Early Childhood Education for Sustainability

Research, Practice and Policy

Fengling Tang
Emerald
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Hardback
9781835491836
09 September 2026
$60.00
Available to order on 10 August 2026
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eBook (PDF)
9781835491829
29 July 2026
$60.00
(Pre-order)
eBook (ePub)
9781835491843
29 July 2026
$60.00

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  • Description
  • Contents
  • About

Early Childhood Education for Sustainability offers an interdisciplinary perspective on early childhood education for sustainability, linking to research, practice and policy developments, in responding to the growing concerns about the environmental, economic, social and political crises in the 21st century.

Promising a pathbreaking dive into practice, research and policy developments into sustainable developments in early childhood education and care, author Fengling Tang takes an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability by engaging with a wide range of perspectives and approaches including ancient philosophies, early childhood heritage such as a Froebelian perspective, spirituality, environmental activism, social justice, democratic education, and the Posthuman new materialist lens. Drawing on multiple research methods via documentary research, empirical research evidence from early childhood settings including England and China, and a dialogic approach to personal experience and professional reflections, the chapters invite creative critical engagement of readers with the important aspects around sustainability.

Exploring the critical need to explore alternative thinking and approaches to maintain and sustain human well-being and wellbeing of the planet earth in the 21st century, this is important reading for students in higher education, practitioners, researchers, policy makers and stakeholders in the early childhood context and beyond.

Introduction: An interdisciplinary perspective on sustainability

  • Chapter 1. Urgency of early childhood education for sustainability: A policy perspective
  • Chapter 2. Engagement with nature in early childhood heritage: A Froebelian approach
  • Chapter 3. Materiality of play and ecology of care and love
  • Chapter 4. Nurturing children’s spiritual development in early childhood context
  • Chapter 5. ‘Storymaking’: A collective pedagogical approach to developing young children’s sense of environmental and social justices
  • Chapter 6. Entangling ‘child-centredness’: An imaginary conversation between early childhood pioneers
  • Chapter 7. The role of a democratic critical pedagogy in facilitating students’ transformative learning experiences: Education for sustainability in higher education
  • Chapter 8. Environmental activism and community engagement: Education for sustainability in the 21st century
  • Chapter 9. Honouring the past, living in the present, hoping with the future

Fengling Tang is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at the Centre for Educational Research, School of Education, Froebel College, University of Roehampton, UK.