Inglés,
IFD Comenio, 5/6/2016
Gabriela
Cachés.
4to año-Educación social
What
kind of early childhood education for a sustainable society?
There was an extensive discussion on what kinds of
early childhood education would emerge if it were to contribute to sustainable
development. The insights gained on this issue can provide guidance for
reorientation and strengthening of curriculum and pedagogical guidelines, a
necessary exercise and an important policy issue. First, the participants
strongly agreed that the notion of the child embedded in the vision of
sustainable development is that as portrayed in the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child – the child as a right holder, who is an active
participant and has his or her contribution to make to society’s present and
future, and not an invisible, marginal worthless being. In education for
sustainable development, young children’s perspectives and meanings are
listened to, considered and shape the content and approaches of learning.
Second, early childhood education for sustainability
is much more than environmental education.
It should be broader than simply taking children
outdoors to discover the beauty of nature and speaking about the natural
environment. It must include opportunities for children to engage in
intellectual dialogue regarding sustainability, and in concrete actions in
favour of the environment. In addition, it should incorporate learning to be
compassionate and respect differences, equality and fairness as the world is
increasingly interdependent and inter-connected. It was suggested that, instead
of talking about the 3Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic), one should refer to
the 7Rs for education for sustainable development (reduce, reuse, recycle, respect, repair, refl
ect and refuse). Encouraging scientific and technological literacy was also
pointed out as a component to be included.
Third, diversity was considered a key issue in
thinking about early childhood education that contributes to sustainability and
was discussed extensively by the participants. In the globalizing world where
different nationalities and ethnicities increasingly live side by side,
learning to respect and appreciate diversity should begin early – through
parents, community members, and early childhood programmes. Early education
should help children acquire an identity firmly grounded in a culture closest
to them, while developing a sense of themselves as world citizens. One way to
promote this is intercultural education.
Nurturing respect for, and appreciation of diversity
cannot be realized without adhering to democratic values and practices.
Democracy is one fundamental value embedded in sustainable development, and a
requisite for a just society where everyone’s participation in the social,
cultural, economic and political life is valued and counted. Learning about
democratic values and practices can and should start in the smallest unit of
society – the family – at birth, and should also be part and parcel of an early
childhood education programme.
Fourth, sustainable development requires people to be
able to think critically about things taken for granted, and to find creative
solutions and alternatives to unsustainable habits and practices, which tend to
dominate at present. The work in the early years should not be about teaching
how to read and write early and formally. Young children can be encouraged to
question over-consumption through discussions about familiar food products,
clothes, toys and advertisements. Such discussions could be expanded to
incorporate considerations about their counterparts in less materially rich
circumstances, and stimulate conversations about solidarity and co-operation.
The contribution of early childhood education to a
sustainable society Edited by
Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson and Yoshie Kaga
Paris, UNESCO
2008
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