Session Information
ERG SES C 03, Early Childhood
Parallel Paper Session
Contribution
North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE, 2010) highlighted the importance of environmental education in early years to support young children’s inner curiosity towards environment. Additionally, different resources pointed out that appropriate early environmental education forms children’s both environmental learning and attitudes (Basile, 2000), and satisfies relevant life experiences (Chawla, 1998). By this way, new generations learn to protect and improve their environment (UNESCO, 1978). In this context, integrating environmental education (EE) into early childhood education has been recommended for many years (UNESCO, 1978; UNEP, 2005), especially through including into different curricular domains (e.g., literacy and art) (NAAEE, 2010). As implementers of early childhood education, early childhood teachers have significant responsibilities on this matter to facilitate children’s environmental learning and to provide opportunities for children to engage with environment (NAAEE, 2010). In an effort to meet these requirements, they should be knowledgeable about what actually the EE is, its content, and how to integrate it into early childhood education. Previous studies showed that there were some barriers for early childhood teachers to conduct EE, specifically, lack of knowledge about its application, inadequate time, and having anxiety towards the presumed problems concerning EE (Flogaitis, Daskolia & Liarakou, 2005; Yi Lo, 2010). Results of a study conducted in Turkey revealed that early childhood teachers’ perceptions of and experiences in EE are in parallel with the findings of other studies (Güner, Olgan & Çakıroğlu, 2011). Participants found themselves unsatisfactory in conducting EE practices and they linked this incompetence to not being proficient in their knowledge of environment and EE, and the lack of supportive teaching materials. In line with previous studies, in the current study, we aimed to deeply investigate early childhood teachers’ perceptions of and practices in integration of EE into early childhood education due to that teachers’ perceptions of EE could also influence their teaching practices (Sosu, McWilliam, & Gray, 2008). In order to do this, we adopted Palmer’s model of EE (Palmer, 1998) in developing instruments for the current study and data analysis process. In this model, there are three interrelated approaches including education about, in or through, and for the environment. Education about environment means enhancing learners’ knowledge of, understanding in and awareness towards the environment and environmental problems. Education in or through environment requires developing learners’ environmental awareness and concern through providing opportunities to learn through interacting with environment. Lastly, education for environment aims advancing learners’ attitudes and concern for the environment to make them become active participants in protecting and improving the environment (Palmer, 1998). Concordantly, our research questions were determined as “What are the perceptions of early childhood teachers regarding integration of EE into early childhood education?” and “To what degree early childhood teachers integrate EE into their own teaching?”.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Basile, C. G. (2000). Environmental education as a catalyst for transfer of learning in young children. Journal of Environmental Education, 32(1), 21-27. Chawla, L. (1998). Significant life experiences revisited: A review of research on sources of environmental sensitivity. Environmental Education Research, 4(4), 369-383. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Flogaitis, E., Daskolia, M., & Liarakou, G. (2005). Greek kindergarten teachers’ practice in environmental education: An exploratory study. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 3(3), 299-320. Güner, Z., Olgan, R., & Çakıroğlu, J. (2011). Early childhood teachers’ perceptions of environmental education. Paper presented at World Conference on New Trends in Science Education Conference, Kusadası, Turkey. MoNE. (1997). Milli Eğitim Temel Kanunu: Madde 24 16.08.1997 tarihli değişiklik (The Fundamental Law of National Education: Article 24 the change under date of 16.08.1997). Retrieved from http://mevzuat.meb.gov.tr/html/88.html Palmer, J. A. (1998). Environmental education in the 21st century: Theory, practice, progress and promise. New York: Routledge. Sosu, E., McWilliam, A., & Gray, D. (2008). The complexities of teachers' commitment to environmental education: A mixed methods approach. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 2(2), 169-189. The North American Association for Environmental Education (2010). Early childhood environmental education programs: guidelines for excellence. Retrieved from http://resources.spaces3.com/d8c4919e-3116-4508-bd92-1bf00a820a59.pdf UNEP (2005). UNEP strategy for environmental education and training: a strategy and action planning for the decade 2005-2014. Retrieved from http://www.unep.org/training/downloads/PDFs/strat_full.pdf UNESCO (1978). Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education Final report Tbilisi (USSR) 14-26 October 1977: Paris: United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Yi Lo, E. Y. (2010). Environmental education in Hong Kong kindergartens: What happened to the blue sky? Early Child Development and Care, 180(5), 571-583. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
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