of pupils explored by means  Rice and Torquati (2013). Th e biophilia score gained by each of 238 children who were interviewed was compared with demographic information and the children's experience with nature retrieved from parent questionnaires. Th e results revealed that the children's biophilia scores did not diff er signifi cantly between boys and girls. Th e children of parents with a high school degree scored lower biophilia levels than the children of parents with a college degree. Th e children's experience with nature or the outdoors followed the same trend. While the children's biophilia scores did not vary signifi cantly with regard to their parents' income, the parents with low incomes reported lower levels of experience with nature in their children than the parents with medium and higher incomes (Ahmetoğlu, 2017). Jan Činčera (2012a) from the Czech Republic analysed the interpretation of 'forest' by 106 fourth-grade pupils. His qualitative analysis used a technique of mental mapping. Th e research showed inconsistencies in the pupils' interpretation of a forest. Pupils perceive the human impact on forests negatively but they also attribute a mainly economic meaning to forests. Th e destructive impact of humans on forests was mentioned in 56 to 79% of their responses (depending on the school). On the contrary, in the fi eld of the meaning of forests for mankind, the economic benefi ts lead (31-64%), followed by social benefi ts (32-63%), leaving the environmental benefi ts as the least frequent (6-56%). Neither do the pupils understand the systemic nature of a forest; they interpret it as a space fi lled by individual entities. Th e occurrence of forest entities in mental maps was two to four times higher than the occurrence of processes taking place in forests (36-73% to 6-29%) (Činčera, 2012a).
Th e qualitatively-oriented work of Sue Waite, Alice Goodenough, Victoria Norris, and Nigel Puttick (2016) was also situated in the forest environment. Th eir study, aimed at 11-to 15-year-old pupils, examines longer-term perspectives on wellbeing and looks at the possible benefi ts of environmental action (planting trees) for happiness and positive functioning. From survey responses and subsequent discussion groups exploring such memories, a deeper understanding of what well-being and connectedness to nature mean to young people is explained. Connectedness to nature is represented by positive feelings originating in "doing something for the environment/nature" and also as a part of negotiating climatic change.
Albert Zeyer and Stefanie Kägi (2010) carried out an interesting mixed-design study, using grounded theory-based research in Switzerland. Th ey gave the children the task of drawing their environment. Drawings from 408 pupils aged 11-13 were evaluated with the help of questionnaires (following up on the Relevance of Science Education project -ROSE), the analysis of drawings, and interviews, in which they used a narrative approach. It turned out that the children drew natural elements with coloured crayons and grey shades were chosen to illus-trate the human-based elements. Th e conclusion was that children of this age long for nature and idealize it. Civilization is identifi ed (more by girls) with asphalt, skyscrapers, waste gases, and factories. Th is side of the picture is greyed out and the commentary speaks of "grey suff ering". Nature, on the other hand, is colourful and green dominates.
Th e article of Jerônimo de Oliveira Loureiro and Rossano André Dal-Farra (2018) was written in Brazil and is set in the context of the declining tropical rainforest (the authors state that only 7% of the original area remains). It does not pay much attention to alienation; it rather takes it as a starting point with the concept of alienation in the sense of "reducing opportunities to interact with the natural environment". It is also focused on botany, the knowledge of plants, and its deterioration. A total of 65 students aged six to 12 (fi rst to fi fth grades of primary school) was divided into three groups with diff erent levels of support for their activities (Loureiro & Dal-Farra, 2018).
Two important studies of the relationship to nature of pre-service teachers have been conducted in Turkey. Both use the Nature Relatedness Scale (NRS) developed by Nisbet et al. (2009).
Ferhat Karakaya, Sakine Serap Avgın, Elif Gömlek, and Merve Balık (2017) from Turkey compared the relationship to nature of pre-service primary school and science teachers (363) at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University in the 2015-2016 academic year. Th eir research fi ndings indicate a diff erence among the participants' relationship to nature with regard to gender, education, and grade level. However, no signifi cant eff ect of attending the environmental science lessons, membership of natural organizations, and participation in natural activities was found (Karakaya et al., 2017).
Th e scores for the relationship to nature were higher for the female students than for the males. Students in the science department showed a greater affi nity for nature than students in the primary education department.
Elvan Sahin and Sule Alici (2019) focused on Turkish pre-service early childhood teachers. Th e participants were 402 students attending an Early Childhood Teacher Education Programme at one of the two public universities in the capital of Turkey. Although these pre-service teachers showed favourable feelings and thoughts about their personal connection to nature, as seen from the high level of agreement with statements from the NRS such as "I am not separate from nature, but a part of nature" (79.2%), "My relationship to nature is an important part of who I am" (69.3%), and "I feel very connected to all living things and the earth" (70.7%), the results indicate that they prefer not to be out in natural surroundings (Sahin & Alici, 2019). Erica Blatt and Patricia Patrick (2014) from the USA watched 148 undergraduate pre-service elementary teachers who were participants in a science graduate course. Th ese teachers were supposed to read a famous book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Defi cit Disorder, by Richard Louv (2005) and wrote essay responses after reading the book. Th ey were asked to relate the reading to their own experiences from childhood and to their ideas about elementary science education. A majority of the participants a) described significant youth experiences in the outdoors (97%), b) viewed nature as important in varying ways (89.9%), and c) expressed a desire to expose their own students to the outdoors (65.5%). Th e preservice teachers wrote about their interactions in outdoor places (referred to as 'place meanings') very often (Blatt & Patrick, 2014).
Julie Ernst and Ladona Tornabene (2012) did research among 110 students enrolled in the early childhood teaching licensure programme at a university in Minnesota (USA) in the summer semester of the 2010-2011 academic year. Th e research instrument consisted of a questionnaire to be used with a set of 16 photographs with four diff erent landscapes (water, grassland, forest, park). Th e first section of the questionnaire asked the participants to indicate the three settings they would personally like to visit most and least and indicate why they selected those settings. Th e second section asked the participants to indicate which three settings they felt were the most and least conducive to meeting the educational outcomes of their future early childhood students.
Th e participants generally agreed with the importance of experiences in a natural environment for children's cognitive, socioemotional, and physical development, as well as for their overall health and wellness. Th ere was a diff erence between the personal preferences of the participants and their preferred educational settings. Although the participants personally preferred the type of setting with water (73 out of 110) and the natural settings (84 out of 110), they preferred parks (67 out of 110) and maintained areas (87 out of 110) as most suitable for education. Th e most frequent motivation for outdoor education was the opportunity for hands-on and experiential learning. Th e most frequent barrier was access and the need to take transport to natural outdoor settings.
Th e work of Roman Kroufek, Vlastimil Chytrý, and Miriam Uhrinová (2018) from the Czech Republic focused on the relationship of the type of secondary school that had been attended to the relationship to nature of 917 pre-service primary teachers. Th e research tool chosen was a questionnaire consisting of items focusing on the respondents' demographic background (their age and gender), the secondary school attended prior to university studies, and also items from the Nature Relatedness Scale (Nisbet et al., 2009) in its translation into Czech by Franěk (2012).
Th e highest scores in the construct analysed were obtained in branches of education oriented towards nature and science, the lowest among graduates of social sciences and general grammar schools. Such results confi rm the signifi cance of education in natural science in forming a positive attitude to nature and disprove the clichéd ideas of technically oriented schools producing environmentally insensitive graduates.
Zbyněk Vácha, Štěpánka Chmelová, and Renata Ryplová (2019) looked in their study at the existence of school gardens in the regions of the Czech-Austrian border and at their readiness for the introduction of garden-based education in teaching. On the basis of electronic questionnaires, the preconditions for garden-based education were found rather satisfactory, with over 73% of schools having an accessible school garden. Although production facilities still prevail (present in 120 out of 190 recorded gardens), the data shows a change in the understanding of the role of school gardens in the Czech Republic. New facilities supporting more complex utilization of gardens in various subjects are being introduced (fl ower meadows, geological trails, insect houses...). Th e school gardens are used in relation to all subjects defi ned for primary education at various extents, with the most frequent being "Man and work" and "Man and the world", followed by art and biological subjects. Despite that, the mean annual time devoted to education in the garden reaches only 18 hours in primary school. Th e school gardens are thus empty most of the year. Konrad Reidl, Hans-Joachim Schemel, and Ester Langer (2003) from Germany presented the preliminary results of an extensive project in which they studied the natural adventure spaces in four German cities (Stuttgart, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, and Nürtingen). Th eir conclusion is that closeness to nature can also be experienced in cities. In their article, they categorize the experiences that allow children to experience closeness and give examples (wading in mud, gliding down a slope, building dikes, playing hide and seek in tall grass, climbing trees, observing animals in their natural habitat, lighting a fi re, etc.). Th ey emphasize the importance of the role of parents. Th ey describe the importance of local communities for the establishment and maintenance of urban natural adventure spaces.
Th e impact of educational interventions on the connectedness to nature of either pupils or pre-service teachers was addressed in the papers described below.
Th e research of Tina Braun and Paul Dierkes (2016) explores the impact of an outdoor environmental education programme on the connectedness to nature of 601 primary and secondary school (7-18 years of age) students with regard to the extent of their experience of nature and age. Th eir connectedness to nature was examined by using the Nature in Self scale (Schultz, 2001) in this case. Th e intervention was implemented with two durations: one-day and fi ve-day. Th e fi ndings suggest that both types of intervention lead to immediate shifts towards a stronger connectedness to nature among students. Notably, the fi ve-day outdoor education interventions were signifi cantly more eff ective in sustainably promoting connectedness to nature compared to one-day fi eld trips. Seven-to-nine-year-old children achieved the greatest shifts towards nature. Th e value of short-term and residential outdoor environmental education interventions is discussed (Braun & Dierkes, 2016).
Th e eff ect of a four-day-long outdoor environmental education programme in a wilderness camp on the connectedness to nature of 156 10-to 12-year-old pupils in Pennsylvania, US was explored by Lauren E. Mullenbach, Rob G. Andrejewski, and Andrew J. Mowen (2018). Th e authors used the Connectedness to Nature scale (Mayer & Frantz, 2004) to measure the eff ect on connection to nature, affi nity for nature, attitudes toward outdoor play, and outdoor play behaviours. Th e pupils showed signifi cant increases in their scores for connection to nature and outdoor play behaviours, while no impact was proved for affi nity for nature and outdoor play attitude. According to the authors, the programme evaluated in this study "appeared to contribute to nature connection and an increase in self-reported outdoor play. Children's connection to nature and outdoor activities have been indicated as predictors of future environmentally responsible behavior (Hinds & Sparks, 2008;Hungerford & Volk, 1990). Fostering connection to nature and positive attitudes toward playing outdoors are critical outcomes of ROEE programs and are necessary attributes of healthy child development." Th e relation of pupils to forests, specifically the sources of fear of forests and the eff ectiveness of educational programmes that attempt to deal with it, was explored by Jan Činčera (2012b). On the basis of its results the author presumes that pupils visit forests quite rarely; boys more often than girls. Generally, children are not scared of a forest; girls are more scared than boys. Children mainly fear natural threats (e.g. wild animals) and social risks, e.g. threats from bad people or accidents caused by humans. Th e education programme did not have much eff ect on boys but probably infl uenced girls, in whom the level of fear in all the areas of sources of their fear of forests (natural threats, social threats, and uneasy situations) decreased (Činčera, 2012b).
Alexia Barrable and Liz Lakin (2019) from the UK studied the willingness of teachers to teach outside. Forty-nine future teachers (age 19-47), students of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) of the University of Dundee, took part in an outdoor session and responded to preand post-measures of nature-relatedness, perceived competence, and willingness to teach outdoors. Th ey used the NR scale, which has been used in the past to measure nature-relatedness both as a trait and state level (Lumber, Richardson, & Sheffield, 2017) and a seven-point Likert scale ranging from [1] -'rarely' to [7] -'very often' for the students' expression of their willingness to teach outdoors (WTO). Th ey rated the data by conventional statistical methods. Th e results suggest a positive correlation between how close the student teachers feel to nature (NR) and how competent they perceive themselves as being in undertaking outdoor teaching sessions. In addition, NR also correlated positively to their willingness to teach outdoors. Th e outdoor environmental session that the respondents engaged in had a significant positive effect on their NR. Th ere was also a robust increase in the participants' perceived competence and willingness to teach outdoors, as measured in this study. However, the provision of outdoor education in teacher education programmes in higher education has not been studied widely to date (Barrable & Lakin, 2019).
Fear of animals is an important issue to consider in order to promote knowledge about nature and foster positive attitudes towards nature conservation.
Th e article of Maria J. Albo, Laura Montes De Oca, and Ignacio Estevan (2019) deals with research on fear and disgust aroused by spiders in 10-to 11-yearold Uruguayan children in 2015-2016. Th ey studied the eff ect of single lesson and 40-hour course including teaching and contact with spiders. Both approaches improved pupils' knowledge on spiders with 40-hour course having higher effect. Th e pupils' attitudes towards spiders changed after the 40-hour course only (Albo et al., 2019).
Th e Korean researchers Yoori Cho and Dowon Lee (2018) focused on the knowledge and attitudes of 104 primary school pupils (8-9 years old, born in 2005) towards honey bees and other useful, but dangerous insects. Th ey used questionnaires, interviews, and analysis of student drawings. Th ey revealed a number of misconceptions, such as 'if a honey bee stings, we must die'. Following the bee programme, there was an improvement in knowledge and attitudes. Some participants in the programme retained their misconceptions even after the educational lesson (Cho & Lee, 2018).
Th e Slovak scientist Milan Kubiatko (2012) conducted a qualitatively tuned research study with 27 children from Czech kindergartens (aged 5-6 years). He presented ten coloured pictures of animals to them. Th ere were fi ve "bad animals" (spider, bat, shark, snake, bear) and fi ve "good animals" (dog, monkey, cat, horse, dolphin). Th e questions were focused on the identifi cation of the animals and the evaluation of the animals according to their appearance and the fear they aroused. No signifi cant infl uence of gender and age on the results was found. In the conclusion of the study some implications are suggested. It was found that kindergarten children distinguish between "good" and "bad" animals. Th ere is a strong chance of this distinction surviving into adulthood, so teachers and parents could try to reduce it.
Eunsook Hyun (2005) from Florida (US) points out that children's perceptions of the world are diff erent from those of adults. Th e diff erence is caused by the development of the brain, which is manifested -briefl y addressed -in the predominance of sensory perception over thinking in children. In a child's conversations with an adult, the child often encounters a cultural discourse which is caused by a diff erent perception of reality (the author gives a number of examples).
Hyun draws attention to the importance of a sensitive period for the development of Naturalist Intelligence and sensitivity: "Neglecting young children's interests in nature, or hindering their curiosity and limiting their exploration of nature throughout childhood, can impair their cognitive abilities as well as socialemotional development. Th is is similar to the result of emotional neglect, which predisposes an individual to respond with aggression or violence to stressful or frustrating situations." She points out that we should study the ways in which children learn about the world and construct knowledge about it and, on the basis of our fi ndings, we should stimulate children and provide them with feedback.
Jana Fančovičová (2012) from Slovakia dealt with the issue of fear and disgust in 434 pupils and students (ages 8-26) concerning parasites and insect larvae. Th e respondents assessed their own fear, disgust, and sense of danger when looking at colour photographs representing diff erent species of invertebrates using a Likert scale. Th e evaluation turned out to be very consistent. Th e respondents rated the parasites and the species that carry the parasites as more disgusting, and they were more afraid of them as well. In accordance with the biological hypothesis of readiness, Fančovičová points out that a certain fear and shielding is natural, evolutionary, and useful. Alienation from nature can then be represented by the loss of this natural defence.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Th e results of the review were surprising for us. Although a large number of authors refer to the concept of alienation in the context of pre-school and primary school education and use it as a starting point for their considerations and research work (e.g. Karakaya et al., 2017;Loureiro & Dal-Farra, 2018;Mullenbach et al., 2018;Sahin & Alici, 2019;Vácha et al., 2019;Zeyger & Kägi, 2010), alienation from nature itself is poorly explored. Th e fi rst research paper found by our method that dealt with the concept was published in 2003. Growing attention has been dedicated to the problem since then. Th e studies that were found are spread over various journals, which is an obstacle to building a research community and carrying out additional research.
On the other hand, the fact that the articles appear in a wide range of journals is a vital clue that the problem is recognized as a major theme that aff ects not only biological education, but also the basics of children's physical and mental development. Publication in journals such as Pastoral Care in Education shows that the theme of alienation from nature also resonates outside the fi eld of biological education.
In other words, although the alienation of children and pupils from nature is understood as a philosophical concept by many experts, scientifi c knowledge about the process of alienation is sketchy and incomplete. Th e term 'alienation' is not defi ned exactly and is understood fairly widely; it can be labelled as a fuzzy concept. We can assume that this widely accepted concept is based more on fi eld observations and experience than on scientifi c studies. Th is is the situation at least in the Czech Republic. A broad research study, "Alienation of pupils from the natural environment" (Strejčková, 2005), VaV IC/4/40/04, was carried out at Toulcův dvůr, the centre of environmental education of the capital Prague, in 2004Prague, in -2005. Th e employees of the centre and various experts (pedagogists, psychologists, and historicians) took part. Children from toddler age up to 15 years of age participated. Th e study was focused mainly on mapping the contacts and attitudes towards nature of children from Prague. Th e results were published in a book and on an internet platform, but the authors lacked the ambition to publish them in peer-reviewed journals (Strejčková, 2005).
Th e attention of researchers publishing the papers yielded by our methodology is focused generally on just two partial themes of the wide problematics of alienation from nature, which are: a) the diminution of opportunities for contact with nature and eff orts to re-connect to nature, b) changing attitudes towards nature and its components, mainly changes in fear and disgust aroused by nature, especially animals.
A number of papers, mainly those aimed at pre-service teachers, display ambitions to measure the level of relation to nature by comparative means. Th ey use a few basic research instruments for it. Th e Nature Relatedness Scale (Nisbet et al., 2009) was used in Turkey and in the Czech Republic (Karakaya et al., 2017;Kroufek et al., 2018;Sahin & Alici, 2019), Schultz's Nature in Self scale (Schultz, 2001;Braun & Dierkes, 2016) and Mayer & Franz's Connectedness to Nature scale (Mayer & Frantz, 2004;Mullenbach et al., 2018) were seldom used in the US. Th e scales are unsuitable for describing the attitudes of the youngest children. Th at is why some authors constructed their own approaches (Kubiatko, 2012;Ernst & Tornabene, 2012;Fančovičová, 2012;Zeyer & Kägi, 2010;Činčera, 2012a).
Th e natural need of children for contact with a natural environment was proved in some papers (Zeyer & Kägi, 2010;Činčera, 2012a).
Studies that analyse the availability of an environment supporting the strengthening of connectedness and their implementation in education are interesting. Pre-service teachers recognize the importance of stays and education in natural surroundings (Blatt & Patrick, 2014;Ernst & Tornabene, 2012). Although they personally prefer a natural environment, they consider parks and maintained environments more suitable for education. Th e necessity of organizing transport and the low availability of natural environments near the school are among the most frequently mentioned obstacles (Ernst & Tornabene, 2012).
Th is low availability can be compensated for by the utilization of school gardens, which are present in most of the schools in the Czech Republic. Th eir potential is, unfortunately, underused, as primary school pupils spent only 18 hours a year there on average (Vácha et al., 2019).
Th e German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation developed a land use category devoted to "space for experiencing urban nature" (Schemel, 1998). It is a category of green areas with the purpose of providing children and young people with the opportunity to experience nature by playful means in their everyday life and consequently raise questions of nature conservation in the city. Reidl et al. (2003) give a detailed description of these areas and emphasize the role of parents and local communities for their development and maintenance.
Th e lack of natural contact with nature during childhood and adolescence in the present-day education system is also compensated for by various interventions, such as outdoor education programmes. Th e results of research studies (Barrable & Lakin, 2019;Braun & Dierkes, 2016;Činčera, 2012b;Mullenbach et al., 2018) prove their positive benefi ts both for children and pre-service teachers with an important message, that multi-day programmes have a signifi cantly higher and more persistent impact than shorter ones (Braun & Dierkes, 2016).
It is obvious that a change of attitudes towards nature and its elements goes hand in hand with alienation from nature. Th e increasing fear and disgust aroused by animals, sometimes also plants, and natural processes is among the topics given great attention. Th e research studies are mainly focused on animals (Albo et al., 2019;Cho & Lee, 2018;Fančovičová, 2012;Kubiatko, 2012), and sometimes on ecosystems, specifi cally forests (Činčera, 2012b;Hyun, 2005;Marcum-Dietrich et al., 2011). Prokop, Tolarovičová, Camerik, and Peterková (2010) state that diff erent attitudes towards "generally good" and "generally bad" animals are recorded even in pre-school age. Prokop's team was only focused on fi ve-year-old children. But Jančaříková (2019) and Kralertová (2016) revealed that attitudes towards "generally good" and "generally bad" animals are formed in early childhood. Most three-year-old children had positive attitudes towards both "generally good" and "generally bad" animals. Early pre-school age is thus a sensitive age for building attitudes towards animals (Jančaříková, 2019). It is obvious from more studies (Albo et al., 2019;Prokop et al., 2010) that attitudes change somewhat discontinuously after long-term interventions; they do not change after short lessons. On the other hand, knowledge grows continuously, with short lessons also having an impact.
It can be derived from the above that eff ective interventions should be aimed at younger pre-school children and that they should last a longer time.
Th e results show that gender only has an eff ect on attitudes towards animals in older pupils. No signifi cant diff erences were recorded between preschool boys' and girls' attitudes (Jančaříková, 2019;Kubiatko, 2012). Adult females generally report stronger fear and disgust aroused by animals than males do. Th e increase in the diff erences in the reported levels of boys' and girls' fear and disgust is proved from primary school age (Albo et al., 2019;Fančovičová, 2012;Karakaya et al., 2017).
On the basis of the papers that we studied we wish to point out that it is necessary to abandon the basic concept of biophilia x biophobia, where biophilia is understood as the desired attitude and biophobia as an attitude that is unwanted and results from alienation. It is obvious that a certain level of disgust and fear is natural, desirable, and benefi cial (as a defence against injuries or infections) and is of evolutionary origin (Fančovičová, 2012;Jančaříková, 2019). Paradoxically, the insuffi cient level of fear and disgust is as much a result of alienation as excessive level of those.
Alienation from nature also aff ects the education process, particularly outdoor activities, e.g. excursions (Pavlasová et al., 2015). Th e teachers performing activities oriented towards the development of environmental literacy have to adapt their procedures to these changes in order to safeguard pupils' welfare. Th ey should anticipate the excessive levels of pupils' fear and disgust and operate with them. Th ey should also anticipate the lack of fear and disgust and avoid potential consequences (injuries or infections resulting from pupils' inappropriate behaviour).
Th e concept of alienation from nature is described as a process with increasing trends; every new generation is more alienated than the previous one. Th e new generation of pupils has fewer and fewer opportunities to get into contact with nature (Nedovic & Morrissey, 2013;Taylor, Kuo, & Sullivan, 2001, as cited in Blatt & Patrick, 2014 and they are emotionally and psychically stressed. Some authors even describe children as "suff ering" from a lack of contact with nature (Louv, 2005;Pyle, 1998).
Th e studies in this area reveal that connectedness to nature is built from childhood and mainly by natural contact with the environment in everyday life. Th is contact usually leaves deep and persistent memories (Blatt & Patrick, 2014;Waite et al., 2016).
It is obvious that attention cannot be aimed just at children and pupils when studying the theme. It also has to be devoted to their parents and teachers. Th ey strongly infl uence what and how children do; they present standards of behaviour and children imitate them and take over their patterns of behaviour, including their attitudes towards nature. Fear and disgust are transmitted from teachers or parents (Jančaříková, 2019). Parents and teachers who are themselves alienated to a certain extent (e.g. they did not have the opportunity to visit grandparents in the countryside during school holidays) cannot pass on the necessary experience, even if they wanted to (Jones, 2014 as cited in Blatt & Patrick, 2014;Marcum-Dietrich et al., 2011). Th e education and social situation of parents also have an effect -parents with a higher level of education generally encourage their children to come into contact with nature more than parents with a lower level of education or income (Ahmetoğlu, 2017). Th ese fi ndings are consistent with Schoeppe et al. (2015), who found that parents with lower incomes are less likely to permit their children to play independently outdoors.
Th is study has its limits, which are specifi c to all review texts. Th e results are infl uenced by the choice of keywords, which was based on our experience and the available literature. It is possible that adding some less used phrases related to alienation from nature to the keywords would expand the number of texts analysed. Other articles on the topic under analysis have probably appeared in scientifi c journals that were not included in the databases we searched in. In the Czech Republic, we have solved this limitation by manual analysis of published pedagogical journals; in a broader international context, this is a challenge for other researchers who have an overview of the local journals and the corresponding language skills.
It is obvious that the fi eld of humans' alienation from nature provides multiple opportunities for further research.