scholarly journals I Want to Participate—Communities of Practice in Foraging and Gardening Projects as a Contribution to Social and Cultural Sustainability in Early Childhood Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4368
Author(s):  
Veronica Bergan ◽  
Inger Wallem Krempig ◽  
Tove Aagnes Utsi ◽  
Kari Wallem Bøe
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Mutual Engagement ◽  
Group Interviews

Learning and development in early childhood is highly dependent on social interaction and exploration through continuous encounters with the real world. Foraging and gardening are outdoor pedagogical practices that have relevance to education for sustainability. Previous work suggests that engagement in such activities can be characterized by the concept “community of practice” (CoP). In this paper, we explore how characteristics of the CoP can be recognized in foraging and gardening projects performed in the Arctic region of Norway, and we discuss how these activities can contribute to social and cultural aspects of sustainability. Data collection included focus group interviews with kindergarten staff (teachers and assistants) and videos taken of foraging and gardening activities with the children. Our data indicate that the hallmarks of CoP, domain, community, and practice, are strongly recognized in these projects through increased interest, social interaction, and agency for learning. This mutual engagement and participation in the CoPs for foraging and gardening connect both staff and children to local food heritage and culture for a sustainable future.

scholarly journals Exploring Military Artefacts in Early Childhood Education: Conflicting Perspectives on Cultural Sustainability, Belonging and Protection

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2587
Author(s):  
Åsta Birkeland ◽  
Liv Torunn Grindheim
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Local Area ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Chinese Kindergarten ◽  
Insight Into

Social and cultural sustainability is outlined as creating surroundings that include and stimulate positive interactions, such as promoting a sense of community and a feeling of belonging to a community, by being safe and attached to the local area. Artefacts chosen in early childhood education (ECE) institutions are integrated parts of the culture in which the ECE institutions are embedded; artefacts, thus, are understood as serving belonging and cultural sustainability. The study examined what insight into cultural sustainability could be surfaced in conflicting perspectives about military artefacts in ECE. Focus group interviews were conducted with Chinese and Norwegian graduate students and ECE researchers, during which photographs of a Chinese kindergarten where military artefacts and toys were highly represented. Conflicting perspectives on military artefacts among the participant surfaced how belonging are closely intertwined with protection and where to belong: locally, nationally or internationally. The skeptical approach to military artefacts is challenged by awareness of different ways to promote national pride and entanglement among generations. The findings indicate a need for more research on conditions for belonging and the normative complexities of artefacts in cultural sustainability.

scholarly journals Early Childhood Education for Sustainability Through Contradicting and Overlapping Dimensions

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 374-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liv Torunn Grindheim ◽  
Yvonne Bakken ◽  
Kjellrun Hiis Hauge ◽  
Marianne Presthus Heggen
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
United Nations Educational ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Cultural Organization

Purpose: The article investigates how to make a broader understanding of sustainability relevant for early childhood education (ECE) guided by the four dimensions suggested by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: ecological, economic and social/cultural sustainability, and good governance. Design/Approach/Methods: Previous research on ECE on sustainability is discussed in relation to the four dimensions and to Biesta’s concepts of socialization, qualification, and subjectification. Findings: The investigation finds that all four dimensions are necessary in ECE for sustainability, and it suggests how the dimensions can be understood, how they may overlap, and how they can be contradictive. Originality/Value: The article depicts how children’s opportunities to engage and to disturb established ways of thinking can be facilitated through all dimensions.

scholarly journals Fostering Cultural Sustainability in Early Childhood Education through a Neighbourhood Project

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5203
Author(s):  
Aihua Hu ◽  
Siv Ødemotland
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Early Childhood Teacher ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology

Culture is the life blood of a society, which influences people’s worldviews, values, and behaviours. Research has confirmed that children’s participation in culture helps develop thinking skills, builds self-esteem, and improves resilience. This paper aims to explore how a purposely designed project can foster cultural sustainability through a case study of a neighbourhood project conducted in Chinese and Norwegian kindergartens. A qualitative research methodology is utilised. Major data sources are an overall project plan prepared by one of the Norwegian university researchers, project descriptions and PowerPoint presentations from the kindergartens, as well as workshop notes taken by one researcher during the workshop, complemented and triangulated by the follow-up reflective narratives from three kindergartens. Qualitative content analysis and comparative analysis are used to analyse the collected data. Findings have indicated that kindergartens hold similar views on culture and cultural stainability. Though the actual activities are diverse and implemented in different ways, the goal of fostering cultural sustainability is achieved in all participating kindergartens. Children not only have gained knowledge of their neighbourhood and problem solving and social skills but also have developed sense of belonging and emotional link with their local culture through the active participation. More importantly, this study has indicated that purposely designed projects/activities can promote early childhood education for sustainability and quality of ECE. It is thus recommended cultivating student teachers’ and kindergarten teachers’ competence to design projects/activities integrating different dimensions of sustainability in early childhood teacher education

scholarly journals A Critical Analysis of Education for Sustainability in Early Childhood Curriculum Documents in China and Norway

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minyi Li ◽  
Yulin Zhang ◽  
Lehan Yuan ◽  
Åsta Birkeland
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Early Childhood Curriculum ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Cultural Aspects

Purpose: This article examines how early childhood curriculum documents in two culturally different contexts are associated with current concepts of sustainability and principles of early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) in China and Norway. Design/Approach/Methods: Applying critical document analysis, the study explores a number of landmark curriculum documents from China and Norway, comparing the ways in which ECEfS is conceptualized, including the concept of sustainability, children as agents of change for sustainability, and sustainability in young children’s everyday lives. Findings: Corresponding to the analytical framework, China and Norway attach different importance to the three dimensions of sustainability—social-cultural, economic, and environmental. For example, Norway has a more autonomous view of children’s agency, while China gives more emphasis to teachers’ support. The two countries also have different perspectives on how to work with families and communities based on significantly different traditions and institutions. The comparative document analysis argues that predominant cultural dimensions in each context, such as collectivist and individualistic factors, may shape the understandings of sustainability in each country’s early years’ curriculum documents. Originality/Values: By broadening the focus on the social-cultural aspects of sustainability, this study extends the development of a culturally inclusive understanding of the concept of sustainability and contextualized/localized approaches to ECEfS across the globe.

Food Reciprocity and Sustainability in Early Childhood Care and Education in Aotearoa New Zealand

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Ritchie
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Care ◽  
Childhood Care ◽  
Indigenous Perspectives ◽  
Sustainability Practices

AbstractThis article offers a perspective from early childhood care and education in Aotearoa New Zealand. It draws from the data of four recent studies to demonstrate pedagogical practices informed by Indigenous (Māori) perspectives. Māori values, such as manaakitanga (caring, hospitality, generosity) and whanaungatanga (relatedness), are shown featuring in routines focused on provision of food and serving as a key focus of early childhood education for sustainability. It is argued that providing opportunities for children to become engaged with growing, cooking and sharing food enables them to operationalise compassion towards themselves, others and the environment, reconnecting with the source of their food and demonstrating generosity and care to others (both human and more-than-human) in their communities. This can be viewed as a pedagogical response to the increasing encroachment of neoliberalism, with its incumbent individualism and lack of collectivist consciousness or concern for the environment, into education settings. Furthermore, drawing upon Indigenous perspectives honours traditional, localised wisdom regarding sustainability practices.

STORM ICE OIL WIND WAVE WATCH SYSTEM (SIOWS): WEB GIS APPLICATION FOR MONITORING THE ARCTIC

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Myasoedov ◽  
Alexander Myasoedov ◽  
Sergey Azarov ◽  
Sergey Azarov ◽  
Ekaterina Balashova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Data ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Web Gis ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Flexible Tool ◽  
In Situ Data ◽  
Current State ◽  
Watch System

Working with satellite data, has long been an issue for users which has often prevented from a wider use of these data because of Volume, Access, Format and Data Combination. The purpose of the Storm Ice Oil Wind Wave Watch System (SIOWS) developed at Satellite Oceanography Laboratory (SOLab) is to solve the main issues encountered with satellite data and to provide users with a fast and flexible tool to select and extract data within massive archives that match exactly its needs or interest improving the efficiency of the monitoring system of geophysical conditions in the Arctic. SIOWS - is a Web GIS, designed to display various satellite, model and in situ data, it uses developed at SOLab storing, processing and visualization technologies for operational and archived data. It allows synergistic analysis of both historical data and monitoring of the current state and dynamics of the "ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere" system in the Arctic region, as well as Arctic system forecasting based on thermodynamic models with satellite data assimilation.

Prévoir les variations saisonnières de la glace de mer arctique et leurs impacts sur le climat

2020 ◽  
pp. 024
Author(s):  
Rym Msadek ◽  
Gilles Garric ◽  
Sara Fleury ◽  
Florent Garnier ◽  
Lauriane Batté ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Recent Effort ◽  
Sea Ice Thickness ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
Upper Level

L'Arctique est la région du globe qui s'est réchauffée le plus vite au cours des trente dernières années, avec une augmentation de la température de surface environ deux fois plus rapide que pour la moyenne globale. Le déclin de la banquise arctique observé depuis le début de l'ère satellitaire et attribué principalement à l'augmentation de la concentration des gaz à effet de serre aurait joué un rôle important dans cette amplification des températures au pôle. Cette fonte importante des glaces arctiques, qui devrait s'accélérer dans les décennies à venir, pourrait modifier les vents en haute altitude et potentiellement avoir un impact sur le climat des moyennes latitudes. L'étendue de la banquise arctique varie considérablement d'une saison à l'autre, d'une année à l'autre, d'une décennie à l'autre. Améliorer notre capacité à prévoir ces variations nécessite de comprendre, observer et modéliser les interactions entre la banquise et les autres composantes du système Terre, telles que l'océan, l'atmosphère ou la biosphère, à différentes échelles de temps. La réalisation de prévisions saisonnières de la banquise arctique est très récente comparée aux prévisions du temps ou aux prévisions saisonnières de paramètres météorologiques (température, précipitation). Les résultats ayant émergé au cours des dix dernières années mettent en évidence l'importance des observations de l'épaisseur de la glace de mer pour prévoir l'évolution de la banquise estivale plusieurs mois à l'avance. Surface temperatures over the Arctic region have been increasing twice as fast as global mean temperatures, a phenomenon known as arctic amplification. One main contributor to this polar warming is the large decline of Arctic sea ice observed since the beginning of satellite observations, which has been attributed to the increase of greenhouse gases. The acceleration of Arctic sea ice loss that is projected for the coming decades could modify the upper level atmospheric circulation yielding climate impacts up to the mid-latitudes. There is considerable variability in the spatial extent of ice cover on seasonal, interannual and decadal time scales. Better understanding, observing and modelling the interactions between sea ice and the other components of the climate system is key for improved predictions of Arctic sea ice in the future. Running operational-like seasonal predictions of Arctic sea ice is a quite recent effort compared to weather predictions or seasonal predictions of atmospheric fields like temperature or precipitation. Recent results stress the importance of sea ice thickness observations to improve seasonal predictions of Arctic sea ice conditions during summer.

Nuclear icebreaker fleet and power supply on the basis of floating power units

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 110-113
Author(s):  
V. A. Tupchienko ◽  
H. G. Imanova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Power Supply ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Far North ◽  
The Arctic Region

The article deals with the problem of the development of the domestic nuclear icebreaker fleet in the context of the implementation of nuclear logistics in the Arctic. The paper analyzes the key achievements of the Russian nuclear industry, highlights the key areas of development of the nuclear sector in the Far North, and identifies aspects of the development of mechanisms to ensure access to energy on the basis of floating nuclear power units. It is found that Russia is currently a leader in the implementation of the nuclear aspect of foreign policy and in providing energy to the Arctic region.

EFFECTS OF PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: A RESEARCH REVIEW

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (26) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pushpita Rajawat
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
National Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Research Review ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

The relative effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches and pedagogies in early childhood has raised substantial debate. While the other are associated with the acquisition of basic skills and knowledge and some of them are associated with socio-emotional development and problem-solving abilities. In general, research revealed both positive and negative effects of pedagogical approaches, without favouring specific pedagogical approaches over mainstream ones. However, it is important to note that research evidence and studies considering the same approaches in the same context are very limited. On the other hand, specific pedagogical practices are found to enhance child development, including high-quality interactions involving sustained-shared thinking methods, play-based learning, scaffolding, as well as a combination of staff- and child initiated activities. Research impacts pedagogy and pedagogical practices in the sense that research findings can inform policy makers and practitioners on best practices and what works best in enhancing staff performance, process quality and child development. Research on pedagogy and practices is usually not conducted at the national level, but focuses on particular programmes. So, research review has been used as a guide or manual to provide pedagogical guidance for Early Childhood Education (ECE) staff not only in India but also worldwide. The main focus of the study is that how of the best pedagogical practices and approaches across the country can be useful and implemented in early childhood education

Chemical Composition of Atmospheric Aerosol in the Arctic Region and Adjoining Seas along the Routes of Marine Expeditions in 2018–2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 480-489
Author(s):  
L. P. Golobokova ◽  
T. V. Khodzher ◽  
O. N. Izosimova ◽  
P. N. Zenkova ◽  
A. O. Pochyufarov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Arctic Region
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document