Research on education for sustainable development has generally not included early childhood

Early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) is an emerging area of interest reflecting an intersection of early childhood education (ECE) and environmental education (EE). This study was based on a concern about an apparent lack of research to inform and guide this emerging field of interest. Its specific aim was “to identify related research about environmental education/ education for sustainability programs and issues that explicitly had young children and their education as active participants as the focus.” The study was based on the understanding that if only a paucity of research could be found, researchers and/or agencies would be alerted to this gap and perhaps be motivated to address this concern.

Data for this study was based on a survey of 14 well-known English-speaking peer-reviewed journals in the fields of early childhood education and environmental education published over a period of 12 years (1996-2007). Seven of the journals were from the field of early childhood education and seven from environmental education. The identification of articles reflecting an intersection of ECE and EE included a manual scanning of titles and abstracts published in the journals. A more detailed reading of the paper was also done when needed to confirm appropriateness for inclusion in the data set.

A total of 39 articles reflecting an intersection of ECE and EE were identified – 22 in the ECE journals, 17 in the EE journals. The 39 articles represent less than five percent of the published articles in the journals over a twelve year period. Some of the studies explored young children’s relationships with nature. A smaller number focused on their understandings of environmental topics. There were “hardly any” studies focusing on young children as agents of change. In other words, of the few studies reflecting an intersection of ECE and EE, there were some focusing on education in the environment, only a few focusing on education about the environment, and almost none focusing on education for the environment. “In general, early childhood education researchers have not engaged with environmental/ sustainability issues and environmental education researchers have not focused their attention on very young children and their educational settings.”

This paper reveals the research “hole” of ECEfS and “makes the case for early childhood education for sustainability to be given status as a legitimate new field of research endeavour.” Specific recommendations are offered on how the paucity of research in the field of ECEfS might be addressed.