Prof John Siraj-BlatchfordUniversity of Swansea

Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Development: OMEP Preschool Partnerships

Social/Cultural Economic

Environmental

OMEP (World Organisation for Early Childhood Education)

An NGO founded in Prague in 1948Historically related to UNESCOFoundational aims for building peace

educationAn international network and support

for professionals within Early Childhood Education

OMEP (Organisation Mondiale Education Prescholaire)

65 National Committees. Consultative status to UN and UNESCO Provides curriculum support, publishes

books, journals, research and development, conferences etc.

Currently engaged in a major initiative in support of Education for Sustainable Development in the Early Years (ESDEC)

Concerns regarding the health of children and the health of the environment are intimately interlinked:

“From long standing hazards to emerging ones, environmental factors are estimated to contribute up to 25% of death and disease globally reaching nearly 35% in some African regions. Children are most vulnerable to the impact of harmful conditions and account for 66% of the victims of environment-induced illnesses."

United Nations Environment Programme

The OMEP perspective on Sustainable Development: Consistency with the MDGs

MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability "Integrate sustainable development principles into country policies"

1. Preparing children for any future emergencies – Disaster Risk Reduction

2. Emergency responses – providing aid for e.g. hurricanes/floods

3. Medium Term targeted responses - Wash in Schools/Wash from the Start

4. Medium/Long term (and remedial) responses - current mainstream practice in Education for Sustainable Development (Recycling, saving electricity etc)

The OMEP perspective on Sustainable Development: a logical Continuum

…Young Children have the right to be consulted - Article 12 UNCRC.

Research evidence and priorities

In the pre-school period:Children have ‘agency’They can hypothesise about the futureThey develop capability in classificationThey develop a theory of mindThey begin to aquire ‘mental verbs’They apply logical reasoning

©JSB2011

Early Childhood Education

Gothenburg Recommendations: Building upon the everyday experience of children Curriculum integration and creativity Intergenerational problem solving and solution

seeking Promotion of intercultural understanding and

recognition of interdependency Involvement of the wider community Active citizenship in the early years The creation of cultures of sustainability

Link

Why Early Childhood?

Sustainable development is fundamentally concerned with issues of:

Citizenship Human Rights and the Rights of the Child

Social Justice

Why ESD in Early Childhood?

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”

The logic comes directly from Brundtland’s definition of Sustainable Development (1987):

KENYA

ENGLAND

OMEP Parent Partnerships Pilot Project

October 2012

• 56% of Kenyan’s live below the poverty line

• 65 percent of the children aged 3-6 years are currently not accessing ECDE services. In arid and semi-arid areas only 9 percent of children aged 3-6 access ECDE services.

• 56% of teachers remain untrained (turnover 40% annually)

• 122,000 under 5 year olds die each year and these deaths are caused mostly by lack of water, sanitation and hygiene.

• 75% of children are unable to wash their hands with soap or ash after visiting the latrine and before eating.

A rural school in Kenya Typical teacher

salary is between £16 - £30 a month (2,000 – 4,000 Ksh)

One Chicken in Kenya costs about 600 Ksh…

Playing

Writing

Reading

Drawing

Eating

Toys

Singing

Sleeping

Uniform

Modelling

The teachersPainting

Swinging

Skipping

Pets

Toys

Mattresses

Play equipment

Books

Shoes

Uniform

Tables

Chairs

BlackboardFees

Socks

Water

Porridge

CrayonsPencils

“Toys”

Innovation

Innovation

Kibera is the biggest slum in Kenya. It is only 5 kms from the Nairobi city centre and houses almost 1 million of people. They occupying just 6% of the land of Nairobi but representing 60% of the city population. The average size of a shack is 12ft x 12ft built with mud walls, screened with concrete, a corrugated tin roof, dirt or concrete floor.

http://www.ecesustainability.org

SODIS

Tippy-tap

UK Preschools

Can support their partners by:

- Providing support in sustaining and developing

their preschool provision- Developing their resources and curriculum- Sharing knowledge and ideas- Listening and Learning- Fund raising (when appropriate) for JUSTICE

rather than CHARITY

Rio: The Future We Want

Many schools in the global North have links with schools in Africa but their focus on fundraising can often reinforce negative stereotypes about Africans being “helpless”.

The Carbon Partners model turns the idea of fundraising “out of kindness” around by showing that, based oncarbon usage, the school in the global North actually “owes” their partner school a greater share!

Carbon Convergence

OMEP Preschool Partnerships

Partnership SiteThe Preschool PartnersKangoro Preschool – The Grove DorchesterEmbu Preschool – St John’s Preschool

Partnership SiteCommunications ProtocolPostal and banking ProtocolsEnvironmental PracticeSocial/Cultural PracticeEconomic PracticeLibraryNews

Partnership URLs:

OMEP Preschool Partnerships

March 22nd World Water Day 2013April 7th World Health Day 2013April 29th International Dance Day 2013May 22nd International Day for Biological Diversity 2013June 5th World Environment Day 2013Augst 9th International Day of the Worlds Indigenous People 2013September 21st International Day of Peace 2013October 15th Global Handwashing Day 2013October 16th World Food Day 2013November 20th Universal Children’s Day 2013

United Nations Sponsored Events:

What is Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Development?

We can develop common overall principles even if the early childhood practices we seen in different countries look very different…

…in some national contexts the provision of early childhood education is itself a legitimate sustainable development objective.

What is Recyling?

“Every ton of plastic bottles recycled saves ~3.8 barrels of oil” http://vertvogue.blogspot.com/2009/02/introduction-united-states.html Minority

World

What is Recyling?

A recycled oil barrel and an old axle used to transport water in South Sudan

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ngari/3318693947/

Majority World

What is an entrepreneur?

Jane is a street-side lunch lady in Nairobi. She is a micro-entrepreneur, and small business owner.

http://www.poptech.org/blog/index.php?s=entrepreneurship

Majority World

Charlie Simpson – a social entrepreneur?

UNICEF Haiti campaign £210,000

Education for Sustainable Living

The life skills that are needed:ReflectionTaking responsibilityConsultationCreativityCollaborationCommitment

UNEP/PERL

Siraj-Blatchford, J., Smith, K., and Pramling Samuelson, I. (2010) Education for Sustainable Development in the Early Years, Organisation Mondiale Pour l´EducationPrescolaire (OMEP)

EPSD (2010) Taking Children Seriously, Report from the European Panel on Sustainable Development

SWEDESD (2008) The Gothenburg Recommendations on Education for Sustainable development, SWEDESD

Siraj-Blatchford J. & MacLeod-Brudenell, I. (1999) Supporting Science, Design and Technology in the Early Years, Open University Press

Siraj-Blatchford, J (2008) 'The implications of early understandings of inequality, science and technology for the development of sustainable societies' in Samuelsson, I and Kaga, Y (Eds), The contribution of early childhood education to a sustainable society. Paris: UNESCO.

http://www.327matters.org

http://www.ecesustainability.org