Literacy+Sustainability+ : Creative practice and pedagogy in Early Childhood Education

Description

The fate of the planet exists in an entanglement of the human and more-than-human world. Young children have a unique role in the preservation of natural environments, locally and globally (Nelson & Drew, 2024). It is imperative that educators understand the significance of this entanglement and provide opportunities for children to develop agency and connection to the planet, even at the very local level. The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF, V2.0, 2022) guides the practice of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services across Australia. It has a strong focus on sustainability education, recognising ‘children’s ability to engage with the big questions’ (Barblett et al., 2021, p. 26). Additionally, through creative arts children can engage in open-ended and embodied opportunities for inquiry, thinking differently, self-expression, problem-solving, and making sense of the world.

The research is framed by the Literacy+Sustainability+ approach. It reflects ‘thinking differently’ about literacy and sustainability and ‘thinking them together’ (Powell & Somerville, 2020, p. 4) and the endless evolution of entangled experience(s), where (+) represents the next connection, thought, or action, in this case, young children’s creative responses that enable deep connections and meaning-making and the capacity to take care of the environment(s), the ability to articulate concerns, the power to think creatively, and the agency in protecting the planet. Therefore, the project aims to cultivate young children’s understanding of planetary well-being through creative arts learning experiences and support early childhood educators to plan and facilitate sustainability learning through creative arts.

The research is designed as a collaborative process between researcher, educators, and children, which will involve two phases. The first phase is the planning of learning experiences between researcher and educators, using a storybook as a stimulus. The second phase is the implementation and documentation of the learning experiences over time (1-3 months). This presentation will present key findings derived from the collection and analysis of researcher written observations and photos, educator reflections and documentation, and examples of children’s creative output. Implications from findings will be discussed and expected to highlight the potential for creative arts learning to have a positive, significant impact on sustainability understanding by engaging children in creative ways of expressing their connections with the planet and empowering them for future action.

Period	3 Dec 2024
Event title	Annual Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference: Education research in a changing world
Event type	Conference
Location	Sydney, Australia, New South WalesShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National