Playing With Life: Ways of Fostering Environmental Education in the Early Years (original) (raw)
Related papers
Environmental Education Research, 2016
Many efforts have been made around the globe to advocate for and encourage environmental sustainability education (ESE). As many as 15 fields can serve as 'currents' on the greater field of environmental education, including environmental education and education for sustainability. We acknowledge that each is a separate and distinct field of inquiry, but choose not to limit our perspective to any one field or the other. Thus, we have elected to use the term ESE to refer to work that falls into any or all of these categories throughout this manuscript for learners of all ages. Yet, there is a dearth of information at the early childhood level, defined as toddlers through eight-year-olds. Our exploratory study focused on better describing young children's understandings of ESE. Young children (ages three-eight) from three different suburban early childhood education settings (public school pre-kindergarten, church-based cooperative preschool, and private daycare center) participated in focus group interviews before and one week after a brief ESE learning activity. Findings revealed that children were able to describe nature in more sophisticated ways after the intervention than before, suggesting that learning in early childhood ESE is possible and fruitful.
2014
The authors take a reflective journey to explore the research methodology utilised in a multi-method, multi-site research study of children's environmental learning in schoolgrounds in Australia. Informed by an extensive literature review and dialogue with researchers around the world, the study constructed a research design and procedure that could be utilized by practitioner researchers and academic researchers as the foundation for further research on children's learning in schoolgrounds. This paper has the specific task of sharing our research story and lessons learnt as a conversation to those who intend to conduct future research with children on schoolground greening projects. Résumé Les auteurs prennent un séjour de réflexion pour explorer la méthodologie de recherche utilisée dans un projet multiméthodes, un projet de recherche réparti sur plusieurs emplacements, un projet de sensibilisation des enfants à l'environnement dans les cours d'école en Australie. Éclairée par une recension exhaustive des écrits et par un dialogue avec des chercheurs du monde entier, l'étude a échafaudé un plan de recherche et de procédures qui pourrait être utilisé par des chercheurs praticiens et par des chercheurs académiques comme le fondement d'une recherche future sur l'apprentissage des enfants sur les cours d'école. Cet article a la tâche spécifique de partager nos textes de recherche et les leçons apprises en conversant avec ceux qui ont l'intention de mener des recherches futures avec des enfants sur des projets d'écologisation de cours d'école. Children's environmental learning in their local environment has been a key area in the multidisciplinary field of children's environments (Hart, 1979; Moore, 1986). Building on this tradition, our schoolground research project, Children's Environments, applied research methods from the UNESCO Growing Up In Cities project (Malone, 1999; Malone & Hasluck, 1988) alongside methods adapted from "playground research" projects to develop a multimethod approach to researching children's experiences of their school environment.
Environmental Education Research, 2009
In 2007, Environmental Education Research dedicated a special issue to childhood and environmental education. This paper makes a case for ‘early childhood’ to also be in the discussions. Here, I am referring to early childhood as the before‐school years, focusing on educational settings such as childcare centres and kindergartens. This sector is one of the research ‘holes’ that Reid and Scott ask the environmental education community to have the ‘courage to discuss’. This paper draws on a survey of Australian and international research journals in environmental education and early childhood education seeking studies at their intersection. Few were found. Some studies explored young children’s relationships with nature (education in the environment). A smaller number discussed young children’s understandings of environmental topics (education about the environment). Hardly any centred on young children as agents of change (education for the environment). At a time when there is a growing literature showing that early investments in human capital offer substantial returns to individuals and communities and have a far‐reaching effect – and when early childhood educators are beginning to engage with sustainability – it is vital that our field responds. This paper calls for urgent action – especially for research – to address the gap.
Respect for Nature – A Prescription for Developing Environmental Awareness in Preschool
Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 2013
Embedded in the notion of sustainability lies a striving for an environmentally sustainable world and respect and care for the non-human world, as well as efforts to establish social, economic and political justice or all people. This paper deals with education for sustainability in Swedish pre-schools from two perspectives: first, the views held concerning the relationship between human beings and nature; second, young children’s participation and agency. The theoretical underpinning is informed by critical theory with a case study approach. The empirical material is derived from 21 applications, which were from Swedish preschools to be certified with »The Diploma of Excellence in Sustainable Development« (Swedish National Agency for Education). The main findings show that few critical questions are raised about the human-nature relationship in the applications, even though views concerning the connectedness with, and care and respect for the natural world are emphasised. Children’...
Teaching Ecology to Children of Preschool Education to Instill Environmentally Friendly Behaviour
International journal of environmental and science education, 2016
This qualitative study analyzes the results of a pedagogical and didactic experiment which was focused on the problem of teaching environmentally-friendly behaviours to young kindergarten children. It is essential to awaken children's curiosity and desire to know more about environmental issues in their regions so that children develop their own answers to problems. Our research focus was to understand the potential of practical-experimental activities connected to ecology, in a relaxed and entertaining learning context, promotes the learning of environmentally-friendly behaviours. The analysis of the results obtained in the pedagogical and didactic experiment was based on the following categories: (a) teaching and learning methodology and teaching resources; (b) children perceptions. The findings revealed that the built teaching resources have enabled these children to understand the importance of having environmentally-friendly behaviours.
Fostering communities for ecological sustainability within early childhood education
2010
We are now at the half-way point of the UNESCO decade for education for sustainable development, promulgated in recognition of the seriousness of the global climate crisis, and positioning educators as potential leaders in generating the cultural changes needed to address this crisis (UNESCO, 2005). This article reports on one key focus of a recent study, 'Titiro Whakamuri, Hoki Whakamua. We are the future, the present and the past: caring for self, others and the environment in early years' teaching and learning', which had the aim of investigating how centres can work with their local communities in fostering ecologically sustainable practices. This project utilised a philosophical framework grounded in kaupapa Māori notions such as manaakitanga (caring) and kaitiakitanga (stewardship), along with an ethic of care . The work of teachers from ten early childhood centres produced evidence of teachers proactively raising awareness amongst tamariki and whānau of strategies for caring for our environment, and ways in which this extended more broadly into their communities, some of which are described below.
Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 2004
For many children across the globe, whether in low or high income nations, growing up in the 21st century will mean living in overcrowded, unsafe and polluted environments which provide limited opportunity for natural play and environmental learning. Yet Agenda 21, the Habitat Agenda and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child all clearly articulate the importance of urban environments as the context for supporting children’s sense of place, community identity and empathy with the natural world. I will argue in this paper that these attributes are all key drivers for supporting children in their role as future decision makers and environmental stewards. Extending Winnicotts’ concept of “holding environments” beyond the social and cultural aspects of communities as sites for placemaking I draw a link to the value of botanical gardens and other green spaces in cities as the “holding environments” for children’s environmental learning. I will construct an argument around the premise that to participate in, and contribute to, global sustainability - our children need places and the opportunity to engage, connect and respond to nature.