Special Issue: Contemporary Research on Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (original) (raw)
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Mounting concerns about climate change and unsustainable development, and their current and future impacts on all of us – but particularly on children - provided the impetus for this book. Then, as researchers in early childhood education (ECE) and/or education for sustainability (EfS), we used these concerns to shape and question our thinking. This first-ever research text in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) was advanced when the chapter authors, almost all of whom participated in one or both Transnational Dialogues in Research in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (Stavanger, Norway, 2010, and Brisbane, Australia, 2011) met for the first time - a critical mass of researchers from vastly different parts of the globe - Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand at the inaugural meeting, with participants from Korea, Japan and Singapore attending the second. We came together to debate, discuss and share ideas about research and theory in the emerging field of ECEfS. An agreed-upon outcome of the Dialogues was this text.
Striving for the Sustainable Development Goals: What do children need to thrive?
2017
PART 2 Survive. Thrive. Transform. In the opening essay, Bhardwaj, Sambu and Jamieson assert that focusing on children is crucial both for the well-being of children and for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).2 In signing the SDGs, states promised to leave no-one behind and to transform societies, economies and the environment to ensure a fairer and safer future for all. This essay critically engages with the 2030 Global Agenda and assesses the potential of the SDGs to transform our world to enable all children – regardless of race, gender, ability, or social background – to not only survive but thrive. In this essay, we examine the following key questions: • What enables children to thrive? • What interventions are needed to ensure that all children thrive? • To what extent do the SDGs promote nurturing care? • Do the SDGs create an enabling environment for caregivers and families? • Do the SDGs have the potential to transform the social, economic, political, climati...
Research in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability
Routledge eBooks, 2014
Mounting concerns about climate change and unsustainable development, and their current and future impacts on all of us-but particularly on children-provided the impetus for this book. Then, as researchers in early childhood education (ECE) and/or education for sustainability (EfS), we used these concerns to shape and question our thinking. This first-ever research text in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) was advanced when the chapter authors, almost all of whom participated in one or both Transnational Dialogues in Research in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (Stavanger, Norway, 2010, and Brisbane, Australia, 2011) met for the first time-a critical mass of researchers from vastly different parts of the globe-Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand at the inaugural meeting, with participants from Korea, Japan and Singapore attending the second. We came together to debate, discuss and share ideas about research and theory in the emerging field of ECEfS. An agreed-upon outcome of the Dialogues was this text.
The Future We Want: Learning from Children's Experiences of Sustainable Development
2012
Children bear much of the brunt of the human impacts of environmental shocks and climate change, not only on account of their age and stage of development, but because more children live in poverty than do other age groups. Unpredictable and extreme weather, such as droughts and floods, rising pollution levels, poor access to sanitation and other public services, combined with global economic instability, are undermining children’s healthy development and reinforcing the poverty cycle. It is widely acknowledged that the poorest households face a disproportionate burden from environmental stresses and have the fewest resources to cope with them. This policy brief examines children’s relationship with their environment in three ways: it looks at the impact of shocks, particularly environmental shocks; the effects of food insecurity on children’s lives; and children’s relationship to the environment in which they live. It uses quantitative and qualitative data from four countries (Peru, Ethiopia, India and Vietnam) to demonstrate children’s vulnerability as a result of environmental insecurity, and to highlight children’s hopes and concerns for the future.
This paper makes the case that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) offers the field of early childhood a valuable base upon which to begin addressing some substantial contemporary concerns. In the paper, we outline key recent developments in the field of early childhood, particularly those related to globalisation and the spread of European American ideals. Yet ESD promotes the incorporation of local and indigenous understandings in formal education. We propose that, given; (i) broadening appreciation of the reality that early childhood education is characterised by diversity in early values and practices across sociocultural contexts, and; (ii) global interest in and commitment to early childhood education, the field is not only in need of, but also well-placed to adopt this key principle of ESD.
T20 Policy brief, 2020
Enabling universal participation in early childhood development, education, and care programs is one of the most effective tools available to policymakers for improving individual and societal outcomes on a wide range of indicators. This has been recog- nized by the Group of 20 (G20) and the 2030 SDGs. While progress has been made, in- equality in terms of access to and quality of programs persists. The current COVID-19 pandemic has exposed structural weaknesses in many countries’ societal institutions and has exacerbated existing inequalities within and between countries. It has put a spotlight on the need to re-orientate all societal institutions—including those aimed at supporting and educating young children—toward sustainability, equality, and, ul- timately, survival. This policy brief provides a systemic framework for reconceptualiz- ing early childhood development, education, and care as a central element of achiev- ing these global goals
Research in Early Childhood Education for Sustainabilty: International Perspectives and Provocations
2014
Sustainability is a global issue that urgently needs addressing, the most serious consequences of which concern children and future generations. This insightful research text tackles one of the most significant contemporary issues of our times – the nexus between society and environment – and how early childhood education can contribute to sustainable living. By offering international and multidisciplinary research perspectives on Early Childhood Education for Sustainability, each chapter explores and investigates the complex topic of sustainability and its relationship to early childhood education. A particular emphasis that runs through this text is young children as empowered citizens, capable of both contributing to and creating change for sustainability. The chapter authors work from, or are aligned with, a transformative education paradigm that suggests the socio-constructivist frameworks currently underpinning Early Childhood Education require reframing in light of the social transformations necessary to address humanity’s unsustainable, unjust and unhealthy living patterns. This research text is designed to be provocative and challenging; in so doing it seeks to encourage exploration of current understandings about Early Childhood Education for Sustainability, offers new dimensions for more deeply informed practice, and proposes avenues for further research in this field.