Lines in the snow; minor paths in the search for early childhood education for planetary wellbeing

Abstract

This paper explores what place means for early childhood education at a time of global environmental precarity. We draw on fieldwork in Arctic Norway, where kindergarten children spend time with snow for more than half of the year. Children’s movement attunes to the nuances and diversity of the snow, as seasons, temperature, light, wind and weather change the consistency of snow and the possibilities for what can occur. The paper presents data of children walking in deep snow during an ice-fishing trip, a practice known as ‘grynne’, asking what we can learn both about the moment-by-moment attunement between child, snow and place necessary to grynne, and the paths of movement left behind in the snow afterwards. We draw on Manning’s work in order to trace the major and minor gestures running through grynne, as an analytic starting point for educators considering the role early years pedagogy might play in planetary sustainability.Thinking beyond the notion of humans as masterfully in control of environment, Ingold’s notion of correspondence offers a counter, advocating for a ‘lifetime of intimate gestural and sensory engagement’ as a way of learning to attune more deeply to place and take seriously the way in which place and humans mutually shape each other. In a place where seasonal temporality matters, in extreme ways that change how children’s bodies can move, we consider what children’s entanglement with snow can teach us, educators as well as researchers, about education for sustainability.

Knowing-with-snow in an outdoor kindergarten

“…The concept of correspondence can be a tool for identifying these processes, which will otherwise be ignored or overlooked. In terms of kindergarten practice, this will primarily entail setting aside time and space for the emergence of this kind of interaction (Myrstad et al, 2020). A further step in terms of pedagogic practice as well as in a research process would be to question where the focus of attention lies and what consequences can derive from redirecting awareness from the individual to relationships (Brooke, 2021, p. 187).…”

“…When using the video camera, a handheld camera with an open display was used by the researchers and held at the children's height. This prevented our faces from being hidden behind the camera, allowing us as researchers to communicate with the children and staff (Myrstad et al, 2020). The video camera thus functions as a third eye instead of being the only eye (Sinding-Larsen, 1992).…”

“…In the quest for sustainable practice, the relationship between children and nature has been afforded increasing interest in the light of post-humanistic and newmaterialistic theories. To a greater extent than in affordance theory, focus and attention is directed towards reciprocity in the dynamic interaction between children and a 'more-than-human' world (Comber, 2013;Malone, 2016;Myrstad et al, 2020;Somerville, 2015;Taylor & Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2015). The learner and the environment are understood as an indivisible process, where different elements exercise a reciprocal influence on each other within a common world (Taguchi, 2010;Taylor & Giugni, 2012).…”

“…After heavy snowfalls, the landscape is transformed into a landscape of snow in which former nuances, details, and points of reference on the ground vanish. The snowscape can be regarded metaphorically as a clean sheet (Myrstad et al, 2020). Taken literally, the snow defines mobility, visibility, and accessibility for activities (Eira et al, 2018).…”

Reimagining “Collaborative Exploration”—A Signature Pedagogy for Sustainability in Early Childhood Education and Care

“…Therefore, a central feature of the positioning of a teacher needs to be movement and maneuvering between a complex mix of demands, conditions and initiatives. Features of the pedagogical style include attentiveness, shared meaning-making alongside children, acknowledgment of diverse forms of knowledge and maneuvering between children's play imagination and their search for scientific truths [49,50]. Moreover, there must be a deep understanding of the pedagogical task, whereby the teacher balances the responsibility to every child in the group and the group dynamic, managing both time and place (chronotopes) [43] in a whole-body approach.…”