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Towards a Research Programme for Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Development

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International Research on Education for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood

Abstract

The chapter argues that transdisciplinarity is fundamental to the achievement of sustainable development and that this applies as much to early childhood care and education for sustainable development as to the subject as a whole. A summary of the main findings of the international trials is provided, and an attempt is made to identify both the strengths and the limitations of applying an environmental rating scale of this kind in ESD. It is argued that the OMEP ERS-SDEC enterprise has been fundamentally concerned with improving the quality and scope of the ECCE-ESD curriculum. In providing a universal prescription, it has found itself fundamentally at odds with a popular postmodernist position widely promoted in the work of Dahlberg, Moss and Pence. This critical position was expressed within the international collaboration, and it has also been expressed in challenging its modest findings. A direct epistemological challenge to these views is offered to support researchers and research students who wish to take the initiative forward.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This also applies to the environmental unsustainability of any of our current practices. As Hick’s (1994) has argued, too much of the environmental education of the past may have led to children adopting pessimistic attitudes of dystopia. We need to engage children in envisaging positive futures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

    John Siraj-Blatchford

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  1. John Siraj-Blatchford
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Correspondence to John Siraj-Blatchford .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, University of Plymouth Institute of Education, Plymouth, United Kingdom

    John Siraj-Blatchford

  2. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Southern Illinois University Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Carbondale, Illinois, USA

    Cathy Mogharreban

  3. Department of Early Childhood Education , Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Eunhye Park

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Siraj-Blatchford, J. (2016). Towards a Research Programme for Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Development. In: Siraj-Blatchford, J., Mogharreban, C., Park, E. (eds) International Research on Education for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42208-4_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42208-4_13

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