ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AT PRESCHOOL AND EARLY PRIMARY SCHOOL STAGES IN THE CONTEXT OF IMPLEMENTING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: CHALLENGES, STRATEGIES, AND PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Transition to the sustainable development paradigm. The article substantiates the need to rethink classical environmental education and to move towards holistic Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at the early stages of learning. Such a shift is not only a response to the challenges of the Anthropocene, characterized by the dominant and destructive impact of human activity on the biosphere, but also marks a step beyond its limits. The authors emphasize that contemporary education can no longer be grounded in a pedagogy of fear or in treating nature solely as a resource. In the context of environmental crises, education should focus on fostering psychological resilience and a sense of agency in the youngest generations.

Developmental psychology and ecology. Preschool and early primary school age are of critical importance for the formation of pro-environmental habits and the so-called child’s “ecosystem identity”. Based, in particular, on Jean Piaget’s concept, the publication substantiates the need to channel children’s animism and fascination with nature (biophilia) towards the development of deep empathy and moral responsibility. A lack of free contact with nature during this period carries the risk of forming biophobia, which in adulthood may manifest itself in a poor understanding of environmental problems. The sociological dimension of early education is also important, as a properly educated child often becomes an “agent of change,” influencing pro-environmental attitudes within the family.

Synergy with the 2030 Agenda and the Health-Promoting Preschool model. The study examines the links between the UN Sustainable Development Goals, above all Goals 3, 4, and 12, and the structure of the Health-Promoting Preschool model. Sustainable development in preschool and primary education primarily means the affirmation of a sustainable lifestyle in which care for the child’s psychophysical well-being constitutes an integral foundation for caring for the natural environment. A fundamental goal of education thus becomes the development of meta-competences, including systems thinking, normative competence, anticipatory competence, and strategic competence.

Innovative didactic strategies. The authors outline specific and proven methodological solutions aimed at implementing the objectives of ESD.

•       Outdoor education and forest kindergartens provide direct immersion in nature, eliminate the anthropocentric distance from the natural world, and reduce children’s stress levels.

•       Research projects, grounded in J. Dewey’s constructivist idea, enable children to identify real problems, formulate hypotheses, make and implement decisions on a micro-scale, thereby counteracting apathy and fostering operational optimism.

•       The purposeful use of microscopes or nature apps as a “digital magnifying glass” for studying the details of nature and collecting data in citizen science practice not only integrates environmental and natural science education, but also, through the digital environment familiar to contemporary children, connects the digital world with the world of nature, stimulates interaction with the natural environment, and increases the time children spend outdoors.

•       Place-based pedagogy also acquires particular importance, as it connects environmental education with the child’s direct experience in the local natural, cultural, and social environment. Space as the “third teacher” reinforces this approach: the architecture and the institution’s internal and external educational space should model behaviour, while visible composters, biocentric gardens, and the implementation of the “Zero Waste” concept oriented towards waste reduction teach children through everyday experience.

Barriers and recommendations. The implementation of innovative solutions is complicated by the progressing “concretization” of urban space and by adults’ hyper-cautiousness regarding children’s safety, which together limit children’s contact with the natural environment and cause a deprivation of the experience of interaction with the natural world (“nature deficit disorder”). Another challenge remains the preparation of teaching staff, who in their professional activity often give preference to the factual transmission of knowledge rather than to the formation of systems thinking, as well as the need to overcome entrenched consumer habits in children’s families. The authors conclude that the new educational paradigm aimed at shaping a “citizen of the planet” may become a catalyst for the transition to the age of the post-Anthropocene.