Opinion Paper # 2 - Sustainability in Early Childhood Education

Sustainability for the future needs to be promoted through education, with greater emphasis being placed on early childhood education. Children should be taught and encouraged to practice sustainability through their values, attitudes, habits and life styles. Schools should do more to educate students about sustainability. However, we cannot expect schools to solely shoulder the responsibility of educating students about sustainability. Everyone must play their part in this process, including families, friends and role models by educating children about sustainability from an early age.

There is a popular phrase that says “Children Live What They Learn.” If children learn about sustainability from an early age, it is easier living it throughout their lives. The best way to learn about sustainability is through education, which should first be taught by family, friends and role models at home and in the community, as these places are usually where children imitate others behavior and begin their learning process. If children are educated from home about the 7Rs, which are reduce, reuse, recycle, respect, reflect, repair and responsibility, it will be much easier incorporating it into their education when they start school.

Early childhood education in schools plays a major role in preparing children for a sustainable future. Most schools place greater emphasis on education as children get older and sometimes neglect early childhood education. Research shows that children are more susceptible to learning during the early stages of their lives; therefore schools should be implementing curriculums that entail sustainable education. This is a great way to re-iterate the need for sustainability. By learning at home and then at school, children would better adapt to practicing sustainability for the future.

Children should be regarded as agents of change for sustainability. In the early stages of their lives, children’s inquiring minds are very active. This is the time to get them involved with questions and exercises regarding sustainable development. Teachers can play an instrumental role in this process by introducing and carefully guiding them through these projects to stimulate their minds. They would become fascinated with the outcomes and be eager to practice these sustainable activities. This would help them develop greater attitudes towards the environment. They would feel better about themselves, knowing that they helped to regenerate nature.

The idea that children should be given ample opportunities to be challenged, to make mistakes, and to enjoy seeking possible answers, will better equip them to confront complex questions raised by sustainable development, could have serious consequences and implications. We cannot leave children to learn about sustainability by exploring on their own and learning from their mistakes. These mistakes could be damaging to our environment. If they find these challenges enjoyable they may continue to do so while destroying our sustainable future.

I believe sustainable education should be taught at early childhood in homes, schools and communities. Children should be guided through this process instead of learning through self exploration. Policy makers need to implement sustainability into the education curriculum. These practices will help guide us towards a sustainable future.

Works Cited
Samuelsson, Ingrid Pramling and Kaga, Yoshie. “Early Childhood Education to transform Cultures for Sustainability.” 2010 State of the World: Transforming Cultures. Ed. Linda Starke & Lisa Mastny. New York: Norton & Co. 2010. 57-61. Print