Conceptualizations of Young Children/Early Childhood and Sustainability in Consequential Times

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Nine
  In Roundtable Session: Humanizing and (Re)Imagining Unequal Childhoods to Advance Equity in Education, Research, and Practice (Table 15)

Abstract

This participatory action research investigated how early childhood (EC) educators engage in sustainability practices within localized contexts. Primary aims of the study were to better understand educators’ beliefs about sustainability, how educators identify sustainability practices, and how sustainability beliefs and practices are implemented in EC programs. This in turn enabled us to examine the impacts of beliefs on children’s agency, and what myths need dismantling to foster democratic approaches to sustainability. Researchers engaged EC educators in a series of professional learning sessions and subsequent interviews to explore our research questions. Findings expose 3 myths; sustainability is hard and inappropriate for young children, is a moving target, and bridging the divide between environmental, social, and economic justice in communities of practice.

Authors

• Lacey Elizabeth Peters, Hunter College - CUNY
  Non-Presenting Author

• Janette Habashi, University of Oklahoma
  Presenting Author

• Ingrid M. Anderson, Portland State University
  Presenting Author

• Victoria Damjanovic, Northern Arizona University
  Presenting Author