Psychology, Sociology and Education
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Item From risky play to dirty play: Why young children need ‘dirty’ nature play in their lives(Taylor & Francis, 2025) Barrable, Alexia; Robinson, Jake M.Risky play, which describes exciting forms of free play that involve some uncertainty of outcome and a possibility of physical injury, is increasingly recognised as vital to children’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development. However, an equally important but often overlooked form of engagement is “dirty play”: the unstructured, tactile interaction with soil, mud, plants and the microbial life that inhabits them. This article explores the developmental, immunological and ecological value of such interactions, which are frequently dismissed or sanitised due to modern hygiene norms and societal perceptions of ‘dirt’ as dangerous or undesirable. We synthesise evidence from microbiome science, environmental psychology and early childhood education to argue that microbially rich natural environments play a crucial role in shaping healthy immune systems, preventing inflammatory and allergic diseases, and nurturing curiosity, sensory development and nature connectedness. Integrating ‘dirty play’ into early childhood settings supports children's health and could cultivate ecological empathy, encouraging deeper, lifelong relationships with the natural world.Item Finding joy on the way: shared journeys in education [Editorial](University of Aberdeen, 2025-09-16) Green, Sarah; Kimm, Michael; Morin, Julie; Dick, SuzieAs we cross through the first quarter-century mark of our new millennium, we find ourselves, as educators, entrenched in a landscape of ever moving standards, fighting the battles of ever more sociopolitical stakeholders, while constantly being bombarded by the needs of the next new system, the next new talking points, the next new pedagogy. The field of practice is ever more dotted with academic landmines for teachers to navigate, while data driven instruction initiatives and accountability policies in the name of rigor afford many teachers less curricular movement than ever before. It is safe to say, both critically and anecdotally, the profession, at every level, is exhausted. This plays out in the numbers both entering and leaving the profession, which in many countries has reached disparities that are borderline catastrophic (Domović and Drvodelić, 2025; Lindqvist et al., 2022; Magni, 2025; Nguyen et al., 2024; Rahimi and Arnold, 2025), with UNESCO via the United Nations currently estimating “an urgent need for 44 million primary and secondary teachers worldwide by 2030” (UNESCO, 2025). The work, for so many of those who remain, has become work of fear, frustration, and futility; the love is dwindling, the joy is gone. This statement is not hyperbolic. Beyond being felt deeply by this core of editors, a surge of academic investigation into joy in education post-COVID simultaneously recognizes the degradation of joy in contemporary classrooms and systems and the essential role that joy plays in both teaching and learning. Multiple collections of essays have been published since this special issue put out its call in late 2024 that specifically examine joy in our global pedagogies, an example of which can be found in Joy-Centered Pedagogy in Higher Education, edited by Eileen Kogl Camfield and published by Routledge in the middle of 2025. As part of the pre-title, multi-author foreword, Stommel addresses, in one stroke, many of the above highlighted concerns: “Teaching is deeply human work. This book is an antidote to all the forces in education that would have us forget that… we can refuse the narrative that we must suffer to do something good for our students” (see Camfield, p.ii). Camfield herself, in her formal foreword in the same work, suggests we “take another look at joy – joy not as fluffy ‘feel goodism,’ but as the tough fiber that binds community together and weaves a net that catches those who might otherwise fall” (p.xiv). This special issue is Education in the North’s (accidentally) well-timed contribution to that call.Item Ode to Joy: discussions on creating a chorus of jubilation in education(University of Aberdeen, 2025-09-16) Lord, Kat; Deazley, StephenIn this dialogue, Stephen, Artistic Director of a non-profit arts organisation, and Kat, a former primary school teacher and Senior Lecturer in Education at a Post-1992 university, reflect on the nature of joy in informal and formal education spaces as taken from their professional experiences. They explore how to create the conditions for joy in those spaces through song, discussing their collaboration to design an inclusive and sustainable singing programme, Sing for Wellbeing.Item Priority research questions in microbiome-integrated urban design(American Society for Microbiology, 2025-10-14) Robinson, Jake; Beckett, Richard; Archer, Lorraine; Barrable, Alexia; Bogdan-Margineanu, Michael; Bradley, Sean; Hawes, Sarah; Herr, Christiane; Housen, Mira; Lacatusu, Alexandra; Laitinen, Olli; Roslund, Marja; Rumble, Heather; Scott, William; Sinkkonen, Aki; Xin, SunUrbanization is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, with 70% of the global population projected to live in cities by 2050. This shift presents significant challenges and opportunities for fostering sustainable urban ecosystems aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Microbiomes—the diverse communities of microorganisms that underpin ecosystem function—are increasingly recognized for their vital role in nutrient cycling, climate regulation, biodiversity support, and human well-being. However, their consideration and integration in urban design remain underexplored, often limited to disease mitigation. The emerging field of microbiome-integrated urban design seeks to leverage microbial activity to enhance urban health and resilience through a multispecies framework. To address critical gaps, the Probiotic Cities Working Group convened a global interdisciplinary workshop, engaging experts from ecology, architecture, urban planning, immunology, and social sciences. Using reverse brainstorming and thematic analysis, participants identified eight core themes and 40 priority research questions (via a modified Delphi technique). These themes span communication and policy, pollution prevention, interdisciplinary collaboration, experimental design, ethics, and public perception of microbiomes. A binomial concordance analysis revealed strong consensus on the top-ranked questions, which address urgent needs such as improving science communication, defining success metrics, and promoting evidence-based microbiome interventions. This paper discusses the top-ranked priority research questions and their broader implications for microbiome science, urban health, and sustainable development. By focusing on these priorities, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners can foster a transformative agenda to integrate microbiomes into urban design, advancing resilient and equitable cities for the future.Item The power of placements: reflections on a joyful activity to empower teacher educators(University of Aberdeen, 2025-09-15) Scholes, Stephen C.; Dey, Donna; Green, Christopher; Michael, Eluned; Oates, Catriona; Payne, Orlaith; Shirazi, Tara; Stevenson, SarahIn Scottish university-based initial teacher education (ITE), university-based teacher educators support and assess preservice teachers during school placements. This work requires substantial knowledge and skills, rapid relationship building, and extensive travel. Teacher educators navigate emotionally demanding situations, balancing rigorous standards with individual growth when making crucial professional judgements. This piece positions school placements as a joyful and empowering experience. Through curated reflections from eight teacher educators across four Scottish universities, it explores key themes, demonstrating the empowering potential of placement practice. This contribution aims to foster a positive self-image among teacher educators and highlight the value of placement work. In doing so, it challenges institutional views that sometimes overlook the skill, intellectual rigour, and pastoral expertise essential to effective teacher-educators’ placement practice.Item Biophobia and Pet Ownership: Can Having a Pet Mitigate Our Fear and Aversion Towards Nature?(Cal Poly Humboldt, 2025) Longson, Hannah; Barrable, AlexiaBiophobia, which we defined as fear, disgust, or aversion toward natural environments or organisms, has received little empirical attention when compared to biophilia, despite its implications for human and planetary wellbeing. This mixed-methods study explores the relationship between pet ownership, biophobia, and nature connectedness among 373 Englishspeaking adults. Quantitative findings reveal that pet owners exhibit significantly lower levels of biophobia than non-pet owners, although no significant differences were found when we look at nature connectedness. A small but significant negative correlation was observed between biophobia and nature connectedness. Qualitative analysis further highlights that pet owners tend to report fear and aversion related mostly around human threats and damage when natural settings, while non-pet owners more frequently express aversion toward natural stimuli such as insects, mud, and wild animals. These findings support the “pets as ambassadors” hypothesis and suggest that pet ownership may serve as a factor mitigating biophobia. However, the absence of a corresponding increase in nature connectedness underscores the need for targeted interventions to foster deeper ecological relationships. Implications for future research and practical applications in education and conservation are discussed.Item A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of virtual reality nature effects onhigher education students' mental health andwellbeing(Wiley, 2025-09-04) Hubbard, Gill; Verde, Philip Albert; Barrable, Alexia; O'Malley, Chris; Barnes, Nicholas; Toner, PaulVirtual Reality nature (VRn) may deliver mental health and wellbeing without being outside in real nature. The main objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to report effects of VRn on mental health and wellbeing of students in higher education. To be eligible, participants were higher education students, the intervention was VRn, the outcome variable was a mental health parameter, and the study design was experimental. Information sources were: OVID (Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO), SCOPUS, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PubMed and GreenFILE. Searches were conducted May 2023 and re-run November 2024. The modified Downs and Black checklist for randomised and non-randomised studies was used to assess risk of bias. To synthesise results, data were first extracted into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and summarised in narrative, statistical and tabular formats. Twenty-four articles were included. Two studies were ‘good’ quality, 18 ‘fair’, and four ‘poor’. Total sample size was 1,419. Two studies compared VRn versus real nature, six VRn versus no intervention, seven VRn versus flat-screen. Twelve studies included forests as the only natural environment. Thirteen of 17, seven of eight, four of five, and four of seven studies reported pre-post intervention beneficial effects on self-reported mood, anxiety, stress and cognition, respectively. Nine of 13, six of 10 and all five studies that measured cardiovascular, skin conductivity and brain activity respectively, reported pre-post intervention beneficial effects. All five studies that measured anxiety, all three studies that measured mood, and all four studies that measured stress, found no significant differences between VRn and flat-screen images of nature. Caution is required drawing conclusions due to studies' quality and sample sizes. That said, the review suggests that nature replicated in VR shows promise for benefits to mental health and wellbeing in higher education students.Item Working Memory Capacity Is Related to Eyewitness Identification Accuracy, but Selective Attention and Need for Cognition Are Not(2025-09-16) Töredi, Dilhan; Mansour, Jamal K.; Jones, Sian; Skelton, Faye; McIntyre, AlexIndividual differences in working memory capacity, selective attention, and need for cognition were investigated as postdictors—variables indicating the likelihood that an identification is accurate—using same-race and cross-race lineups. We also explored whether these variables improve predictions of identification accuracy when considering confidence and response time. White participants (N = 274) completed individual differences measures, watched four mock-crime videos (2 Asian targets, 2 White targets), made lineup decisions, and rated their confidence. Working memory capacity predicted identification accuracy and target-present accuracy but not target-absent accuracy. A regression model with confidence, response time, and working memory capacity explained more variance than a model with confidence and response time alone, indicating that working memory capacity tells us more about identification accuracy than extant reflector variables about identification accuracy.Item Loneliness, Social Cohesion, and the Role of Art Making(MDPI, 2025-08-27) Sagan, OliviaGlobal interest in the rising rates of loneliness runs parallel to increased concern about weakening social cohesion. Both phenomena are described as complexly entwined with trust and agency and related to wellbeing at both an individual and societal level. Whilst opinions are numerous and divided on how to alleviate loneliness and build social cohesion, there is some important coalescence around claims of the contribution of art making to both warding off loneliness and building social cohesion. This paper draws on the work of Hannah Arendt and contemporary readings of her theory of loneliness to suggest how art making can be efficacious and why it should play a central role in community building rather than be relegated to a peripheral desideratum. Drawing on data from two studies into community art making, the paper explores how the inter- and intrapersonal processes of being seen and showing can alleviate loneliness, begin to restore agency, and help build social cohesion.Item “It was a road to understanding that I was always different”: Experiences of receiving a neurodivergent diagnosis at university(British Psychological Society, 2025) MacLean, Stephanie; Jones, SianThis study explored how receiving a neurodivergent diagnosis at university affects undergraduates’ academic experiences. We conducted semi-structured interviews with six Scottish students (diagnosed between ages 21–37 years). Reflexive Thematic Analysis revealed three key themes: Academic Struggle, Self-Discovery, and Support. Participants reported low wellbeing prior to diagnosis, with improvements afterwards. The diagnostic journey was closely linked to their self-understanding, academic challenges, and access to helpful support. Findings highlight that university environments often overlook neurodivergent needs, influencing students’ wellbeing and access to study. This research underscores the importance of inclusive academic practices and timely recognition of neurodivergent identities.