Our research presents a case study of utilizing steam pedagogies in early childhood education (ECE) in Finland and Japan. We examine how the steam pedagogy activities was to help nurture and develop the key competencies for sustainability activities and how the different material and socio-cultural environments influence these activities.  Prior research has highlighted how experiences with nature, both direct and indirect, during early childhood, influence emotional relationship with nature (e.g. Kellert, 2002).  Emotional affinity in turn relates to nature protective behavior (Kals et al. 1999), which connects to values thinking, one of the key competencies for sustainability (UNESCO, 2017). These competencies are: (1) Systems thinking competency, (2) Anticipatory competency, (3) Normative competency, (4) Strategic competency, (5) Collaboration competency, (6) Critical thinking competency, (7) Self-awareness competency. These competencies later been refined, further contextualized and operationalized by researchers and educators, for example in Japan by Ohnuki & Suzuki (2023) and (8) Integrated problem-solving competency has been added later. 

Building on Ohnuki et al. (2024) research we focus on anticipatory competence (the abilities to understand and evaluate multiple futures – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future), normative competency (the abilities to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions) , collaboration competency (the abilities to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others) and integrated problem solving competency (ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to deal with one’s feelings and desires) because they connect closest with emotional learning and together with systems thinking are the most salient for our purposes.

Ste(a)m pedagogies have been shown to provide a good framework for educating children about sustainable development and nurturing the above-mentioned key competencies in ECE (Haraguchi et al. 2024). Research has shown how children’s play-based and inquiry-oriented learning can support agentic responses and nurture understanding of sustainability and help build foundation for further scientific skills (Vartiainen et al. 2024). The material and physical and environment with its restraints and affordances makes a difference in education: the ease and difficulty of access to natural environments or materials for daily use has been shown to direct curricular focus and activities in different directions in Finland and Japan (see Teshirogi et al. 2023). The social environment with its group dynamics, role expectations and communicative traditions also play an important role in how the educational activities are enacted and experienced.  

Japanese ECE is a heterogenous field with many private providers and varying approaches to structure and discipline, although whole group instruction and relationships-oriented approaches can be prevalent (Holloway, 2001). Teaching academic skills is typically not emphasized. Relationship with nature and surrounding environment is typically nurtured through field trips, observing seasonal changes and connecting them with aesthetic experiences and in case of some places, growing own flowers and vegetables (Ohnuki & Sumida, 2017).

Finnish ECE represents the Nordic edu-care model. In the present national curriculum guidelines, pedagogical activities are built around transversal competencies and wide areas of learning instead of detailed learning objectives (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2025), making it easy to implement STEAM education. Playing, exploring and centering the learning around the children’s interest are very prominent in Finnish style ECE. The environment is a central keyword for building the transversal competencies and a foundation for lifelong learning, and for the aim to educate socially and environmentally aware and responsible citizens (Havu-Nuutinen et al. 2021).

Our data comes from activities focusing on endangered animals with the aim to nurture an emotional connection and basic understanding on the situations these animals, conducted Finnish and Japanese kindergartens. The Finnish activities were co-planned and co-taught by first and second authors with Japanese pre-service teachers in a multicultural kindergarten classroom at City of Oulu April 2025. The Japanese activities were planned and taught by the second and third authors with the teaching staff of the facilities and officials from the city's Board of Education at Oda City (Shimane prefecture) November 2025. The planning of the session was done adhering to the 5E Instructional Model (Bybee et al. 2006). In both countries, the researchers introduced the theme through stories (picture books) and examples with animals already familiar to the children. Picture books were chosen because stories have the power invite us into dialogical and emotion filled relationship with the world and picture books with its gaps between pictures and depictions require imagination and empathetic understanding (Haynes & Murris, 2012). The activities were an extension of Ohnuki et al. (2024), who employed a single A4-sized sheet of paper as an engineering material for children to represent scientific characteristics of endangered animals. The paper could be worked with in many ways: there was an option of doing origami, a more elaborate accordion-like craft with the paper to show changing states or just write a picture of the animal. We offered options instead of being prescriptive to allow for exploration and personalization. To ease participation and discussion, the normal groups of around 20 children were split into two smaller groups. We collected ethnographic data in the form of photographs, video recordings, field notes and small interviews with teachers in both countries. The analysis was led by the first author, fluent in both Finnish and Japanese. During the analysis, we adhered to the principles of qualitative content analysis (Miles et al., 2020) and comparative analysis (Tobin, 2022). We paid special attention to how children described their process and product to either peer or adults during the work and the show-and-tell sessions afterwards. The latter also included after-the-fact reflection which was done together with the teachers and children. There the students voiced in about what was easy/challenging, what they learned and what was the experience like emotionally. These reflections and discussions provided an important clue to the childrens’ connection with the theme and their learning.

The activities connected with the key competencies for sustainability the following ways: (1) learning to fold paper into origami or use it for other craft connected with anticipatory and systems thinking competencies, (2) doing the craft together with other children or adults helped develop collaboration competency and (3) self-awareness competency was nurtured through finishing a self-selected small project and emphasizing the emotional connection via the “being close with nature” – dimension of this competency. The emerging emotional connection towards the animals and natural world took different forms due to the distinct material and socio-cultural environments. Finland, the emotional attachment came through in many students naming their animal or feeling the urge to create several. In Japan, this connection was seen in how the children were “story oriented”; they wanted to tell how and why the animal craft took the shape it did. The products themselves were also more elaborate and creative, likely reflecting not only how commonly paper is used as material but also common purpose of the educators on the activity. Common elements connecting ECE beyond local cultures had to do with more universal pedagogical and didactical arrangements: children sitting on the floor or around the table, listening to adults talk or read a picture book. In both countries the teacher confirmed and elaborated what was presented in the show-and-tell sessions. Our results suggest that the emotional connection is created through the contextually coherent whole of the activity, rather than any of the individual elements themselves, echoing Vartiainen & Kumpulainen (2019) who highlight the importance of seeing children’s meaning-making as a cohesive whole with emotion, play, creativity and relationships interconnecting.

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