Summary
Since the end of the 1980:s when OECD published the Brundtland report, in which the concept of sustainable development as a critical global issue was introduced, the role of education for global survival has been frequently discussed and explored, by politicians as well as researchers. In school curricula and educational practice, efforts have been made to include material and issues related to, for example, climate changes and nature resources in teaching and learning. Surprisingly little attention has however been paid to the question of the way (and on what premises) early childhood education might (and should) be involved. In this article we discuss some aspects of early childhood education with a bearing on its role in education for sustainable development. The fact that early childhood education belongs to the larger educational system means that global political and economical issues are involved when planning and conducting education for sustainability in pre-school as much as in the rest of the educational system. Recent changes in Swedish educational policy, characteristic traits in pre-school pedagogy and the pre-school child as learner of sustainability are commented upon and discussed.
Résumé
Depuis la fin des années 1980, lorsque l’OCDE a publié le rapport Brundtland abordant le concept du développement durable comme problème majeur, le rôle de l’éducation pour la survie globale a été fréquemment discuté et exploré par les politiciens et les chercheurs. Dans les programmes scolaires et dans la pratique éducative, des efforts ont été faits pour inclure dans l’enseignement et dans l’apprentissage du matériel et des questions liées, par exemple, aux changements climatiques et aux ressources naturelles. Etonnamment peu d ’attention a été accordée à l’implication de l’éducation de la petite enfance. Dans cet article, nous discutons de quelques aspects de l’éducation de la petite enfance, dont son rôle dans le développement durable. L’éducation de la petite enfance faisant partie du système d’éducation dans sa globalité signifie que les questions de politique et d’éducation mondiales sont en cause lorsqu’il s’agit de planifier et d’offrir l’éducation relative au développement durable à l’école maternelle, aussi bien que dans le reste du système scolaire. Les récents changements dans la politique scolaire suédoise, traits caractéristiques de la pédagogie de l’école maternelle et de l’enfant de maternelle se formant au développement durable sont les éléments commentés et discutés.
Resumen
Desde fines de los años 80, cuando la OCDE publicó el informe Brundtland, en el que se introduce el concepto de desarrollo sustentable como un asunto crítico a nivel global, el rol de la educación para la sobrevivencia global ha sido objetivo de discusión y análisis permanente por parte de políticos e investigadores. En el curriculum escolar y en las prácticas educacionales, se han desplegado esfuerzos para incluir materiales y asuntos relacionados con, por ejemplo, el cambio climático y los recursos naturales en la pedagogía y el aprendizaje. Sin embargo, resulta sorprendente que se considera poco en qué forma y sobre qué premisas puede y debería participar la educación preescolar. En este artículo, analizamos algunos aspectos de la educación preescolar respecto de su rol en la educación para el desarrollo sustentable. El hecho de que la educación preescolar pertenezca al sistema educacional general significa que hay asuntos políticos y económicos globales involucrados al momento de planificar y orientar la educación para la sustentabilidad tanto en la educación preescolar como en el resto del sistema educacional. Aquí, se comentan y analizan cambios recientes en la política educacional sueca, rasgos característicos en la pedagogía preescolar y los preescolares en su condición de personas que aprenden sobre sustentabilidad.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Björneloo, I. (2007).Innebörder av hållbar utreckling. [Meanings of Sustainable Development. A study of teachers’ statements on their education.] En studie av lärares utsagor om undervisning. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. Diss.
Björneloo, I. & Nyberg, E. (2007). (Eds.),Drivers and barriers for implementing learning for sustainable development in pre-school through upper secondary and teacher education. Education for Sustainable Development in Action. Technical paper N 4, 2007. UNESCO Education Sector.
Davies, L. (2004).Education and conflict. Complexity and chaos. London: Routledge Falmer.
Elkind, D. (2007).The power of play. Cambridge: Da Capo Lifelong Books.
Fröbel, F. (1995).Människans fostran. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Hakvoort, I. & Hägglund, S. (2001). Peace and war described by seven-to-seventeen-year-old Dutch and Swedish girls and boys.Peace and Conflict. Journal of Peace Psychology., 7(1), 29–44.
Halldén, G. (2007).Den moderna barndomen och barns vardagsliv. [Modern childhood and children’s everyday life.] Stockholm: Carlssons.
Hong-Ju. (2006). Teaching and Learning about the Concept of “nation” in Preschool Classroom. International Journal of Early Childhood Education.The Korean Society for Early Childhood Education, 12(2), 129–150.
Hägglund, S. (1996). Developing concepts of peace and war: Aspects of gender and culture.The Peabody Journal of Education, 71 (3), 29–41.
Hägglund, S. (1999). Peer-relationships and children’s understanding of peace: A socio-cultural perspective. In A. Raviv, L. Oppenheimer & D. Bar-Tal (Eds.),Children’s and adolescents’ understanding of war, conflict and peace: International perspectives (pp. 190–208). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Hägglund, S. & Hill, M. (1999) Education for democracy in a European context. In A. Perucca & J. Calleja (Eds.),Peace education, context and values (111–135). Lecce: Pensa Multimedia Lecce.
Johansson, E. (2007).Etiska överenskommelser i förskolebarns världar. [Ethical agreements in preschool children’s worlds, in Swedish.] Acta universitatis Gothoburgensis. Göteborg Studies in Educational Sciences 251. Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet.
Johansson, E., & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2006) Play and learning — inseparable dimensions in preschool practice.Early Childhood Development and Care, 176(1), 47–65.
Johansson, E. & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2006).Lek och läroplan. Möten mellan barn och lärare i förskola och skola. [Play and curriculum: Encounters between children and teachers in preschool and school.] Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.
Johansson, E. & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2007).Att lära är nästan som att leka. Lek och lärande i förskola och skola. [Learning is almost as playing. Play and learning in preschool and school.] Stockholm: Liber.
Lauder, H., Brown, P., Dillabough, J.-A., & Halsey, A. H. (2006). Introduction: The prospects for education. Individualization, globalization and social change. In H. Lauder, P. Brown, J.-A. Dillabough, & A. H. Halsey (Eds.)Education, globalization and social change (pp. 1–70) Oxford: University Press.
Lee, N. (2005).Childhood and human value. Development, separation and separability. London: Open University Press.
Löfdahl, A. & Hägglund, S. (2006). Power and participation. Social representations among children in pre-school.Social Psychology in Education, 9, 179–194.
Löfdahl, A. & Hägglund, S. (2007) Spaces of participation in preschool. Arenas for establishing power orders.Children and Society, 231, 328–338.
Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden (1998).Curriculum for pre-school, Lpfö 98. Stockholm: Fritzes (www.skolverket.se).
Pramling, I. (1996). Understanding and Empowering the Child as a Learner. In D. Olson & N. Torrance (Eds.),Handbook of Education and Human Development: New Models of learning, teaching and schooling (pp. 565–592). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2005). Can play and learning be integrated in a goalorientated preschool?Early Childhood Practice: The Journal for Multi-Professional Partnerships. Spring. www.earlychildhoodpractice.net 7(1).
Pramling Samuelsson, I. & Kaga, Y. (Eds.) (2008).The Contribution of Early Childhood Education to Sustainable Society. Paris: UNESCO
Pramling Samuelsson, I. & Fleer, M. (Eds.) (2008).Play and learning in Early Childhood Settings: International perspectives. New York: Springer Verlag.
Pramling Samuelsson, I., Asplund-Carlsson, M., Olsson, B., Pramling, N. & Wallerstedt, C. (2008).Konsten att lära barn, estetik. [The art of teaching children aesthetics.] Stockholm: Nordstedts Akademiska Förlag.
Siraj-Blachford, J. (2008). The implications of early understanding of inequality, science and technology for the development of sustainable societies. In I. Pramling Samulesson & Y. Kaga (Eds.),The Contribution of Early Cchildhood Education to a Sustainable Society (pp. 67–71). Paris: UNESCO.
Skolverket (2008).Tio år efter förskolereformen. Nationell utvärdering av förskolan. [Ten years after the preschool reform. National evaluation of preschool] Stockholm: Skolverket, Rapport 318.
Sommer, D., Pramling Samuelsson, I. & Hundheide, K. (in press). Child perspectives and children’s perspectives in theory and practice. New York: Springer.
SOU (1999:63).Att lära och leda. En lärarutbildning för samverkan och utveckling. [Teaching and guiding. A teacher eduation for interplay and development.]] Lärarutbildningskommitténs slutbetänkande. Stockholm, Utbildningsdepartementet.
SOU (2000:3).Välfärd vid vägskäl. Utveckling under 1990-talet. Delbetänkande. Kommittén Välfärdsbokslut. [Welfare at cross-roads. Development during the 90’s.] Stockholm, Fritzes.
SOU (2004:104).Att lära för hållbar utveckling. Betänkande av kommittén för hållbar utveckling. [Learning for sustainable development.] Stockholm: Utbildnings-departementet.
SOU (2008:109).En hållbar lärarutbildning. Betänkande av Utredningen om den ny lärarutbildning (HUT 07) [A sustainable teacher education.] Stockholm: Fritzes.
UNECE (2005). Draft for UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development. Swedish version. Strategi för hållbar utveckling. Stockholm: Regeringskansliet. Utbildnings- och kulturdepartementet. www.unece.org/env/esd/strategytext/strategiSwedish.pdf
UNESCO (2004). UnitedNations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Framework for a draft international implementation scheme. Draft document. October 2004.
UNESCO (2008).EFA Monitoring Report 2009. Education For All. Overcoming inequality: Why governance matters. Oxford: Oxford University press.
UN Publications, http://www.un.org/publications (090212).
Vallberg Roth, A.-C. (2002).De yngre barnens läroplanshistoria. [The young children’s curriculum history.] Lund: Liber.
Vygotsky, L. (1986).Thought and language. Boston, MA: MIT Press.
Wals, A. (2006). The end of ESD… the beginning of transformative learning — emphasizing the E in ESD. Paper presented at the Gotenburg Consultation on Sustainability in Higher Education.
WCED (1987).Our Common Future. A report from the United Nations World Comission on Environment and Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wickenberg, P., Axelsson, H., Fritzén, L., Helldén, G., & Ödman, J. (2004).Learning to change our world? Swedish research on education and sustainable development. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Öhman, J. (2007). The ethical dimension of ESD — Navigating between pitfalls of indoctrination and relativism. In I. Björneloo & E. Nyberg (Eds.),Drivers and barriers for implementing learning for sustainable development in pre-school through upper secondary and teacher education. Education for Sustainable Development in Action. Technical paper N 4, 2007. UNESCO Education Sector.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hägglund, S., Samuelsson, I.P. Early childhood education and learning for sustainable development and citizenship. IJEC 41, 49–63 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03168878
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03168878