How Shanghai kindergartens are bringing sustainability into young children's everyday lives

As climate change, environmental degradation, and resource sustainability become increasingly pressing global concerns, educators are paying greater attention to how children can begin learning about sustainability from an early age. While education for sustainable development (ESD) has received growing attention in primary and secondary education, its implementation in early childhood education remains relatively limited in many countries. A study published on  January 7, 2020 in ECNU Review of Education  examines how ESD can be introduced into kindergarten through a long-term action research project in Shanghai.

The study, conducted by Guangheng Wang, Xin Zhou, and Hua Cui, draws on nine years of experience implementing ESD at Hongqiao Kindergarten in Shanghai. The project was part of an international ESD initiative launched by the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP), which promotes sustainability through seven key principles known as the "7Rs": respect, reflect, rethink, reuse, reduce, recycle, and redistribute.

In China, environmental protection education has traditionally been incorporated into kindergarten science curricula. ESD, however, reaches beyond environmental issues to encompass economic sustainability, responsible consumption, social justice, inclusion, and cultural understanding. The researchers therefore explored how these broader dimensions of sustainability could be woven into existing early childhood educational practices. The study used an action research design comprising two cycles. The first focused on integrating ESD into the kindergarten's science curriculum. The second broadened ESD across other areas of learning while refining sustainability objectives to better reflect young children's developmental needs.

One of the study's key findings is that sustainability education becomes more meaningful when it starts from children's own lives. Rather than presenting sustainability as a set of abstract ideas, teachers identified themes through children's interests, questions, and everyday observations. These themes created natural opportunities to explore sustainability while building on what children already knew and wanted to understand.

The researchers found that ESD could be incorporated through a range of approaches, including group activities, individualized learning centers, family-school projects, and everyday routines. Importantly, teachers found that many existing curriculum activities already contained elements relevant to ESD. Rather than creating an entirely new curriculum, they could build on these existing activities and make their sustainability dimensions more explicit. 

A major focus of the project was helping children develop an understanding of sustainable consumption and the responsible use of resources. Hands-on experiences also played an important role in fostering environmental responsibility, making sustainability something children could see, experience, and engage with rather than simply learn about. The project also led to the development of an age-appropriate framework of ESD objectives. The researchers organized sustainability into three broad domains: environmental, economic, and social-cultural sustainability. Within each domain, they developed learning objectives for different age groups, which were then continuously refined through classroom practice and teacher reflection.

Families were another important part of the project. Parents took part in activities with their children and were encouraged to bring sustainable practices into everyday family life. The researchers argue that sustainability education is more likely to take root when schools and families work together to reinforce related values and behaviors.

The project was not without its challenges. Some sustainability concepts, particularly "reflect" and "rethink", were difficult for young children to grasp because of their abstract nature. Teachers also had limited access to early childhood ESD resources, theoretical guidance, and practical teaching models.

The findings point to a need for stronger policy support for ESD in Chinese early childhood education. The authors call for national and local policy documents to articulate ESD objectives more explicitly, provide clearer guidance for teachers, and strengthen professional development in sustainability education. They also highlight the importance of developing learning objectives that corresponds to children's developmental stages and providing educators with more practical resources and examples.