Conference proceeding
STEM and Early Childhood Education (ECE) and their relation to the 17 sustainable development goals to promote education for sustainability: 11th World Environment Education Congress: Building Bridges in Times of Climate Urgency, Prague (Czech Republic) 14-18 March 2022
STEM and Early Childhood Education (ECE) and their relation to the 17 sustainable development goals to promote education for sustainability STEM and Early Childhood Education (ECE) and their relation to the 17 sustainable development goals to promote education for sustainability
11th World Environmental Education Congress (Prague, Czech Republic, 14/03/2022 - 18/03/2022)
2022
Appears in Recent Faculty of Education Publications
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Abstract
Introduction:
Early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) is a growing field of research with the aim of contributing to children's early education in a way that gives them knowledge for a future that we do not know much about. The focus of this presentation is on early STEM and Early Childhood Education (ECE) and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This is done by identifying research, policy, and practices in four countries: Chile, Norway, Australia, and Sweden. The team of researchers found some strengths and gaps and would like to initiate a discussion about how research, as well as the preschool practice (ECE) could approach the 17 global sustainability goals (SDG’s) in a lifelong learning perspective. The research question: What, if any, connections between early STEM education, ECE and any of the 17 SDGs do the respective country’s reveal?
Methodology:
This research draws on a methodological frame based on curricular statements, national research descriptions and country narratives created by each researcher and qualitatively validated by mutual discussions and high awareness of the personal influence through pre-understandings and biases. The creation of ‘working tables’ based on national ECE research with high validity for teaching and learning in preschools, functioned as tools for data exploration and mutual discussions. These tables enabled further data categorization related to each country and facilitated the recognition of patterns of connections between early STEM, ECE and the SDGs in the data.
Findings:
The study reveals patterns of similarities and differences related to how preschool curricula and national research connects to the 17 SDG’s in the four countries. One pattern is that (1) early childhood education (ECE) more broadly relates to the 17 SDG’s than the aspects of STEM in ECE does. Second, (2) STEM education relates to seven of the 17 goals, and there is a way to go to fully address the 17 SDGs in ECE as well as in STEM education, referred to the countries of this study.
Conclusions and recommendations:
To conclude, both STEM and ECEfS in ECE build on meaning-focused approaches which can create hopes and mitigate fear which, in turn, it can bolster well-being and encourage environmental engagement (Sageidet et al., 2020). Educators should further promote children’s understanding and engagement with the concepts of sustainability and agency regarding STEM. This calls for holistically integral inquiry-based learning pedagogical approaches promote the development of positive attitudes, skills, and competences within the area of sciences and mathematics (Bascopé et al., 2020). Further, it demands well-educated preschool teachers, since combining learning areas as STEM with the dimensions of ESD-related values can be challenging (Larsson & Pramling Samuelsson, 2019). We all need to ensure that children in this planet can take part in education, and that they are supported to develop skill as ingenuity, and creativity, which are pivotal for concurring global challenges.
Details
- Title
- STEM and Early Childhood Education (ECE) and their relation to the 17 sustainable development goals to promote education for sustainability
- Creators
- Jonna Larsson - Department of Education, Communication and LearningBarbara M. SageidetJubilee SmithMartin Bascopé JulioJohana Montalvan CastillaDepartment of Education, Communication and Learning
- Publication Details
- STEM and Early Childhood Education (ECE) and their relation to the 17 sustainable development goals to promote education for sustainability STEM and Early Childhood Education (ECE) and their relation to the 17 sustainable development goals to promote education for sustainability
- Conference
- 11th World Environmental Education Congress (Prague, Czech Republic, 14/03/2022 - 18/03/2022)
- Identifiers
- 991013023824202368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Education
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding