Swedish teachers in the process of implementing education for sustainability in early childhood education.

The study investigates how kindergarten teachers implement the topic of sustainability in kindergarten children's learning. The research questions are: 1) What content and activities related to education and teaching for sustainability do kindergarten teachers report on? 2) What changes in sustainable learning in the kindergarten environment do kindergarten teachers report after the introduction of the new curriculum?

The results show a tendency among kindergarten teachers to describe Education for Sustainability as ‘business-as-usual’ instead of treating sustainability as a new field. Most of the changes in the kindergarten environment appeared to be the result of priorities set at higher levels within the organisations, such as removing toxic plastics and recycling food waste. Only a few of the kindergarten teachers described an education programme that included transformative change.

The participants in the study were employees in Swedish kindergartens who had just joined a
three-year research and development programme called Sustainable Kindergarten. The data presented were collected in May 2021 through a questionnaire. A total of 153 kindergarten employees participated (a response rate of 76.5 percent).

Engdahl, I., Samuelsson, P., & Ärlemalm-Hagser, E. (2021). “Swedish teachers in the process of implementing education for sustainability in early childhood education”. New ideas in child and educational psychology, 1(1).