Abstract
This chapter turns the reader to critical debates and typologies in the environmental education research and literature. Such debates are contextualised within early childhood education and play pedagogies in particular. The authors initially discuss the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability, leading to further critical discussion around the apparent tensions between environmental education and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)/Education for Sustainability (EFS). The authors challenge the dominant aligning of Education for Sustainability (EFS) and early childhood education, arguing that such alignment is grounded within traditional ideas about children’s play. Rather the authors focus upon situating environmental education within contemporary play-based pedagogies. The chapter explores how understanding play-based pedagogy in terms of the role of the teacher is helpful because it widens understandings of ‘play’ so that content and educator interactions are valued alongside children’s activities and interests. Such understandings are essential with respect to supporting children in developing ecocentric or biophilic dispositions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Blanchard, P. B., & Buchanan, T. K. (2011). Environmental stewardship in early childhood. Childhood Education, 87(4), 232–238.
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. (2011). Revisiting Vygotskian perspectives on play and pedagogy. In S. Rogers (Ed.), Rethinking play and pedagogy in early childhood education: Concepts, contexts and cultures (pp. 60–73). London: Routledge.
Copple, C., Bredekamp, S., & National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8 (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Cutter-Mackenzie, A., & Edwards, S. (2013). The next 20 years: Imagining and re-imagining sustainability, environment and education in early childhood education. In S. Elliott, Davis, J., Edwards, S., & Cutter-Mackenzie, A. (Eds.), Best of Sustainability: Research, Practice and Theory (pp. 61–67). Deakin West: Early Childhood Australia.
Cutter-Mackenzie, A., Edwards, S., & Widdop Quinton, H. (2013). Child-framed video research methodologies: Issues, possibilities and challenges for researching with children. Children’s Geographies.
Davis, J. (2010). What is early childhood education for sustainability? In J. Davis (Ed.), Young children and the environment: Early education for sustainability (pp. 21–43). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, (DEEWR). (2009). Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
Department of Education. (2012). Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. London: Crown.
Dobson, A. (2007). Green Political thought (4th ed.). London: Routledge.
Dockett, S. (2011). The challenge of play for early childhood education. In S. Rogers (Ed.), Rethinking play and pedagogy in early childhood education: Concepts, contexts and cultures (pp. 32–48). London: Routledge.
Duhn, I. (2012). Making ‘place’ for ecological sustainability in early childhood education. Environmental Education Research, 18(1), 19–29. doi:10.1080/13504622.2011.572162.
Eckersley, R. (1992). Environmentalism and Political Theory: Toward an Ecocentric Approach. London: UCL Press.
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.
Epstein, A. S. (2007). The intentional teacher: Choosing the best strategies for young children’s learning. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Fien, J. (2000). Education for the environment: A critique- an analysis. Environmental Education Research, 6(2), 179.
Fleer, M. (2010). Early learning and development: Cultural-historical concepts in play. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Hedges, H., & Cullen, J. (2005). Subject knowledge in early childhood curriculum and pedagogy: beliefs and practices. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 6(1), 66–79.
Hovardas, T. (2013). A critical reading of ecocentrism and Its meta-scientific use of ecology: Instrumental versus emancipatory approaches in environmental education and ecology education. Science & Education, 22(6),1467–1483.
Huckle, J. (1991). Education for sustainability: Assessing pathways to the future. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 7, 43–62.
Hyun, E. (2005). How is young children’s intellectual culture of perceiving nature different from adults’? Environmental Education Research, 11(2), 199–214.
Jickling, B. (1992). Why I don’t want my children to be educated for sustainable development. Journal of Environmental Education, 23(4), 5–8.
Jickling, B., & Spork, H. (1998). Education for the Environment: A Critique. Environmental Education Research, 4(3), 309–327.
Jickling, B., & Wals, A. (2007). Globalization and environmental education: looking beyond sustainable development. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 40(1), 1–21.
Jordan, B. (2009). Scaffolding learning and co-constructing understandings. In A. Anning, J. Cullen & M. Fleer (Eds.), Early childhood education. Society and culture (2nd ed., pp. 39–53). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Kallery, M., & Psillos, D. (2001). Pre-school teachers’ content knowledge in science: Their understanding of elementary science concepts and of issues raised by children’s questions. International Journal of Early Years Education, 9(3), 165–179. doi:10.1080/09669760120086929.
Kopnina, H. (2012). Education for sustainable development (ESD): the turnaway from ‘environment’ in environmental education? Environmental Education Research, 18(5), 699–717.
Littledyke, M., & McCrea, N. (2009). Starting sustainability early: Young children exploring people and places. In N. Taylor & C. Eames (Eds.), Education for sustainability in the primary curriculum: a guide for teachers (pp. 39–57). South Yarra, Vic.: Palgrave Macmillan.
O’Riordan, T. (1981). Environmentalism. London: Pion Limited.
Orr, D. W. (1992). Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World. Albany: State University of New York.
Pepper, D. (1984). The roots of modern environmentalism. London: Groom Helm.
Pepper, D. (1986). The roots of modern Environmentalism. London: Routledge.
Pramling Samuelsson, I., & Asplund Carlsson, M. (2008). The playing learning child: Towards a pedagogy of early childhood. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52(6), 623–641.
Pramling Samuelsson, I., & Kaga, Y. (2008). The contribution of early childhood education to a sustainable society. Paris: UNESCO.
Prince, C. (2010). Sowing the seeds: Education for sustainability within the early years curriculum. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18(3), 273–284. doi:10.1080/1350293X.2010.500082.
Robbins, J. (2003). The more he looked inside the more Piglet wasn’t there: What adopting a sociocultural perspective can help us see. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 28(2), 1–7.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sauve, L. (2005). Currents in environmental education: Mapping a complex and evolving pedagogical field. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 10, Spring, 11–37.
Selby, D. (2009). The Firm and Shaky Ground of Education for Sustainable Development. In B. Chalkley, M. Haigh, & D. Higgitt (Eds.), Education for sustainable development: Paper in honour of the United Nations decade of education for sustainable development (2005–2014) (pp. 199–213). New York: Routledge.
Siraj-Blatchford, I., Taggart, B., Sylva, K., Sammons, P., & Melhuish, E. (2008). Towards the transformation of practice in early childhood education: the effective provision of pre-school education (EPPE) project. Cambridge Journal of Education, 38(1), 23–36. doi:10.1080/03057640801889956.
Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2009a). Conceptualising progression in the pedagogy of play and sustained shared thinking in early childhood education: A Vygotskian perspective. Educational and Child Psychology, 26(2), 77–89.
Siraj-Blatchford, J. (2009b). Editorial: Education for sustainable development in early childhood. International Journal of Early Childhood, 41(2), 9–22.
Trawick-Smith, J. (2012). Teacher-child play interactions to achieve learning outcomes – Risks and opportunities. In R. C. Pianta, W. S. Barnett, L. M. Justice, & S. M. Sheridan (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood education. USA: Giuldford Publications.
UNESCO-UNEP. (1976). The Belgrade Charter: A global framework for environmental education. Connect: UNESCO-UNEP Environmental Education Newsletter, 1, 1–2.
Vadala, C. E., Bixler, R. D., & James, J. J. (2007). Childhood play and environmental interests: Panacea or snake oil? Journal of Environmental Education, 39(1), 3–18.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2004). Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97.
Wilson, E. O. (1992). The diversity of life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wood, E. (2007). Reconceptualising child-centred education: Contemporary directions in policy, theory and practice in early childhood. Forum, 49(1/2), 119–134.
Wood, E., & Attfield, J. (2005). Play, learning and the early childhood curriculum (2nd ed.). London: Paul Chapman.
Wood, E. (2013). Play, learning & the early childhood Curriculum (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications.
World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Edwards, S., Cutter-Mackenzie, A., Moore, D., Boyd, W. (2014). Environmental Education and Pedagogical Play in Early Childhood Education. In: Young Children's Play and Environmental Education in Early Childhood Education. SpringerBriefs in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03740-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03740-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-03739-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-03740-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)