Engaging children: research issues around participation and environmental learning

Hacking, Elisabeth Barratt; Barratt, Robert; Scott, William

doi:10.1080/13504620701600271

Cited by 112 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This literature has contributed to an increased focus on sustainability within early childhood pedagogy, curriculum and research which, in turn, led to the emergence of the early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) field. Over the past decade, ECEfS discourses have evolved over time, and also have returned over time, to include nature conservation education, nature study and environmental education; relationship with nature; environmental stewardship; education about and for the environment; teachers' understanding and implementation of sustainability practices; and children's rights and the contemporary notion of children as change agents and critical thinkers (Barratt Hacking et al 2007;Davis 2009;Davis and Elliott 2014;Hedefalk et al 2014;Somerville and Williams 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Analysis of Concepts Associated with Sustainability in Early Childhood Curriculum Frameworks Across Five National Contexts

Weldemariam

Boyd

Hirst

et al. 2017

IJEC

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Curriculum frameworks have an important role in providing guidance to early childhood practitioners on how to integrate knowledge about sustainability into their practice. This article examines how ideas about sustainability are integrated in the early childhood curricula for Australia, England, Norway, Sweden and the USA. The analyses were guided by critical inquiry and a cross-national dialogue and focused on four aspects of the curricula: sustainability presence, views of the child, human-environment relationship and philosophical/theoretical underpinnings on ideas expressed about sustainability. Ideas about sustainability were more implicitly present than explicitly stated in most curricula. It was not evident that children were viewed as world citizens with agency to help foster sustainability. With respect to human-environmental relationship, the framework from Australia expressed greater reciprocity and entanglement, while other frameworks were more anthropocentric despite the variation among curricula. All five frameworks embodied a sociocultural, human development approach with respect to the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings. There is a need to consider alternative frameworks that offer broader and more inclusive worldviews about sustainability that includes embracing human, non-human and other species within an assemblage of common worlds.Keywords Anthropocentric Á Curriculum theory Á Early childhood education Á Sustainability Á Education for sustainability Á Child agencyRésumé Les programmes d'études jouent un rôle important dans l'orientation des praticiens de la petite enfance sur la manière d'intégrer les connaissances sur la durabilité dans leur pratique. Cet article examine comment les idées sur la durabilité sont intégrées dans les programmes préscolaires en Australie, Angleterre, Norvège, Suède et aux É tats-Unis. Les analyses ont été guidées par une enquête critique et un dialogue transnational, et axées sur quatre aspects des programmes: la présence de la durabilité, les perspectives de l'enfant, les relations entre l'humain et l'environnement et les fondements philosophiques/théoriques soutenant les idées exprimées sur la durabilité. Les idées sur la durabilité sont plus implicitement présentes qu'explicitement énoncées dans la plupart des programmes. Il n'est pas évident que les enfants sont considérés comme des citoyens du monde ayant la capacité d'agir pour favoriser la durabilité. En ce qui concerne les relations entre l'humain et l'environnement, le programme de l'Australie exprime plus de réciprocité et d'interrelation tandis que les autres sont plus anthropocentriques. Les cinq programmes incluent tous une approche socioculturelle du développement humain comme fondements philosophiques et théoriques. Il est nécessaire d'envisager des programmes alternatifs qui offrent des visions du monde plus larges et plus inclusives sur la durabilité, et qui comprennent l'inclusion des espèces humaine, non humaines et autres à l'intérieur d'un ensemble de mondes communs.Resumen ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Analysis of Concepts Associated with Sustainability in Early Childhood Curriculum Frameworks Across Five National Contexts

Weldemariam

Boyd

Hirst

et al. 2017

IJEC

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“…The first official report by UNESCO about the contribution of ECE to a sustainable society stressed the importance of creating spaces for children to not only connect with nature and environment but also about children's agency to bring about change to support their future lives (Pramling Samuelsson and Kaga 2008). Other related themes within ECE that have emerged over the years include the critical role of children's engagement as environmental stakeholders in environmental learning and outdoor activity for their well-being (Barratt Hacking et al 2007); the importance of establishing children's relationship with nature as well as their ecological and environmental literacy (Davis 2009); the role of children as social agents, critical thinkers and problem solvers who are able to affect change in collaboration with the community (Davis and Elliott 2014); and teachers' professional development with respect to ESD in early childhood education (Hedefalk et al 2014). In a research review of sustainability in ECE, Somerville and Williams (2015) noted that a range of ontological and epistemological perspectives are used in the field, ranging from positivist to interpretivist ones, from critical and transformative ones to post-human ones.…”

Section: Perspectives On Sustainability and Ecementioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability by Default: Co-creating Care and Relationality Through Early Childhood Education

Wals

2017

IJEC

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In this article, based on a keynote address presented at the 68th OMEP World Assembly and International Conference held in Seoul in July 2016, it is argued that children are more in tune with sustainability than most adults and that both adults and children can benefit from intergenerational dialogue and expanded learning opportunities in so-called ecologies of learning. The idea of growing up in the Anthropocene, the new geological epoch that is shaped by one single species, home sapiens, is introduced. What does growing up in the Anthropocene mean for today's children? A short critique is provided of the neoliberal forces that increasingly influence what happens in education and care settings and that essentially make unsustainability the default in our society. Drawing on Martin Buber's ideas of relational ways of being in the world; Nell Nodding's notions of care; and George Siemen's ideas about learning ecologies, some suggestions are offered for co-creating early childhood education and care with people and the planet in mind.Keywords Sustainability Á Childhood Á Early childhood education Á Learning ecology Á Ethic of care Á Connectivism This paper is based on a keynote address presented by Arjen Wals at the OMEP conference, Transforming Early Childhood Systems for Future Generations, held at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea, from 6 to 8 July, 2016. Siemen sur les écologies de l'apprentissage, des suggestions sont proposées pour co-créer l'éducation et la garde à la petite enfance, en ayant à l'esprit les êtres humains et la planète.Resumen En este artículo, basado en el discurso de apertura presentado en la 68a Asamblea Mundial y Conferencia Internacional de OMEP celebrada en Seúl en julio de 2016, se aduce que los niños están más en armonía con la sostenibilidad que la mayoría de los adultos, y que tanto los niños como los adultos, pueden beneficiarse del diálogo intergeneracional y de oportunidades de aprendizaje más amplias en las así llamadas ecologías de aprendizaje. Se presenta el concepto de crecer en el Antropoceno, la nueva era geológica condicionada por una sola especie, el homo sapiens. Qué significado tiene para los niños de la actualidad el hecho de crecer en el Antropoceno? Se hace un breve análisis crítico de las fuerzas neoliberales cuya influencia en los ámbitos de educación y atención es cada vez mayor y que, fundamentalmente, dan por sentada la insostenibilidad de nuestra sociedad. Basados en las ideas de Martin Buber sobre formas relacionales de participación en el mundo, las nociones de atención de Nell Nodding, y conceptos de George Siemen sobre ecologías de aprendizaje, se proponen algunas sugerencias de co-creatividad en el área de la educación y atención en la primera infancia, teniendo a los humanos y al planeta en mente.

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“…Tidigare forskning om barn och lärande för håll-bar utveckling har til största del varit inriktad på undervisning för äldre barn (Barratt Hacking, Barratt, & Scott, 2007). Det internationella forskningsläget har främst varit inriktat mot miljöundervisning och studier om lärande för hållbar utveckling med inriktning mot förskolan har kommit att utvecklats under den senaste tio-årsperioden.…”

Section: Förskolebarn Och Lärande För Hållbar Utvecklingunclassified

Lärande för hållbar utveckling i förskolan: Kunskapsinnehåll, delaktighet och aktörskap kommunicerat i text

Ärlemalm‐Hagsér

2012

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Title: Education for sustainable development: Knowledge content, participation and agency Abstract: This article in educational science scrutinizes education for sustainable development in the Swedish preschool and the ways that young children are described as active participants and agents of change. A critical theory lens was applied in combination with content analysis. Data were derived from 18 applications from preschools to the Swedish National Agency for Education applying for a 'diploma of excellence' in sustainable development. The qualitative content analysis revealed two overarching themes: a) preschoolers' sense of self and others, and b) preschoolers' relationships with place, technologies and materials. Within these themes, nine knowledge content areas relevant to education for sustainable development were identified. In these contents children's participation and agency was mostly seen as listening and taking part in' and only in some extent children were seen as agents for change. Even if, the overall rhetoric in the texts had a child rights perspective children's voices are not really recognised to any great extent as participants or as agents of change. An affirmative approach where detected, where underlying structures of knowledge, content or ways to work not was challenge or transformed.

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Engaging children: research issues around participation and environmental learning

Cited by 112 publications

References 24 publications

A Critical Analysis of Concepts Associated with Sustainability in Early Childhood Curriculum Frameworks Across Five National Contexts

A Critical Analysis of Concepts Associated with Sustainability in Early Childhood Curriculum Frameworks Across Five National Contexts

Sustainability by Default: Co-creating Care and Relationality Through Early Childhood Education

Lärande för hållbar utveckling i förskolan: Kunskapsinnehåll, delaktighet och aktörskap kommunicerat i text

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