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Many services incorporate environmental practices into their programs through worm farms and units on recycling. This is a great starting point for sustainability education but, as Tracy Young explains, environmental education can be much more.
What might environmental education which explores social, cultural and economic considerations look like? It could be children who learn about conservation not just by using water collected in a tank, but by discovering the social and economic reasons for doing so. There is much discussion about how this could occur at an early childhood level, especially as we continue to use resources without considering our future generations: the children in our services.
The emPower program
Kirsten Slifirski is a member of the Early Childhood Australia (ECA) Victorian Branch Environmental Special Interest Group. Last year, she took the group on a tour of the Booroondara Kindergarten in Richmond, where she is assisting the development of a program called ‘emPower’.
emPower focuses on conserving energy and the environment, and encouraging others to do the same. It developed from three principles:
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Early childhood is a critical time for environmental education because the starting point for long-term wellbeing is the years from birth to age five.
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Children can be pivotal in communicating and instigating behavioural change in families—behaviours and practices modelled in kindergarten may well be replicated by children at home.
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Children’s centres connect communities and are important sources of support for families.
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Technology for sustainability
One of the unique aspects of Booroondara Kindergarten—which I believe is a first for Australian services—is their use of sustainable technology. The centre is in the process of installing:
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a solar wall which captures sunlight to passively heat air
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three solar chimneys—funded by Sustainability Victoria and the kindergarten community—which provide natural ventilation, increase airflow and natural light
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solar heaters that capture and circulate air, heated by the building’s metal roof.
Other sustainable initiatives include:
- vegetable and herb gardens
- three water tanks
- green cleaning
- native trees
- community art projects
- a large playground, including sand and patches for digging, which provides opportunities for wonder and discovery.
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Learning stories
Since 2001, Booroondara Kindergarten has practised an innovative approach to communication inspired by New Zealand’s Te Whāriki curriculum. This approach recognises that children learn in a sociocultural context; from their environment, teachers, peers and family.
The program encourages collaboration with adults and peers through guided participation and observation, as well as individual exploration and reflection. Central to this approach are ‘learning stories’—a narrative method of documenting learning which includes the voices of children, teachers and family.
Because emPower integrates energy conservation into Booroondara’s curriculum, through its physical environment and learning activities, ‘learning stories’ are powerful aids to stimulating critical thinking about energy conservation by children and families.
emPower empowers
Booroondara Kindergarten’s program stimulates pride in children and families, in making decisions that conserve energy and care for our environment. The ECA Victorian Branch Environmental Special Interest Group commends the kindergarten for developing a whole-system approach to environmental sustainability and we look forward to working with them to achieve their goals.
Tracy Young
Child and Family Studies Department
Swinburne University of Technology, TAFE division, Melbourne
ECA Victorian Branch Environmental Special Interest Group is based in Melbourne, but participation is welcomed from anyone in Australia enthusiastic about education for sustainability. To find out more about the group, please contact Tracy Young on 03 9214 6114 or tryoung@swin.edu.au.
References and further reading
Davis, J., & S. Elliott. (2003). Early childhood environmental education: Making it mainstream. Canberra: Early Childhood Australia.
Davis, J., Elliott, S., & Rowntree, N. (2005). Early childhood and education for sustainability. Why it matters. What’s happening. Presentation ECA Biennial Conference Brisbane.
Slifirski, K. (2006). emPower Program. Melbourne: Booroondara Kindergarten.
UNESCO (2005). UN decade of education for sustainable development 2005–2014: Draft international implementation scheme. Paris: Author.
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