Call for Papers - Interdisciplinary Dialogues in Early Childhood Environmental Education

Environmental education represents a growing area of interest in early childhood education, especially since the inclusion of environmental principles and practices in the Australian Early Years Learning Framework. Traditionally, these two fields of education have been characterized by diverse pedagogical emphases. This article considers how teachers in particular see different types of pedagogical play, such as open-ended play, modeled play, and purposefully framed play as providing opportunities for young children and teachers to develop knowledge through experiences about environmental education in early childhood settings. As a result of findings based on our qualitative research study involving early childhood teachers and children, an emerging model for thinking about environmental education in early childhood is proposed as a way of integrating these pedagogical emphases traditionally associated with environmental and early childhood education. Avenues for future research associated with this model are also identified.

The paper titled Early Childhood Environmental Education (ECEE) was designed as an appraisal study with its main objective as determining strategies for integrating ECEE into Early Childhood Care Education curriculum. Review was made of conceptual frame-works of early childhood, environment and environmental education. Also reviewed were earlier studies and scholarly opinions on the subject, based on which strategies were recommended in a way that would engage formalized processes of the curriculum in its dispensation. Recommendations made included that environmental education be introduced into the Early Childhood care Education (ECCE) curriculum, parents and adult members of the society are engaged as instructors. Recommend curriculum strategies included: use of games and simulation on environmental thematic issues, creations of nature’s corner in schools, organization of fun-fares, exhibitions fieldtrips and excursions to historical natural resources, use of nature and environment-based films, home-videos, textual materials and pictorials to convey environmental education messages to the young kids. The study was concluded by emphasizing the need to engage young kids in environmental issues that could capitalize their young impressionable minds as to shaping their attitudes towards nature and its resource base as well as their use and conservation as to ensuring their profitable and sustainable management. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n12p123

 2014 Children, Youth and Environments Children, Youth and Environments 24(2), 2014 Other Publications of Note: Greening Early Childhood Education International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education North American Association for Environmental Education ISSN 2331-0464 (online) This new publication of the North American Association for Environmental Education focuses on the education of young children from birth to eight years. Its initial issue was published in the winter of 2013, with sections on “Research,” “Advocacy Initiatives,” such as The Natural Start Alliance, “Advocacy Models,” such as the growing culture of nature play, and “Highlights of Resources and Books in Early Childhood Environmental Education.” In addition to children, articles focus on the caregivers, communities, institutions, and systems that form the larger context of learning. The journal seeks to apply research and theory to environmental education policy and practice at the local, state, regional, national and international level. For a sample issue and to subscribe, see www.naaee.net/publications. Go Green Rating Scale Handbook for Early Childhood Settings: Improving Your Score Phil Boise (2010). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. $29.95 USD (paperback). ISBN 978-1-60554-007-8. Go Green Rating Scale for Early Childhood Settings Phil Boise (2009). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. $19.95 USD (paperback). ISBN 978-1-60554-006-1. Greening early childhood education has the visible dimension of naturalizing school grounds, planting gardens and bringing nature indoors, but equally importantly, it has the invisible dimension of ensuring that the environment will be toxin-free for the well-being of children, staff, and larger ecosystems, and that daily operations will embody an ethic of stewardship. This comprehensive handbook and rating Other Publications of Note: Greening Early Childhood Education 256 scale condense a large amount of complex information into a sequence of sections that begin with establishing a system for staffing, reviewing, and record keeping related to environmental hazard management, and then proceed to every facet of day-to-day operations, with recommendations that go beyond minimum requirements for state licensing. A section on “Green Living and Stewardship” covers the conservation of water and energy, green building, reducing a school or center’s carbon footprint, moving to zero-waste food and food packaging, promoting organic foods, and the three R’s of reducing, reusing and recycling materials. Importantly, it also suggests how to involve children and families in these practices. Whereas the REACH program of the European Union places the burden of proof for product safety on companies, not consumers, and requires the gradual replacement of hazardous substances with safer alternatives, the United States remains mired in an outdated and inadequate regulatory system that is heavily controlled by the chemical industry. Therefore it falls to the directors and staff of early childhood settings to ensure the safety of environments for the children in their charge. This handbook and scale show how to do this, step by step. Sections on hazards and safer alternatives cover air quality, lead and other contaminants, cleaning and hygiene products, pests and pesticides, fire retardants, outdoor materials like treated lumber and playground surfaces, and chemicals in plastics, toys and art supplies. The rating scale enables early childhood settings to consider all aspects of going green, and to monitor their progress on this path. While the handbook and scale acknowledge state licensing requirements and help child care centers meet them, they advocate the precautionary principle, which requires the use of safer alternative strategies whenever there is any potential for serious harm—the principle that underlies the European Union’s REACH program but that U.S. regulations fail to reflect. The handbook’s recommendations for best practices and the highest scores on the rating scale identify the goals that early childhood settings should aim for. Eco-Healthy Child Care website of the Children’s Environmental Health Network www.cehn.org/ehcc A 30-item checklist for “eco-healthy” child care centers and family home providers can be downloaded for free in English or Spanish from the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN), a national organization that is grounded in pediatric and environmental health science, with the mission of protecting the developing child from environmental health hazards and promoting a healthier environment. If settings comply with...

Trends and Challenges in Environmental Education for Young Children: A Systematic Literature Review. Objectives: This study aims to systematically review and synthesize research on environmental education for young children with a focus on identifying global trends, pedagogical approaches, implementation challenges, and future directions. The objective is to provide a comprehensive overview that informs future research and practice promoting sustainability education for young children. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted using international databases (Scopus) to collect and analyze peer-reviewed articles published over the past decade. Inclusion criteria covered studies focusing on environmental education in early childhood, addressing both pedagogical practices and conceptual frameworks. The selected articles were analyzed thematically to identify prevailing trends, strategies, barriers, and recommendations. Findings: The analysis reveals a growing interest in early childhood environmental education, marked by a significant increase in publications after 2020. The study is dominated by the participation of developed countries rather than developing countries. Four main pedagogical approaches have been set: experiential-based learning, garden-based learning, storytelling with an ecological project theme, as well as project-based learning. Regardless of the profit, several challenges persist, including limited access to the green room, inadequate educator training, and an inconsistent framework for measuring ecoliteracy. This finding also highlights the scarcity of longitudinal studies, which limits our understanding of short-term effects. Conclusion: Early childhood environmental education plays a crucial role in promoting ecoliteracy, social-emotional development, and pro-environmental attitudes. However, this sector still confronts a conceptual gap, methodological, as well as significant geographic. Tightening the educator training, integrating sustainability in the curriculum, and carrying out more fundamental, inclusive, long-term studies to work on environmental education in early childhood effectiveness. Keywords: environmental education, sustainability, young children.

Multi Perspectives on Play Based Curriculum Quality Standards in the Center Learning Model

STEAM to R-SLAMET Modification: An Integrative Thematic Play Based Learning with R-SLAMETS Content in Early Child-hood Education

Objectives This study aims to investigate the current status of environmental education for young children based on the 2019 revised Nuri Curriculum and analyze the challenges faced by preschool teachers in effectively implementing environmental education, as well as ways to support them. This could serve as foundational data for exploring the direction of environmental education for young children. Methods A survey was distributed to 300 preschool teachers working in daycare centers and kindergartens in Gyeongsangnam-do, and 232 responses (77%) were ultimately collected and used for the study. The survey questions were extracted based on prior research and revised and supplemented after review by one early childhood education expert. The responses were analyzed by calculating the frequency and percentage for each item, in order to assess preschool teachers' perceptions, current practices, and needs regarding environmental education for young children. Results First, the teachers participating in the study recognized that environmental education for young children is very necessary and should be learned through concrete experiences and practices from early childhood. Second, the most frequently addressed topics in early childhood environmental education were those familiar to children, such as “health and the environment” and “natural environments.” Lastly, the most challenging aspect of implementing environmental education was applying “teaching methods appropriate to the developmental level of the children.” Conclusions In this study, early childhood educators identified administrative and financial support, as well as the lack of teaching materials and resources, as one of the challenges in implementing environmental education for young children. As a result, they most frequently utilized internet resources, which are easily accessible and cost-effective. Therefore, the development and distribution of appropriate play materials and programs for implementing early childhood environmental education are needed.

This chapter orients the reader by introducing the underlying premise of the book, in addition to outlining the remaining six chapters. The book’s foundation lies squarely in an era in which environmental education has been described as one of the most pressing educational concerns of our time, leading to the critical need for further insights in understanding how best to approach the learning and teaching of environmental education in early childhood education. In this chapter and indeed this book more broadly we address this concern by identifying two principles for applying play-based learning in early childhood environmental education. The principles we identify are the result of research conducted with teachers and children using three different types of play-based learning, namely open-ended play, modelled-play and purposefully framed play. Such play types connect with the historical use of play-based learning in early childhood education as a basis for pedagogy.

This Campbell systematic review examines the current empirical evidence on the correlation between teacher qualifications and the quality of the early childhood learning environments. The review summarises findings from 48 studies with 82 independent samples. Studies included children from pre‐kindergarten and kindergarteners prior to elementary/primary school and centre‐based providers. The review shows a positive statistically significant association between teacher qualification and the quality of early childhood learning environment. This finding is not dependent on culture and context given that the evidence is from several countries. Mandating qualified teachers, i.e. with tertiary education, may lead to significant improvement for both process and structural quality within centre‐based and home‐based ECEC settings. However, the evidence is from correlational studies, so evidence is needed from studies with designs which can assess causal effects. Further research should also assess what specific knowledge and skills learnt by teachers with higher qualifications enable them to complete their roles effectively. Synopsis/plain language summary Higher teacher qualifications are associated with higher quality early childhood education and care This review examines the empirical evidence on the relationship between teacher qualifications and the quality of the early childhood learning environment. Higher teacher qualifications are significantly positively correlated with higher quality in early childhood education and care. What did the review study? Poor quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can be detrimental to the development of children as it could lead to poor social, emotional, educational, health, economic and behavioural outcomes. The lack of consensus as to the strength of the relationship between teacher qualification and the quality of the early childhood learning environment has made it difficult for policy makers and educational practitioners alike to settle on strategies that would enhance the learning outcomes for children in their early stages of education. This review examines the current empirical evidence on the correlation between teacher qualifications and the quality of early childhood learning environments. What is the aim of this review? This Campbell systematic review examines the current empirical evidence on the correlation between teacher qualifications and the quality of the early childhood learning environments. The review summarises findings from 48 studies with 82 independent samples. Studies included children from pre‐kindergarten and kindergarteners prior to elementary/primary school and centre‐based providers. What studies are included? Included studies must have examined the relationship between teacher qualification and quality of the ECEC environment from 1980 to 2014, as well as permit the identification of the education program received by the lead teacher and provide a comparison between two or more groups of teachers with different educational qualifications. Furthermore, the studies had to have comparative designs and report either an overall quality scale or an environment rating scale. A total of 48 studies conducted with 82 independent samples were included in the review. What are the main results in this review? Overall, the results show that higher teacher qualifications are significantly correlated with higher quality early childhood education and care. The education level of the teachers or caregivers is positively correlated to overall ECEC qualities measured by the environment rating scale. There is also a positive correlation between teacher qualification and subscale ratings including program structure, language and reasoning. What do the findings in this review mean? The review shows a positive statistically significant association between teacher qualification and the quality of early childhood learning environment. This finding is not dependent on culture and context given that the evidence is from several countries. Mandating qualified teachers, i.e. with tertiary education, may lead to significant improvement for both process and structural quality within centre‐based and home‐based ECEC settings. However, the evidence is from correlational studies, so evidence is needed from studies with designs which can assess causal effects. Further research should also assess what specific knowledge and skills learnt by teachers with higher qualifications enable them to complete their roles effectively. How up to date is this review? The review authors searched for studies published until December 2014. This Campbell systematic review was published in January 2017. What is the Campbell Collaboration? The Campbell Collaboration is an international, voluntary, non‐profit research network that publishes systematic reviews. We summarise and evaluate the quality of evidence for social and economic policy, programmes and practice. Our aim is to help people make better choices and better policy decisions. About this summary This summary was prepared by Ada Chukwudozie and Howard White (Campbell Collaboration) based on the Campbell Systematic Review 2017:1 The relationship between teacher qualification and the quality of the early childhood education and care environment by Matthew Manning, Susanne Garvis, Christopher Fleming and Gabriel T.W. Wong. The summary was designed, edited and produced by Tanya Kristiansen (Campbell Collaboration). Executive summary/Abstract BACKGROUND The notion that a strong early childhood education and care (ECEC) knowledge base, which involves a set of professional competencies, abilities and specific teaching skills, can lead to high‐quality ECEC and positive child developmental outcomes is yet to be fully determined (Bowman, Donovan, & Burns, 2001; Vartuli, 1999). This is due, in some instances, to lack of good data, the quality of the method employed to measure the relationship between teacher qualification and the quality of the early childhood learning environment, and the methods used to aggregate the findings of individual empirical studies. The lack of consensus regarding the direction (positive in this case) and strength of the relationship between teacher qualification and the quality of the early childhood learning environment has made it difficult for policy makers and educational practitioners to form strategies that will ultimately enhance the early learning outcomes of children. OBJECTIVES The objective of this review is to synthesise the extant empirical evidence on the relationship of teacher qualifications to the quality of the early childhood learning environment. Specifically, we address the question: Is there a relationship between the level and type of education of the lead teacher, and the quality of the early childhood learning environment, as measured by the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, the Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale and their revised versions? SEARCH METHODS Studies were identified by exploring a large number of relevant academic journals (e.g., Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Early Childhood Research and Practice, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, Child Development, Applied Developmental Science, and the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry) and electronic databases (e.g., Academic Search Premier; CBCA‐Education; Cochrane Controlled Trial Register; Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE); Dissertation Abstracts; EconLit; Education Full Text; Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC); Journal Storage Archive (JSTOR); Medline; Proquest Digital Dissertations; Proquest Direct; Project Muse; PsychInfo; Scopus; SocINDEX with Full Text; and SSRN eLibrary). We also searched the reference list of each eligible study, and reviewed the biographies and publication lists of influential authors in the field of early childhood development and education, to determine if there were any relevant studies not retrieved in the original search. SELECTION CRITERIA Selection criteria are based on both comparative and correlational studies that examine the relationship between teacher qualification and quality of the ECEC environment (as measured by ECERS/ECERS‐R/ITERS/ITERS‐R and any subscales) from 1980 (this was when the ECERS was introduced) to 2014. Eligible studies, therefore, report at least one of the following results: (1) the overall ERS ratings (main outcome); (2) ratings of the seven subscales – program structure (i.e. focusing on the schedule, time for free play, group time and provisions for children with disabilities), activities (i.e. focusing on the provision and quality of activities including fine motor, art, music, dramatic play and math/number), l

226 Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 20 No. 2 (Fall 2010) ISSN: 1546-2250 Young Children and the Environment: Early Education for Sustainability Davis, Julie M. (2010). Melbourne, AU: Cambridge University Press; 305 pages. $52.00. ISBN 0521736129 . Davis, an ardent and long-time expert in early childhood environmental/ sustainability education, has put together a most useful book. Early childhood teachers, teacher educators, and policy makers can use this collection of chapters on theory, research, practical application, and ethics. Davis and the nine chapter authors are from eitherAustralia or New Zealand; while their chapters are based on their work there, they have wide applicability to other countries with early childhood infrastructures. My quick U.S. perspective is that Australia and New Zealand are way ahead of the U.S. in sustainability education. In the introduction Davis urgently makes the case for environmental education in this era of climate change and rapid urbanization. She identifies three types of environmental education—education in the environment (e.g., children playing outdoors), about the environment (e.g., the water cycle), and for the environment (taking actions to meet the numerous crises of our era). The last— for the environment—is the controversial part, as traditional early childhood has held young children to be both incapable of dealing with contemporary problems and too vulnerable to anxiety about them. Yet, as Davis points out, to keep children from understanding and acting on problems is unethical, as it is their futures that will be most impacted by deteriorating environmental conditions. Furthermore, young children in Australia and elsewhere are already aware of local environmental crises—how could an Australian preschooler not know about the sustained drought and wildfires there, or a child in Louisiana not know about the BP oil spill? The book provides many examples of children’s interest in and reasoning around such problems, and useful actions taken. Education for Sustainability (EfS), with its ethical stances of 227 caring, listening, participating, and being hopeful, resonates with early childhood practice, according to authors Lesley Robinson and Sue Vaealiki. Classroom teacher Robert Pratt has an excellent chapter describing the extensive sustainability practices tested over many years at his university nursery school. A reader will be encouraged by this account to try some or all of them. A chapter by Margaret Lloyd on information and communication technologies (ICT) and sustainability points out that most children are familiar with ICT when they come to school, so we should figure out the best ways to these technologies educationally. Lloyd gives a category system for planning uses, and information on current best websites. Other chapters concern leadership, “green schools and communities,” the process of systemic change, and the need to combine social justice with sustainability education (i.e., specific to Australia, to take into account the Reconciliation process begun by the Prime Minister in 2008 when he acknowledged the damage done to the Indigenous peoples by the incursion of the British and others). This chapter would have some lessons for the United States, which shares a history of colonial oppression and dislocation of native peoples. The book is chiefly designed to be a textbook for teacher education programs, and it would certainly be very useful there. “Provocations” sidebars are inserted frequently, engaging the reader to link personal experience and thought to analysis of and reflection on the text. This is a strong teaching feature. Examples of children’s writing and drawing illustrate several points. The cover provides the only color; various shades of gray enliven the text pages. At about 300 pages including a thorough index, the book is very readable. Early childhood education for sustainability is a new and current field. The North American Association for Environmental Education has just spent a year developing and now publishing “Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs: Guidelines for Excellence” (2010). These guidelines carry out the first two missions 228 of environmental education identified by Davis—education inand education about the environment. Environmental education in the U.S. has very often been controversial, especially if it has engaged children in action. Leaders, however, have finally achieved a good level of respect for the practice, obtaining NCATE recognition of teacher education programs. As climate change and urbanization...

This chapter argues that environmental education is an issue of profound importance, especially for young children, the inheritors of great possibilities, but also of major social and environmental problems and challenges. The author observes that, despite little intersection between early childhood education and environmental education, these two fields are natural allies, sharing common philosophical orientations and endorsing similar educational practices. In reconceptualising early childhood education to take account of environmental concerns, there needs, however, to be a refocus on outdoor play, better provision of natural playspaces for children, and a broadening of the term ‘environment’ to encompass holistic and intergenerational perspectives. It is imperative that early childhood teacher education, both preservice and inservice, be transformed to incorporate futures-oriented environmental education principles and practices.

Ripples are ever increasing circles of movement that gather momentum and spread beyond the point where they're initiated. Each ripple has its own momentum, yet when it touches another it increases momentum, changing form and pattern as it continues to spread. In this article we use this metaphor to explore the idea that when an early childhood centre becomes a place where young children, parents, and teachers undertake environmental actions and practices, this strengthens collective and individual environmental competency. Our thinking has arisen out of a research project we undertook in a two-teacher kindergarten that has focused on an environmental curriculum for several years. In particular, we were interested in competencies that might be evident in the way the children, teachers, and families engaged with environmental actions and practices. Setting the scene In the last decade the early childhood education sector has become increasingly vocal about the importance of young children's involvement in environmental education, with the underlying knowledge that our world needs all of its citizens to live in a more just and environmentally sustainable way. In general, the predominant focus in early childhood education is on teachers providing experiences to engage young children with the natural world, based on the premise that these experiences underpin the development of values and an ethic of care towards the environment (New South Wales Environment Protection Authority, 2003; Palmer, 1995; Tilbury, 1995; Wilson, 1996). As Brownlee (2004, p. 9) so aptly states, between the two of you [child and teacher], in your love affair with life, you'll be growing curiosity and belonging, intellect and understanding and you will be keeping the spirit of wonder very much alive. Certainly, many of us who work in early childhood education recognise how children's intrinsic motivation to explore the world is driven by a human need to be connected to our world. These connections with the natural world enrich and sustain the essence of who we are as human beings for the rest of our lives (Wilson, 1996). Agenda 21, a comprehensive blueprint for environmental action launched at the United Nations' 1992 Earth Summit, challenged governments to reorient education systems to promote ethical ways to sustain life on our planet. This led to demands for governments to ensure that the education sector takes a more critical, participatory approach in society, addressing both social and environmental injustices (Fien & Tilbury, 2002). With renewed urgency, numerous environmental projects began in the schooling sector, focused on children and young adults working towards solutions for local environmental issues with their teachers, families, and communities. In New Zealand the publication of the Guidelines for Environmental Education in New Zealand Schools (Ministry of Education, 1999), the funding of regional environmental education coordinators, and the development of Enviroschools have been influential in spearheading some of these changes in the primary school sector (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 2004). Some early childhood services also began to actively respond to the challenges presented by Agenda 21. The 2003 New South Wales Environment Protection Authority report on early childhood environmental education likened it to a patchwork of green: teachers in early childhood centres scattered across Australia were implementing exemplary environmental practice. It was beginning to happen in New Zealand too. Like the Australian experience it was driven by dedicated teachers in individual early childhood centres. At Hand in Hand, an inaugural early childhood environmental conference in Christchurch in 2006, teachers discussed ways that traditional early childhood approaches to environmental education could be expanded to take a more transformative, collaborative approach with young children, parents, and communities. …

Curriculum material is generally considered the subject matter of information, talents, dispositions, understandings, and principles that make up research programs in the field. At a more complex level, the curricula need to contain historical and socio-political strengths, traditions, cultural views, and goals with wide differences in sovereignty, adaptation, and local understanding that encompass a diversity of cultures, laws, metaphysics, and political discourse This study aims to develop a curriculum with local content as a new approach in early childhood science learning. The Local Content Curriculum (LCC) is compiled and developed to preserve the uniqueness of local culture, natural environment, and community crafts for early childhood teachers so that they can introduce local content to early childhood. Research and model development combines the design of the Dick-Carey and Dabbagh models with qualitative and quantitative descriptive analysis. The results showed that local content curriculum products can be supplemented into early childhood curricula in institutions according to local conditions. Curricula with local content can be used as a reinforcement for the introduction of science in early childhood. The research implication demands the concern of all stakeholders to see that the introduction of local content is very important to be given from an early age, so that children know, get used to, like, maintain, and love local wealth from an early age.
 Keywords: Early Childhood, Scientific Learning, Local Content Curriculum Model

Early childhood environmental education focusses on expanding children’s bio-affinity, developing their environmental attitudes and encouraging them to behave in a more environmentally friendly manner. One example of the educational method that is based on high-quality practices of both early childhood education and environmental education is the Reggio-Emilia pedagogical approach, which provides children with various nature-related experiences. This study examines the frequency and variety of indoor and outdoor nature experiences for children and the preschool teachers’ educational approaches and goals for children’s development in nature in two Reggio-Emilia preschools located in Halifax, Canada. To do this, first-hand observations and semi-structured teacher interviews were used. Results suggest that the Reggio-Emilia curriculum followed at the preschools provided various opportunities for children to be exposed to nature. However, the teachers have emphasized more on anthropocentric than nature-related educational goals.

Preface Daniella Tilbury Introduction Julie Davis and Sue Elliott 1. Examining Early Childhood Education through the lens of Education for Sustainability: Revisioning rights Julie Davis 2. Belonging, value conflicts and children's rights in learning for sustainability in early childhood Eva Johansson and Solveig Hagglund 3. Learning from the wisdom of elders Jenny Ritchie 4. Intercultural Dialogues in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability: Embedding Indigenous Perspectives Melinda Miller 5. Perspectives on Early Childhood Environmental Education in Japan: Rethinking for a Sustainability Society Michiko Inoue 6. The Role of Early Childhood Education in Building Singapore as a Sustainable Nation Hui-ling Chua 7. Norwegian perspectives on ECEFS: What has developed since the Brundtland Report? Barbara Sageidet 8. Early childhood education for sustainability and natural outdoor playspaces: Researching change and theorizing about interfaces Sue Elliott 9. An AuSSI Early Childhood Adventure: Early Childhood Educators and Researchers Actioning Change Together Tracy Young and Amy Cutter- Mackenzie 10. The Project Approach for Early Childhood Education for Sustainability: Exemplars from Korea and Australia Sharon Stuhmcke and Okjong Ji 11. Valuing agency in young children: Teachers rising to the challenge of sustainability in the Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood context Glynne Mackay 12. I want to do real things: Explorations of children's active community participation Louise Phillips 13. Education for Sustainability in Swedish preschools: Stepping forward or out-of-step? Eva Arlemalm-Hagser and Ingrid Engdahl 14. Innovative Approaches to Early Childhood Education for Sustainability in England: Case studies from the field Elizabeth Barratt Hacking, Robert Barratt & Pat Black15. Early childhood education for sustainability in the United States of America Louise Chawla and Mary Rivkin 16. The Arts and education for sustainability: Shaping student teachers' identities towards sustainability Lyndal O'Gorman 17. Science in Preschool - A Foundation for Education for Sustainability? A View from Swedish Preschool Teacher Education Bodil Sundberg and Christina Ottander 18. Early Childhood Education for Sustainability in the United Kingdom: Generating Professional Capital Mary Fuller, Louise Gilbert, Janet Rose & Sally Palmer 19. Expanding worlds of early childhood education for sustainability: Looking back, looking forward Susan Danby and Ann Farrell