My explorations of practitioners’ formative influences of sustainability have shown how their learning has taken place within a socio-cultural context – the family, where they have interacted with others to develop knowledge and opportunities for access to peers and other significant adults in their knowledge construction (Vygotsky, 1978). Their interactions with immediate and extended family members made their learning to be rooted in the context of their culture as they had access to more mature individuals (such as parents and grandparents) who already practise specific areas of
124 knowledge embodied in their actions in their societies (Wood, 1998). This highlights Vygotsky’s view of the role that peers or significant adults play in children’s learning in the knowledge construction process. My awareness that social interaction is central to individuals’ developmental process, enabled me to utilise this aspect in subsequent parts of the study to build on and move the action research project forward.
In addition, my exploration of practitioners’ existing knowledge of sustainability is an acknowledgement that they are competent and knowledgeable due to their life experiences (Moll et al., 1990; Gonzalez, Moll & Amanti, 2005). It is also based on my awareness of the social relationships that these practitioners participate in and how what they have learnt in their respective home environments could be key to understanding their cultural identity which could be used to guide planning and implementation of activities for children in the nursery setting. This perspective, known as the ‘funds of knowledge’, enabled me to recognise and acknowledge practitioners’ experience, professional knowledge and local insights, and how I sought to invest in and built upon to grow in all participants, including myself (Moll et al., 1992).
Practitioners’ interactions with parents, grandparents as well as “from others … people around me and family” as commented by one of the practitioners, highlight the reciprocal nature of these practices that have the capability of establishing obligations that are based on mutual trust, thereby leading to the development of long-term relationships. The practices described by the practitioners have provided learning contexts that provided opportunities to engage in activities with people they feel comfortable with because of trust. This highlights the relational aspect of care that Noddings (1984, 2013) supports as one that is tightly tied to experience and focus on human beings and their relations to each other in given situations. The practitioners are connected to their family members through their encounters with them and have gained skills and understandings about sustainability through modelling, dialogue, practice and confirmation, that are not only unique to ethics of care, but central to their moral development (Noddings, 1988; Johansson, 2009). This aspect of care became a focal point in this study as findings show participants’ relationships with others were effective due to caring and trusting relations formed among them. This also enabled better teaching and learning for sustainability in the study.
125 7.4 Summary
In this chapter, I have shown practitioners’ understanding of ESD at the beginning of the two-year project that was analysed through the lens of the theoretical framework, UNESCO (2010) four dimensions of sustainable development and the SDGs. This analysis shows how their perceptions of ESD were formed through interactions with their families, thereby highlighting the importance of the family as having the greatest influence on practitioners’ development of knowledge, values, attitudes, skills and practices (Pramling Samuelsson & Kaga, 2008; DfE, 2017), especially with regards to sustainability. Hence, the family’s role in educating practitioners for sustainability is an important one that was recognised for children and adults when teaching and learning for ESD in the early years setting.
The view that young children bring in a wealth of experience from their respective homes through their socialisation processes, can also be extended to the practitioners as it is evident from the interviews that they, too, had gained a wealth of knowledge and skills through their participation in family activities. The social relationships that the practitioners had partaken in, especially gardening, have supported them in developing some lifelong attitudes, values, behaviours, habits and skills which are essential for sustainability such as planting/growing, recycling, re-using, fairness, respect for others, to mention a few (Vélez-Ibáñez & Greenberg, 1992; Moll, Amanti, Neff & Gonzalez, 1992; Mbebeb, 2009; and Hedges, Cullen & Jordan, 2011). In this way, I used funds of knowledge to explore and acknowledge practitioners’ interests of sustainability issues with focus on how they engage with these interests especially in the planning and provision of activities for children’s learning for sustainability in the setting (Prince, 2010).
My view that young children’s learning experiences are shaped by the knowledge, skills and values of their educators became the driving force as to how the team drew upon our existing knowledge, values, attitudes and skills of sustainable development as a basis for pedagogy and practice of sustainability in the setting. Planning for the creation of a wildlife garden with the aim of attracting bees was also based on practitioners’ observation of children’s interests in planting and bees. Focusing on these interests provided opportunities for children and their teachers to explore ideas in both planned and unplanned interactions, thus strengthening children’s motivation, memory, effort and attention (Hedges, Cullen & Jordan, 2011). Hence, in this study,
126 many of the actions with the children and practitioners were planned, whilst others were spontaneous, arising from the team’s and children’s interests, observations as well as new insights from data collected by the team. The next chapter will focus on how participants in the study gained knowledge and understanding of sustainability from their environment.
127 Chapter Eight – Presentation and analysis of findings: Participants gaining knowledge and understanding of sustainability from their environment
In this chapter, I present and analyse findings from data collected during the three phases of the action research with practitioners and children in the nursery setting. It addresses the research question:
• How can teaching and learning activities be shaped to promote better knowledge and practice of ESD within an early years setting?
I therefore focused on how participants gained knowledge and understanding of sustainability from their environment. My analysis centred on the kinds of educational activities provided for children in relation to practitioners’ perceptions of ESD, as well as how children and practitioners initiate or engage with sustainability issues within the setting.
Data to address these issues were captured from participants’ engagement with the wildlife gardening project that formed the starting point for participants’ learning for sustainable development. Further data sources were obtained from other aspects of sustainability that were introduced to the children by the team or those that were initiated by the children themselves, and these were used as bases for children’s learning for sustainability. Learning through the gardening project continued in the setting and was developed over the two years.
In capturing participants’ voices and experiences, the team observed and listened to one another and to the children as they interacted with one another within the setting. I then analysed findings with reference to literature from reviewed studies, theoretical framework, through the lens of UNESCO (2010) four dimensions of sustainable development and relevant SDGs. Findings have been analysed as presented in turn under two main themes with accompanying sub-themes for a smooth narrative flow. The order of presentation of themes and analysis of findings is shown in the table on the next page.
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Themes Sub themes Sub-sub theme
Children’s awareness / learning about living things and why they matter
- Children’s knowledge about some conditions necessary for plant growth.
- Children’s learning about how things grow
- Ants/worms and their importance to the ecosystem
- Bees and their importance to the ecosystem
Children’s
knowledge/learning about uses of honey. Children’s knowledge of the natural world through creative arts - Three-dimensional modelling activities
- Learning about bees through movement
- Painting and collage activities
Table 8.0: Order of presentation of themes and analysis of findings
I rounded up the presentation and analysis of findings with a table to summarise the key activities that were undertaken with the children. This was to show how they link to the EYFS.
8.1 Children’s awareness / learning about living things and why they matter