Award Date

May 2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching and Learning

First Committee Member

Christine Clark

Second Committee Member

David Vallett

Third Committee Member

Howard Gordon

Fourth Committee Member

Robert Futrell

Number of Pages

206

Abstract

Attempts to measure and implement conservation norms have consistently upheld and promoted the dominant culture’s practices and beliefs. This has led to oppression of non-dominant populations, thereby hindering these populations’ access to various opportunities to participate in conservation based activities. This has historically, and still today, led to the segregation of non-dominant populations from environmental participation and has misrepresented their beliefs and actions relative to definitions of conservation citizenship and in the broader literature on conservation, conservation measurements, outdoor recreation, and pro-environmental behavior.

This research sought to extend the existing literature on conservation, specifically on the measurements of recreation practices and pro-environmental behavior, by surfacing and documenting how non-dominant groups’ have historically engaged and currently engage in conservation, broadly considered. Critical ethnography provided the theoretical framework through which past research practices on conservation were examined relative to sociopolitical influences on the social construction and perpetuation of conservation norms. Using a convergent mixed methods research design, both qualitative data (observation and interview) and quantitative data (survey) was collected and analyzed individually, then the findings were compared and interpreted. This research challenges the ‘one-size fits all’ mentality embedded in conservation history and measurement.

Disciplines

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Education | Environmental Education

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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