Early Childhood Education for Sustainability:

Assoc. Prof. Julie DavisSchool of Early Childhood,

Queensland University of Technology

Brisbane, Australia

the starting point for education for sustainability(An Australian perspective)

My key points:

• Our youngest citizens have the biggest stake in sustainable futures –

• most vulnerable • around the longest to be the most impacted

• Yet, ECE has been ‘missing in action’ in relation to ESD

Guttenberg Recommendations on Education for Sustainable Development

• “...early childhood is a natural starting point for ESD (2008, p.1)

What frameworks am I using?

• Tbilisi Declaration (1977) - environmentally -educated teachers, the ‘priority of priorities’

• ABOUT - Knowledge-based approach esp. science• IN - Experience in natural environments• FOR - Social action – socio-political dimension• ESD/EfS – active participation by learners in

community problem-solving

What is Early Childhood EfS?

In Playing in/with nature

About Nature table, learning about plants and animals

For Sustainable practices - growing a garden, composting, saving water, recycling

EfS Whole centre/community approaches: sharing ideas and solutions, children as active participants and decision- makers

Education in the environment in early childhood: necessary but not sufficient for addressing sustainability

Education about the environment/ sustainability:

BUTWhat do/can young children know?

Understandings of natural phenomena often science-based: necessary but not sufficient for sustainability

• Food cycles• How plants grow• What happens in a worm farm• Where water comes from/goes to• ……

What do young children know?Children’s Voices about the State of the Earth and Sustainable Development (OMEP, July 2010)

If plants would fade and trees didn´t grow anymore animals should starve to death when there would not be lawns for horses nor food. And giraffes would not get food anymore. Some animals should die out when their mouth could not eat. Even lions wouldn’t play when their prey animals had died already. And then lions would disappear one day because of lack of food since their food is running out (Finland)

Our planet used to have firm cover around it self and now it has holes because exhaust gasses from cars damaged it, smoke from chimneys, fridges, sprays and now when the cover is damaged the sun shines strongly and damages everything (Slovakia)

Continued....

To make the earth last longer; if the sun becomes too strong then it will be too war[m] for the people on earth (Sweden)

So that the earth is not to die and humans would need to live on another planet (Turkey)

So we will always have stuff, the water and food to eat. We have to take care of the earth and don’t use too much … only use what we need (USA)

Education for sustainability in early childhood: some examples

Campus Kindy, Brisbane, Australia• Long day care centre/preschool• About 60 children• 2.5 – 5 years• Wholistic view of child • Integrated curriculum• Project approach for deep/wide learning• Whole centre approach to curriculum

Sustainable Planet Project

SUSTAINABLEPLANET

PROJECT

Litter-less lunches

Vegetable garden

Native plant regeneration

Environmental aesthetics

Efficient use of natural resources

Frog pond

Chooks

Reusing/recyling

Responsible cleaning practices

Composting

Worm farm

Possum boxes

Campus Kindy cont….

Education in, about, for + tackle specific issues:

• Biodiversity and natural habitats• Water conservation• Energy conservation• Waste management• Global warming….

Global Warming Project (with permission from Campus Kindy – taken from CK documentation)

• Newspaper article used as a provocation

• Teacher introduced topic of global warming to find out what children already knew

• Children shared their knowledge

Children’s views of global warming

• James M: The Earth is getting a bit hot.

• James B: One day everything on Earth might be dead because of pollution.

• Amitai: The Earth is getting too hot.

• Kai: You have to stop burning fires.

• Aidan: Cars make pollution.• Robert (teacher): So what could

we do to help?• James M: Catch a bus.• Baylen: Go on a sail boat.

• Baylen: Buses also use petrol.

• Robert (teacher): Do you think a bus full of people coming to kindy or all those same people in lots of cars would make more pollution?

• Everyone: The cars!• Dylan: When people burn

pollution people get hot.• Laura: When the Earth gets

hot it actually breaks up.• Natahlia: The sun gets

closer and closer and the animals will die.

As discussion deepened…..

• James B: The trees are dying but they’re holding the Earth together, but if the trees die the Earth will die and people will die. We could make a chemical reaction thing inside a car to keep pollution inside so pollution doesn’t get out. A chemical reaction inside would make pressure to make a turbine go and make the wheels turn and you could do it in boats. We have to learn how to make a chemical reaction that doesn't make pollution though.

• Sarah: How about putting something cold in it so it doesn’t burn?• James B: You can’t use cold otherwise you couldn’t get a chemical

reaction.• Amitai: You could use a kayak to paddle and not make pollution –

where there is water.• Laura: We shouldn’t cut down too many trees.• Robert (teacher): If we cut down too many trees they won’t be able

to do their job soaking up all the carbon dioxide and cleaning the air.• Baylen: Trees keep our environment safe ‘cause they suck up all the

hot dirty air into their bodies, turn it into cool clean air and move it back out into the environment.

The following day…..

Aidan proudly explained that he caught a bus to kindy instead of driving today. (Aidan's mum explained that Aidan had spoken to her the previous night and shared his thoughts about global warming and suggesting they could catch a bus to kindy.)

• Robert (teacher): What else could we do?• James B: We could write to the government of the world.

Conversation followed discussing what the government was, what it did, and who the leader of the Australian Government was.

• James M eventually said: Kevin RuddThe kindy friends then went on to compose the following letter to Australia’s Prime Minister:

Letter to Prime Minister & follow-up actions• Several weeks later the children

received a supportive response from

the Prime Minister. Their voices had

been heard on a national level!

• Feeling empowered by the

recognition, the Kindy children went

on to organise the planting of 200

native plants as part of a Campus

Kindy community project.

Hallett Cove Preschool, South Australia: Water, solar, ICTs

Water Tank Project, children:– Helped plan the site– Sketched placement of water tank & plumbing– Measured distances using equipment e.g.

measuring tapes, rulers, blocks – Recorded progress using digital cameras – Discussed videos & slide shows as project

developed– Helped plan the launch & issued invitations.

What these examples tell us....

That young children:– already know about environmental/sustainability

issues– care about the world– have good ideas– can be effective, active agents for change– need teachers to scaffold their learning for

sustainability– excellent ECEfS is already happening!

What do we know about ECE & ESD?

• ECE has strong traditions that support EfS/ESD

• But– needs to recognise & value past traditions and

respond to the imperative of sustainability

– time to push boundaries from benign co-constructivist to transformative ECE

What does this mean for the field?

Need to rethink about children and young people in terms of:

1.developmentalism Vs constructivism

2. learning and agency

1.Views of children & young people

• Many (in both ECE & ESD) still hold outmoded views of children/ young people based in:– Piagetian/ developmentalist theories– Stages/ages – ‘not before 8yr’ mantra– Can’t engage in complex thinking– Modeling as main form of environmental

learning

NAAEE Early Childhood EE programs for Excellence (2010)

“Young children cannot grasp the concepts of limited natural resources or energy conservation; they can follow your example and learn behaviors that will reduce their environmental footprint and influence their decisions for years to come.” (p. 51)

2. Children’s participation/agency

1. ARACY (2011) Weathering the future: Climate change, children and young people, and decision making

– Concerned about lack of involvement of young people

• Often tokenistic• Many mechanisms for listening; few for ways

of acting

Children’s participation & agency2. ARACY (2008) Children’s agency in communities: a

review of literature and the policy and practice context– Dominant theory, policy & practice frameworks

position children as objects impacted by adult actions

• Need to recognise children as agents in their communities now

• children are active human beings now, not human becomings (Qvortrup 1994:4)

• recognise that children are already ‘environmental stakeholders’

NEW curriculum in ECE • Can draw on ‘sociology of childhood’ and

children’s rights literature

• demands democratic, action-oriented curriculum & pedagogy, based in children’s participation

Where are we at with ECEfS?

• 2/3 way through UNDESD (2005-2014) - More to

be done!

• slow start, getting stronger

• growing strongly in Australasia amongst

practitioners & professional associations

– ‘patches of green’ → ‘green quilt’

– long way to go in EC teacher education

– small, but growing, research base

In Australia

• 1st network – in 1993• 1st refereed paper by Aussie 1997• 1st conference presentation – symposium in 2000• 1st national report – 2003• 1st ‘gathering’ in NZ - 2006• Launch of SIG for ECEFS - 2007• 1st full conference - 2009• 2010-2011 – multiple events, lobbying, initiatives

Internationally

– UNESCO Professor for EC and ESD – 2006?

– 1st international workshop - 2007

– 1st report – UNESCO - 2008

– 2nd international workshop….Guttenberg Recommendations - 2008

– 1st dedicated issue on sustainability in IJEC - 2009

– 2010 OMEP conference – had EFS strand

– 2011 WEEC – had ECE strand

– 2010 1st Transnational Dialogues – Scandinavia/ Australasia

– 2011 –2nd research workshop – above + Singapore, Japan, Korea

– Multiple papers, initiatives, networking

The gaps

• Research into ECEFS – teachers getting on board but don’t have the research to guide good practice

• Early childhood teacher education

ECEfS research

Davis, 2009: Fewer than 5% refereed articles in either ECE or EE/EfS journals related to ECEfS

• don’t know best ways yet for ECEfS• need to understand & share good practice• avoid making same mistakes• need to create a vibrant community of

thinkers, practitioners & advocates

Early Childhood Teacher Education

• Student teachers are switched on but…….– No overall ‘picture’ of EFS in teacher ed– is piecemeal– No common agenda/principles– Teacher educators not aware/not informed – ie

don’t know how/what to teach

– Plenty of work to be done!!!– Need support from ESD/EfS community!

WHY ECEfS?

References/further reading• Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (2011) Weathering the future: Climate

change, children and young people, and decision making. http://www.aracy.org.au/cmsdocuments/ARACY%20climate%20change%20report%20March%202011%20FINAL%20full1.pdf

• Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (2008) Children’s agency in communities: a review of literature and the policy and practice context . http://www.bensoc.org.au/uploads/documents/childrens-agency-in-communities-oct2008.pdf

• Blashki, G., Cooke, S., Davis, J., Best, A. & Tooley, I. (2011). Healthy Children, Healthy Planet: The case for transformative sustainability education in schools International Journal of Public Health, invited paper for special issue “Climate Change and Rural Child Health ”, 2(4), 561-570.

• Davis, J. (Ed.) (2010) Young children and the environment: Early learning for sustainability. Melb.: Cambridge University Press.

• Davis, J. (2009) Revealing the research ‘hole’ of early childhood education for sustainability: A preliminary survey of the literature, Environmental Education Research. 15(2), 227–241.

• Elliott, S. & Davis, J. (2009). Exploring the resistance: An Australian perspective on educating for sustainability in early childhood. International Journal of Early Childhood, 41(2), 65-77.

• Engdahl. I. & Rabusicova, M. (2010) Children’s voices about the state of the Earth and sustainable development. Report for the OMEP World Assembly and World Congress on the OMEP World Project on ESD 2009-2010, Sweden.

• McNichol, H., O’Brien, K. & Davis, J. (2011) An Ecological Footprint for an early learning centre: identifying opportunities for sustainable early childhood education through interdisciplinary research. Environmental Education Research,17(4).

• Qvortrup, J. (1994). (Ed.) Childhood matters: Social theory, practice and politics. Aldershot: Avebury.