Local and Global Aspects: Teaching Social Sustainability in Swedish Preschools

Abstract

Although policy documents emphasize the importance of integrating social, economic, and environmental dimensions into education for sustainability (EfS), there is a lack of studies investigating how social sustainability can be included in preschool teaching. Therefore, this study aims to increase knowledge about preschool teachers’ teaching practices relating to social sustainability. This study uses EfS as a conceptual framework that includes a holistic view of sustainability addressing social, economic, and environmental aspects, as well as pluralistic teaching approach from a transformative perspective. To explore the views and teaching practices, individual interviews were conducted with 12 preschool teachers from eight preschools that took part in a school development project. The project included professional development workshops for teachers on EfS and local implementation efforts. Thematic content analysis was conducted. The interviews made it apparent that the teachers initially viewed sustainability from an environmental perspective; however, after involvement in the school development project, they began to integrate the social sustainability dimension into their teaching. The teachers associated local sustainability challenges with those faced internationally. To a certain extent, children’s agency was noted in pluralistic educational activities that supported children’s active participation. The level at which preschool teachers integrated social sustainability into their teaching varied.

Caring for Worldviews in Early Childhood Education: Theoretical and Analytical Tool for Socially Sustainable Communities of Care

“…There is a notable lack of research on social sustainability in the context of ECEC education [11]. There is also an urgent need for new and sustainable ways of living, and for further understanding of how education for sustainability is being accounted for in the ECEC, as it is often the young children who are at the forefront of many global challenges [12].…”

Integration of education for sustainability in the preschool curriculum: A comparative study between the two latest Swedish curricula

“…For example, children's agency was identified in pluralistic educational activities that supported children's active participation. Moreover, the study found that professional development for teachers had a positive effect in terms of their understanding of the complexity of EfS from a holistic perspective and that the teachers were able to put EfS into practice while connecting to SDGs (Borg & Gericke, 2021). As can be seen from these examples, it is possible to put the more pluralistic and transformative oriented EfS from the new curriculum into practice; however, there is a great need for studies that can investigate this issue further.…”

“…However, few such studies have been within the field of preschool research. A recently published case study, meanwhile, shows that teachers' professional development can have an effect on pluralistic teaching, in particular in connection to the social dimension (Borg, 2019;Borg & Gericke, 2021). For example, children's agency was identified in pluralistic educational activities that supported children's active participation.…”

“…A specific teaching method, EfS, is presented in both policy (UNESCO, 2005;, practice (Naturskyddsföreningen, 2017), and research (Eilam & Trop, 2010) as a way to develop the competence of school pupils to act in relation to sustainability. The importance of EfS has also been established in preschool teaching because it can affect the development of young children's attitudes and future behaviour relating to sustainability issues (Inoue et al, 2016) and in more recent years has been highlighted as an important aspect of research on preschools (Borg & Gericke, 2021;Gericke et al, 2020). Another question thus raised is whether this teaching perspective is reflected in the new Swedish curriculum.…”

A Study on Role Orientation and Professional Development of Early Childhood Teachers in Preschool Education in the Context of Big Data

“…Literature [20], based on the professional attitudes and career development motivations of preschool teachers obtained from the questionnaire survey, was applied to the development of policies to stimulate the autonomy and innovativeness of preschool teachers in order to release the subjective initiative of the teachers, so as to maximize the potential of the preschool teachers in educating young children. Literature [21] aims to deepen the understanding of the role played by socially sustainable factors in the field of preschool education. In-depth interviews were conducted to explore the perspectives of preschool teachers, and the results revealed that preschool teachers' education in the context of social sustainability effectively promotes participation in children's diverse educational activities.…”