Early childhood educators' shifts towards relational pedagogies acknowledged nature's rights and agency Early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) seeks to promote thought processes, behaviors, and actions that reduce environmental harm and support sustainable practices both within early childhood settings and the broader community. Educators’ pedagogical methods and perspectives shape children’s views on sustainability and nature; therefore, it is essential that educators critically reflect on their professional practices. This study explored how early childhood educators’ participation in action research affected changes in their worldviews, identities, and agency regarding education for sustainability (EfS) in natural outdoor settings. The study was guided by the question: “How might an awareness of a nexus between nature and sustainability influence the pedagogies of early childhood educators in nature immersive program settings?”
Early childhood educators who were leading immersive nature play programs at a preschool and a daycare in an Australian city were invited to participate in the study. The preschool and daycare selected two educators to take part in individual interviews and nature program observations, and to detail their experiences and perspectives in a reflective journal. The entire staff of both centers (21 early childhood educators) were invited to participate in focus group interviews. The study employed participatory action research (PAR) and appreciative inquiry methodologies. PAR methods were selected to encourage transformative shifts in the educators’ thinking and pedagogies. As such, PAR methodology served as “the vehicle for transformative learning that presented the educator participants with the opportunity to problematize and engage in both innovative and transformative thinking, reflection, and practice.” Appreciative inquiry was utilized as a complementary approach that aimed to support educators’ reflection on new ideas and creation of new understandings. Data collection spanned eight months. Educators’ perceptions were explored through observations of their practices and pedagogies, individual and focus group interviews, and reflective writings. Data analysis utilized qualitative techniques to examine and interpret transformative shifts in educators’ world views and understandings of pedagogy and praxis.
Findings detailed educators’ “rich journeys of professional learning” that occurred through their engagement in action research. This transformative endeavor involved a shift from “linear and pragmatic pedagogies to more fluid relational pedagogies.” Findings centered on components of transformation through: (1) <em>shifting pedagogical roles in the bush</em>, (2) <em>being with colleagues</em>, (3) <em>rethinking relationalities of place</em>, and (4) <em>emerging lines of flight</em>. The first finding indicated that immersion in natural bush settings supported a <em>shift in pedagogical roles </em>in which more relational pedagogies, such as slow pedagogies, emerged. Engaging with learning about sustainability at a slower pace enabled an intentional approach to valuing nature and place. This approach encouraged ecological understandings and educators’ critical reflection on their worldviews and identity. Another pedagogical shift involved “philosophizing” through deeper conversations with children about sustainability. The finding <em>change through being with colleagues</em> revealed how opportunities for critical reflection and peer pedagogical support facilitated professionally transformative learning. Educators reported that participating in the study with their colleagues promoted critical reflection about sustainability, often through dialogue and discussion. <em>Rethinking place and relationships</em> revealed a move toward post humanist perspectives and relational ethics in which “both educators and children began shifting their focus to include the rights, knowledges, agencies, and the value of the more than human in the place.” Here, a place-based pedagogy that aimed to support children’s development of sustainability worldviews became evident. The final finding, <em>reflecting on emerging lines of flight</em>, demonstrated further shifts towards relational pedagogies. Educators, who initially espoused Western views of nature that prioritized what nature can provide humans, exhibited deepening environmental ethics and even “pedagogical collaboration with nature.” This transformation evidenced an emerging common worlds framework and revealed educators’ changing perspectives and identities.
Findings suggest that PAR methodology aided in the development of relational pedagogies that were rooted in connection and belonging with place. The study reveals educators’ shifts towards a common worlds orientation, which involved a “reimagining of worldviews, identities, agency, and pedagogies with nature as co-constructor, mediator, and leader for learning.” While these connections were sometimes shallow and at other times more deeply philosophical, the author concludes that educators’ “changing ideas, values, and perspectives signaled identity transformation rather than just superficial change.”
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