Transcript EAB 013

Young children and the
environment –
Educating for sustainability
Julie Davis
School of Early Childhood
QUT
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Queensland University of Technology
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The Big Picture
What is sustainability?
What is education for sustainability (EfS)?
What might EfS look like in ECE?
Resources for ECEfS
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Australia: The lucky country
An affluent country in affluent times…
– Have a booming economy
– We can afford to lower taxes
– We can afford big cars and big houses
– More students go to private schools
– International travel is on the rise
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Recent reports/ alarms
Doctors for the Environment Australia, 2007
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Recent Wake-up Calls
• Sept 06 – Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth
• Nov 06 – Stern Review into economics of climate
change - UK
• 06/07 – UN Intergovernmental Panel on climate
change
• Nov 07 - Global Environment Outlook 4
• Nov 07 - Healthy Planet, Places and People
• Feb 2008 - Garnaut Interim Review - Aust.
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Older reports/ alarms re sust
• The Silent Spring – Rachael Carson - 1962
• Population Bomb - Paul Ehrlich – 1968
• Our Common Future - UN Bruntland
Commission - 1987
• Rio Earth Summit – Rio Declaration 1992
• GEO reports – 1995; 2000; 2003
• Rio plus 10 - Johannesburg - 2002
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The challenges
• World population
– 1.2 billion to 6.7 billion in 100 years
– have added 1.7 billion in last 20 years
– greatest growth in less developed world
– 20% world’s pop. uses 80 % resources
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The challenges
• Resource use & biodiversity
– Each human requires 1/3
more land to supply their
needs than Earth can provide
– Australians (& others in the
over-developed world) have
heavy ecological footprints
– need 3-4 more Earths
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The challenges
• Global warming inevitable; Aust. one of largest
greenhouse gas emitters/ pop.
• World water cycle unlikely to cope with coming
demands - 6 in 10 rivers no longer reach the sea
• Increased agric. productivity negated by land
degradation
• Species loss around 1000 times pre-industrial rate
• ‘Old’ diseases & new re/emerging
• Gaps between rich and poor continue to widen
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Challenges for children
• 20% of chn do not have clean, safe drinking water
• nature deficit disorder
– 57% of all chn growing up in urban slums or where
wilderness is severely impoverished
– Traffic increasingly dominates most children’s outdoor
experiences
– Contact with animals most likely to be cats, dogs, caged
birds, cockroaches, rats and mice
– Houses getting bigger, yards getting smaller
• ‘bubble-wrap generations’ – over protection & risk
avoidance
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• Do any of these issues ‘ring true’
for you in your work or
experience?
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Fundamentally….
• While global warming is the particular
environmental issue capturing the headlines, the
larger issue is that….
• “Our present course is unsustainable –
postponing action is no longer an
option”
(Global Environment Outlook 2000)
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What is sustainable development?
• …development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
(UN World Commission on Environment and Development 1987)
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What is sustainability?
• Recognises ecological limits of human activity on
Earth
• Is an equity issue including intergenerational equity
• Is eco-centric rather than anthropocentric
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How can we achieve sustainability?
• change thinking and actions
– ecocentric rather than anthropocentric
– consider future generations and their needs
– consider the other 80%
– recognise resource & ecological limits
– rethink education for new & challenging times
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Education for Sustainability
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• Education for sustainability is a
positive response to critical issues!!
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Key Characteristics of EfS
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Transdisciplinary –not a subject
Action-oriented – creates change
Participatory – people working together
Applied learning – real-life
Inquiry-based learning – problem-solving/
seeking
• Concepts, skills & values learning
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Simply translated as….
• Education in the environment
• Education about the environment
• Education for the environment
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• Education for sustainability is good
early childhood education!!!
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What does ECEfS look like?
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Under-practiced and under-researched!
But some great exemplars:
Little Green Steps NSW
Eco-kindies NZ
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Campus Kindy, Brisbane
– Sustainable Planet Project since 1997
– Started as team building
– Became a whole of centre project
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What happens?
Chooks
Frog Pond
Vegetable Garden
Native Plant Regeneration
Worm Farm
Sustainable
Planet
Project
Composting
Environmental
Aesthetics
Reusing/Recycling Program
Litter-less lunches
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Efficient use of Natural Resources
Possum Boxes
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Water Conservation Project
• Observation - Too much water being wasted.
• Discussion - Shared knowledge and experiences
-“What are we going to do?”
• Research incl. ‘Water-Wise’ Visit
• Decisions - Many ideas
• Actions – Chn made signs
– Reduced water use, empowered chn
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Shopping Trolley Project
• Issue: Children found trolley in playground
• Discussion: “What are we going to do ?”
• Decision: Write letters to Coles and ‘trolley stealers’.
Research:
– Excursion to Coles
– Analyzed situation
• Action: Made signs
• Community education
– Cleaner environment, informed community, empowered
children
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Creating cultural change at CK
• Children contribute to planning and development of
project
• Active involvement of whole CK community
• Connections made between EfS learning and all
other curriculum content areas
• Environmental, social, economic benefits
• Children as agents of change for sustainability
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How to create change
1. Analyse your context – Is there an issue or topic that
has been identified?
1. Research the issue - involve chn, parents, wider
community
2. Get support, resources - funds, people, chn’s
books
3. Create a collaborative learning culture where
teamwork and mentoring become normal social
practices
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How to create change cont…..
4. Make and implement a plan – take your time
5. Make changes – record progress & process;
make policy changes
6. Ensure that informed, reflective practice
infuses interactions and deliberations.
7. Celebrate and consolidate ‘small wins’.
Build on these to scale up their impacts. Start
again!
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Share your stories and experiences.
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What’s happening in ECEfS?
• UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (2005-2014)
• 1st international workshop on ECEFS - May
2007, Sweden
• 1st Aust ECEFS conference – Nov 2007
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What’s happening in ECEfS?
• Early Childhood Australia
– global warming and its impact on young children a
key advocacy platform
– Code of Ethics :‘work with children to help them
understand that they are global citizens with shared
responsibilities to the environment and humanity’
• Various national & state conferences have ECEfS as
theme – ECA, ECTA
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Get active!!
• QECEEN – Qld Early Childhood Environmental
Education Network – ECA – relaunching in May 2008
• Aust Assoc for Envir Educ – Special Interest Group
ECEfS – run by Sue Elliott http://www.aaee.org.au/
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WHY? Because…
Good planets are hard to find!!
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Useful References
• Bower, L. (2004) Everyday learning in the Backyard
Canberra: Early Childhood Australia.
• Boyle, L. (2006) Environmental experiences in
childcare. Putting children first. September National
Childcare Accreditation Council.
• Davis, J. & Elliott, S. (2003). Early childhood
environmental education: Making it mainstream.
Canberra: Early Childhood Australia.
• Elliott, S. (Ed.) (2008) The outdoor playspace
naturally. Pademelon Press
• Kinsala, R. (2007) Greening services: Practical
sustainability. Canberra: Early Childhood Australia.
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