Nature by Default in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability

Title
Nature by Default in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability
Publication Date
2016
Author(s)
Elliott, Sue
Young, Tracy
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1017/aee.2015.44
UNE publication id
une:19278
Abstract
This essay critiques the relevance of historical antecedents about children's play in nature and how these historical and political mechanisms create cultural norms and dominant discourses that sustain nature-human dualisms. Provoked by Taylor's (2013) exploration of the pervasive influence of romanticised images of innocent children in nature and our own experiences of never-ending 'nice' stories about young children in nature, here we trouble how nature experiences may or may not preclude children's meaningful and agentic participation in sustainability. We question is engagement with nature, a tangible and easily accessible approach in early childhood education (ECE) promoting a 'nature by default paradigm' and potentially thwarting a fuller transformative engagement with sustainability. Thus, we argue the case for shifting our frames beyond idealised romanticised notions and human-nature dualisms to a 'common worlds' (Haraway, 2008; Latour, 2004; Taylor, 2013) frame guided by collectivist understandings within connective life worlds. Such a shift requires a significant recasting of ethical human-nature understandings and relationships in ECE.
Link
Citation
Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 32(1), p. 57-64
ISSN
2049-775X
0814-0626
Start page
57
End page
64

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