Starting sustainability early: young children exploring people and places

Abstract

This chapter presents our Views on effective educational practice for children's learning during the early years, focusing on children aged three to five. Through an overarching Education for Sustainability (EfS) approach, our underlying philosophy is based on recognising children as active, powerful contributing agents to their own learning, especially in collaboration with others. First, we set a broad context for relevant pedagogy by outlining various early education settings; these settings influence young children's understanding and values. Relevant pedagogical frameworks are then explored, based on contemporary theories and research, along with appropriate practice from the early childhood field. Children's learning and educators' teaching are introduced with a focus on exchanging questions and exploring possibilities. This section sets the scene for the heart of the chapter - a learning/teaching sampler.