ABSTRACT
Despite concerns that Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) uptake in early childhood settings has been ‘slow,’ there have been research and publications in this area over the past few decades which have brought significant insight into ESE in early childhood education. This literature base provides a background to the socio-political influences as well as empirical evidence that depict what ESE can and does look like within a diverse range of early childhood contexts. While children have been traditionally positioned as key to environmental and sustainability change, this chapter re-tells the stories of one early childhood teacher as she negotiated her own positioning in promoting ESE in her centre. The analysis reveals the historical informants that continue to influence early childhood teachers’ attitudes towards ESE, as well as early childhood education policies and frameworks which shape teaching. The importance of place is also highlighted in the analysis, particularly in how ESE can be made meaningful for young children and extend beyond the notion of ‘nature play.’ This chapter argues that teachers need to push back against taken-for-granted assumptions about sustainability in early childhood education and consider how they can embrace a more transformative approach to leadership.
