The Impact of Physical/Natural Spaces on the Mental and Emotional Well-Being of Students According to the Report of Rural Female Teachers

In rural schools, nature is a space where teachers and students seek to feel states of emotional well-being. Activities carried out in contact with nature could be considered ideal for learning. The objective of the research was to explore the influence of physical/natural spaces on the emotional well-being of schoolchildren as reported by female teachers working in rural and indigenous contexts in the region of La Araucanía, Chile. This research is based on the hermeneutic paradigm with a case study design. The selection of participants was non-probabilistic and intentional, including 15 female teachers working in rural school contexts. The study used a semi-structured interview format, and the data were analyzed using grounded theory. According to the teachers’ discourse, the results generated three categories: (a) culture and diversity, (b) physical/natural spaces, and (c) emotional well-being. These show that natural spaces positively affect learning processes and emotional regulation. The research suggests that encouraging contact with physical/natural spaces can help create classroom climates with lower levels of conflict and tension. This, in turn, leads to higher levels of physical, psychological/mental, social, and spiritual balance, resulting in improved attitudes and motivational processes towards learning by students and teachers in rural and indigenous contexts. © 2025 by the authors.

Notas

Indexación: Scopus.

Palabras clave

Diversity, Emotional well-being, Natural spaces, Physical spaces, Rural education

Citación

Psychiatry International Open Access Volume 6, Issue 1 March 2025 Article number 6

DOI

10.3390/psychiatryint6010006

URI

https://repositorio.unab.cl/handle/ria/65176

Colecciones

FEd - Artículos de Revista

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