The Anthropocene is a geo-stratigraphic unit of the upper Earth's layers, impacted by human disturbances, but also humankind's historical record, and children's place to live on. It is an unfinished narrative. This study explores how garden and soil-related activities with kindergarten children, guided by well-informed teachers, may have the…

This article draws from a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative research project that aimed to explore how three early childhood centres support children to experience and learn about their local area, including its stories, geology, biodiversity, and cultural meanings. The project helps children envision socioecological futures. This article…

For the majority of Ethiopian students, textbooks are their first and sometimes the only initial exposure to books and readings. Teachers also heavily depend on textbooks to structure and deliver daily lessons. Guided by the belief in the ability of textbooks to affect pupils' environmental behaviour and attitude, we carried out this content…

How children piece together their reasons for protecting the environment is an important but under-research area in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS). This article reviews findings related to young Maltese children's (aged 3-7 years) reasons for protecting the environment. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, preliminary…

We explore the socio-ecological effects of meat consumption by assessing the impact of a didactical intervention. We focused on meat consumers' profiles, their willingness to engage in pro-environmental actions and the allocation of responsibility for environmental issues. Using pretest-posttest-control methodology, a group of future…

This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of early literacy beliefs held by early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers in Japan by developing a novel scale. We believed that overviewing ECEC teachers' beliefs about early literacy from ecological perspectives would contribute to understanding the underlying factors influencing the…

In this article, the work of John Dewey is recontextualised and proposed as a basis for contemporary early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS). Five key themes are explored: experiential learning; curiosity and critical thinking; children's experiences in nature; democracy and participation and classroom as community. In each case,…

Farm- and nature-based early childhood education programs have a unique potential to provide young children with skills and experiences that build a strong foundation for future learning and environmental stewardship, but can also to extend positive impacts to families. In this paper, we work to bridge the gap between research and practice by…

This study aimed to determine mental models and identify codes (schemes) used in conceptualizing a desert environment. The sample for this study consisted of 184--out of a total population of 3,630--children in preschool education in the central district of Kastamonu, Turkey. Within the scope of this study, the children were initially asked to…

Family day care or childminding involves a particularly transient workforce. This paper introduces Eco(logical)-Cultural Theory (ECT) to examine the cultural organisation of childminding and presents an ECT analysis of pilot survey results: asking minders about their daily routines and their career paths. Reasons for becoming a minder and…

The authors examined the ecological validity of using observation-based scores to evaluate individual teachers' effectiveness, mirroring their use by school administrators. Using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, the authors asked (a) how similar are teachers' emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support scores from…

This study explored parents' and preschool personnel's opinions on factors influencing 3-5-year-old children's sedentary behaviors by applying the socioecological model. Four focus group interviews with preschool personnel (N = 14) and six interviews with parents (N = 17) were conducted in autumn 2014. Two researchers independently analyzed the…

Eco(logical)-cultural Theory suggests that a daily routine results from individuals adapting cultural ideas to the constraints of a local context or ecology. Using Ecocultural Theory, this research examined family child care providers' descriptions of daily activities and overall approach to understand cultural models. The results highlighted a…

This article examines the supporting and constraining factors influencing professional learning about interactive teaching and mobile digital technology use in low-resourced basic schools in sub-Saharan Africa. It draws on a case study of iterative development and refinement of a school-based, peer-facilitated professional learning programme…

Despite the stated importance of a successful kindergarten transition (TTK) for future school success, no research has addressed this transition for culturally/ethnically diverse families having children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). To address this gap, six focus groups (three with ethnically diverse parents, one with kindergarten…