Project MUSE®: Children, Youth and Environments - Latest Articles
https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850
Project MUSE®: Latest articles in Children, Youth and Environments.daily12026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00text/htmlen-USVol. 13 (2003) through current issueLatest Articles: Children, Youth and EnvironmentsTWOProject MUSE®Children, Youth and Environments1546-2250Latest articles in Children, Youth and Environments. Feed provided by Project MUSE®Games of Scarcity: Creativity, Community, and Everyday Childhood During the Subsidy Period in Hanoi, Vietnam
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977249
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When I was small, my grandmother used to take me to sell roasted peanuts and corn at evening events and exhibitions. We’d wrap them in small paper cones and use an oil lamp as light. My grandmother also sold cigarettes, and we would walk around selling them together. This was when I was about five or six years old. I still remember roasting the peanuts at home before taking them to sell (Linh, middle-aged woman).1Vietnam’s bao cấp, or subsidy era, spanned from the mid-1950s until the Đổi Mới economic reforms of 1986.2 This socialist system centralized resource control, expanded collectivization, and made rationing a defining feature of everyday life in northern Vietnam, including Hanoi. It resulted in profound
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallGames of Scarcity: Creativity, Community, and Everyday Childhood During the Subsidy Period in Hanoi, Vietnam2025-12-12text/htmlen-USGames of Scarcity: Creativity, Community, and Everyday Childhood During the Subsidy Period in Hanoi, Vietnam2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®891152026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Not Just a Pretty Garden: A Mosaic Study Exploring Tensions Between Cultural Aesthetics and Pedagogical Intentions in Chinese Preschool Outdoor Spaces
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977250
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Outdoor environments are widely acknowledged as vital components of children’s early development, potentially offering benefits in health, emotional well-being, social interaction, enhanced concentration, and academic success (Kiviranta et al., 2024). However, children’s access to outdoor spaces is increasingly restricted due to urbanization, shrinking public areas, safety concerns, and insufficient recognition of their importance (Hu et al., 2014; Si & Cardinal, 2017). For many children, preschools have become their primary avenue for play in the outdoors (Tonge et al., 2019).While the benefits of outdoor play are well acknowledged, children’s voices regarding the design and use of these spaces remain largely
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallNot Just a Pretty Garden: A Mosaic Study Exploring Tensions Between Cultural Aesthetics and Pedagogical Intentions in Chinese Preschool Outdoor Spaces2025-12-12text/htmlen-USNot Just a Pretty Garden: A Mosaic Study Exploring Tensions Between Cultural Aesthetics and Pedagogical Intentions in Chinese Preschool Outdoor Spaces2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®1309232026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Addressing a Multibillion-Dollar Challenge: Advancing Knowledge of How High-Quality School Environments Can Positively Affect Educational Outcomes
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977251
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An alarming disinvestment in public schools across the United States currently affects more than 49.4 million students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022), as well as their families and communities. These students do not have the privilege of attending a school that provides appropriate facilities to support learning, nor their health or cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development.In terms of schools specifically, “researchers have found that school conditions significantly impact learning experiences and student outcomes” (Filardo et al., 2019). Schools also report teachers’ greater job performance and satisfaction (Gibson & Levenstein, 2010), as well as improved health (Patovirta et al.
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallAddressing a Multibillion-Dollar Challenge: Advancing Knowledge of How High-Quality School Environments Can Positively Affect Educational Outcomes2025-12-12text/htmlen-USAddressing a Multibillion-Dollar Challenge: Advancing Knowledge of How High-Quality School Environments Can Positively Affect Educational Outcomes2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®1206172026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Built for Belonging: A Nationwide Study on School Design and Adolescents’ Feelings of Social Connectedness
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977252
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Loneliness has emerged as a pressing public health crisis in the United States. In its 2023 report, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, the Surgeon General’s office highlighted the far-reaching consequences of social disconnect (Office of the Surgeon General, 2023). Adolescents especially are feeling this disconnection acutely: only 55% of high schoolers surveyed in the 2023 Youth Behavioral Risk Survey reported feeling close to people at school (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024). Since young people spend a significant portion of their day-to-day lives in schools, understanding how these places promote, or hinder, feelings of social connectedness and belonging is an urgent research priority.We
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallBuilt for Belonging: A Nationwide Study on School Design and Adolescents’ Feelings of Social Connectedness2025-12-12text/htmlen-USBuilt for Belonging: A Nationwide Study on School Design and Adolescents’ Feelings of Social Connectedness2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®1655062026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Children’s Use of Customized Art Software for School Landscape Planning
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977253
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There has been a significant amount of research published on children’s participation in environmental planning and design (Hart, 1987; 1997; Horelli, 1997; Simpson, 1997; Chawla, 2002; Driskell, 2002; Ataol et al., 2019) as well as processes for engaging them in decision-making on matters concerning their lives and environments (Hart, 1997; Darbyshire et al., 2005; Einarsdottir et al., 2009; Almers et al., 2023). It is clear that planners, policymakers, politicians, and researchers should involve children as active and creative participants in the design of urban environments for all citizens, particularly child-friendly urban environments (Derr et al., 2013; Derr et al., 2018; Wilhelmsen et al., 2019), thus
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallChildren’s Use of Customized Art Software for School Landscape Planning2025-12-12text/htmlen-USChildren’s Use of Customized Art Software for School Landscape Planning2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®981352026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Listening Closely through Embedded Evaluation: Children’s Ecological Narratives and Co-Learning in Place
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977254
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Methods for participatory evaluation with children and youth require deep listening in addition to relationship building between children, peers, and adult facilitators. According to Malone (2018, p. 15), “listening closely” involves “documenting and valuing the diversity of people’s lived experiences of a place” and serves to reveal “the importance children placed on those encounters and relations”—their ecological narratives of place. In this field report, we reflect upon what deep listening looks like in the context of a partnership for outdoor education.Our partnership brings together a land trust, an elementary school, university environmental education courses, and undergraduate student ethnographers for
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallListening Closely through Embedded Evaluation: Children’s Ecological Narratives and Co-Learning in Place2025-12-12text/htmlen-USListening Closely through Embedded Evaluation: Children’s Ecological Narratives and Co-Learning in Place2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®555922026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Reimagining Schoolyards for Outdoor Learning and Public Health in Dearborn, Michigan
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977255
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All children deserve a healthy environment in which to learn and develop. Most children spend over 1000 hours per year at school (Hahn & Truman, 2015) and having a healthy indoor and outdoor school environment is essential to overall well-being in early life. While at school, children’s health can be supported through efforts to reduce negative environmental exposures and ensure access to nature (Hahn & Truman, 2015). Due to countless political, economic, and historical factors, school environments can vary substantially between and within communities, contributing to disparate educational, physical, and mental health outcomes in ways not always considered or addressed (Bang, 2023; Rueben et al., 2022). In this
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallReimagining Schoolyards for Outdoor Learning and Public Health in Dearborn, Michigan2025-12-12text/htmlen-USReimagining Schoolyards for Outdoor Learning and Public Health in Dearborn, Michigan2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®788202026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Resistance and a Lack of Interest: Challenges Accessing Street-Connected Children for Field Research in Ethiopia
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977256
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This report highlights my experiences navigating access to conduct field research with street-connected children during my graduate study entitled, Social World of Street-connected Children: Peer Friendship, Group Life, and Street Subculture. Here, I focus on the challenges encountered with children aged 9–18 years in Ethiopian city streets when seeking access to their street-based research setting and engaging them as potential child participants.In this field report, I discuss two issues that I encountered during interactions with street-connected children: their resistance to “outsiders” and their lack of interest in study participation. The research project’s progress was significantly influenced by the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallResistance and a Lack of Interest: Challenges Accessing Street-Connected Children for Field Research in Ethiopia2025-12-12text/htmlen-USResistance and a Lack of Interest: Challenges Accessing Street-Connected Children for Field Research in Ethiopia2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®617522026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Fieldwork Amid Concealment: Navigating Political Barriers to Accessing Street-Connected Children for Field Research in Ethiopia
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977257
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This field report details my field research experiences navigating the political hurdles to obtain permission to access street-connected children in Ethiopia to serve as research participants in my graduate research study entitled, The Social World of Street-Connected Children (Fikre, 2016). I also describe the strategies I employed to navigate these challenges and build trust with legal gatekeepers.This field report particularly highlights how political motives may drive officials to conceal the issue of street-connected children, creating false impressions for the public, visitors, or international guests by suggesting the problem has been resolved. This false impression is usually achieved by systematically
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallFieldwork Amid Concealment: Navigating Political Barriers to Accessing Street-Connected Children for Field Research in Ethiopia2025-12-12text/htmlen-USFieldwork Amid Concealment: Navigating Political Barriers to Accessing Street-Connected Children for Field Research in Ethiopia2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®459222026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12Born to Play ed. by Tam Baillie and John H. McKendrick (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/977258
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Born to Play is a collection of papers from distinguished authors who presented at the International Play Association’s 2023 Triennial Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. The intended audience ranges from parents to policymakers, as it includes critical information on the purpose of child-led play and how play is not just something children do, but, like other basic needs, such as food, water, shelter, and safety (Tuukkanen & Pekkarien, 2023), play is a biological necessity for healthy development. Each section of the book focuses on a specific theme, all of which emphasize the importance and critical impact of play on children’s development. Through an introduction, four sections, and a conclusion, the editors have
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/850/image/coversmallBorn to Play ed. by Tam Baillie and John H. McKendrick (review)2025-12-12text/htmlen-USBorn to Play ed. by Tam Baillie and John H. McKendrick (review)2025-12-122025TWOProject MUSE®79492026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-12-12