Climate Country Play: A New Conceptualization of Climatehood Education

• In Event: Climate Country: Dismantling and Co-Constructing Climate Change Education on/With Country

Abstract

This paper is about climate Country play in early childhood education. It is written by non-Indigenous women, and draws upon a large nature play research project where researchers, educators and young children researched and mapped the contours of nature play through cartography. This project revealed that climate and Country are entwining concepts in nature play, meshed in spiralling deep time. In this sense, climate Country play represents a contemporary conceptualisation of climatehood education. In so doing, this paper centres on three Climate Country play maps in theorising climatehood in an early childhood education context. Map one middles on acknowledgement, song and climate, revealing an embodiment of acknowledgment of Country through pedagogy. Map two navigates the forms of slow play on Country, in climate. Map three focusses on multispecies death, climate and Country. The conclusions drawn from these climate Country play maps – informed by the rich experiences and reflections of early childhood educators - offer compelling insights to inform climatehood education in early childhood.

Authors

• Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Southern Cross University

• Lexi Lasczik, Southern Cross University

• Maia Osborn, Southern Cross University

• Linda Michelle Knight, Queensland University of Technology

• Karen Malone, Swinburne University of Technology