Early Childhood Education for Sustainability: A Mixed Methods Approach to Generate Professional Development for Educators

Abstract

Our world faces environmental and socio-cultural problems that will impact young children in the long term. Therefore it is important to advance research in the field of Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) to support educators in working alongside young children, families, and communities toward a more sustainable future. The purpose of my study was to create professional development to support educators in engaging in ECEfS with the children in their care. The participants were 14 early childhood educators who worked with young children between the ages of 1.5 and 5 years old. My study was grounded in social constructivist theory and systems theory, and was informed by the work of influential scholars in ECEfS. I adopted a complex mixed methods design that consisted of four research phases. In Phase 1, I collected qualitative and quantitative data about the educators' ECEfS previous knowledge and practices by means of the adapted Environmental Rating Scale for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood and interviews. In Phase 2, I merged the qualitative and quantitative data, created and implemented ECEfS professional development, and let 2 months pass for the educators to apply the strategies learned in the professional development. In Phase 3, I conducted a second implementation of the scale and a second round of interviews. In Phase 4, I performed a final merged interpretation of the data. Results of the study indicated that some of the educators' ECEfS reported practices improved slightly after the professional development while other ECEfS practices decreased due to strict COVID-19 restrictions. Although the modest improvements in the educators' ECEfS practices after the professional development point to the need for a deeper and broader engagement with ECEfS, the educators' reported engagement with ECEfS also provided evidence about the importance of professional dialogues, reflective practices, and loose parts as mediums to engage in ECEfS. A key implication is that some ECEs are engaging in ECEfS despite not labeling their practices as such.