Creating the Habit of Recycling in Early Childhood: A Sustainable Practice in Spain
1
School of Communication, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Immaculada 22, 08127 Barcelona, Spain
2
Faculty of Education, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, 08127 Barcelona, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 19 October 2019 / Accepted: 8 November 2019 / Published: 14 November 2019
Abstract
:
Early childhood education on sustainability has been
an issue of high relevance in the last decade. In Spain, many different
efforts have been made to increase children’s knowledge, skills, and
awareness related to sustainability issues. However, uncertainty about
the effectiveness of education on sustainable development exists. This
research reports on an exploratory study organized by the association
that promotes aluminum packaging recycling in Spain (Arpal). Seven
teachers were trained on sustainability in general and on aluminum
packaging recycling in particular. These teachers defined and
implemented a teaching unit with active learning activities that
involved three preschools. Fifty-four children under 6 years of age,
mainly 2 and 3 years old, along with their parents, participated in the
teaching unit. Qualitative and quantitative methods (questionnaires,
in-depth interviews, and focus groups) were carried out to assess the
impact. The results proved that different partners, such as children,
parents, teachers, managers, and associations, can work together with
the common goal of improving education on sustainable development in
early childhood, and all of them benefit from this collaboration.
Moreover, this study confirmed that education on sustainability should
be embedded in the daily routine of preschools. Furthermore, after the
exploratory study, the teaching unit was implemented in 29 Andalusian
preschools.
Keywords:
environmental children’s education; early childhood; sustainable development1. Introduction
Sustainable development is considered a relevant and critical issue in contemporary societies [1,2,3,4,5]. In the field of education, special attention has been paid to sustainability [4,6,7,8].
Knowing that sustainable development is often considered to be an
integrated concept with three pillars (environmental, economic, and
social [9,10]),
this paper focuses on environmental issues. Moreover, the research
concentrated on education for sustainable development in early childhood
[11,12], and particularly on the habit of recycling (see Figure 1),
as this is a practice necessary to avoid the depletion of natural
resources. Furthermore, different studies have shown that children can
engage with ideas related to the environment when the issues connect
mightily with localized experiences, such as recycling.
Figure 1.
Position of “recycling” within the framework of sustainable development. Source: authors.
Education about the environment highlights the
individual’s active participation and contribution in coping with
environmental problems and making sustainable choices [13].
However, despite the efforts made to increase people’s awareness,
skills, and sensitivity toward caring for the environment, there are
doubts about the effectiveness of some of these programs and whether
they contribute to sustainability [14]. It has been found that knowledge does not easily lead to a change in behavior [15,16]. On the other hand, it seems that these programs have overlooked children as relevant stakeholders [17] and that environmental education researchers did not direct their interest to very young children until 2007 [18,19]. Besides, according to Iliopoulou [20],
research studying very young children’s understanding of waste
management has shown that most of them regard waste disposal and
recycling as others’ responsibility, and only a minority in that study
talked about action.
For all of these reasons,
this study aimed to define and implement a teaching unit that develops
the habit of recycling in early childhood by focusing on a concrete
sustainable practice: aluminum packaging recycling. Aluminum was chosen
for several reasons. Firstly, it is a material that children are
familiar with because they see and use it almost every day (foil
wrapping for sandwiches, yogurt lids, pouches, etc.). Secondly,
recycling aluminum creates significant environmental advantages, such as
reducing consumption of the mineral bauxite and reducing energy
consumption by 95% when manufacturing new products. Thirdly, aluminum
can be recycled indefinitely without losing its attributes. The amount
of aluminum packaging that is recycled should be increased in Spain in
order to achieve the rates established by European regulations: 50%
before 2025 and 60% before 2030 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/852/oj) [21].
Thus, this study had the following research objectives:
1.
Determine the levels of knowledge, awareness, and behavior that
teachers, children, and parents have about sustainability in general and
the recycling of aluminum packaging in particular;
2.
Train teachers to design a teaching unit that educates children about
sustainability in general and the recycling of aluminum packaging in
particular; and
3. Assess the effectiveness of the aluminum packaging recycling program for teachers, children, parents, and preschools.
We
approached our research questions according to this sequence. First,
our purpose was to assess managers’ willingness to participate in
educational programs to promote sustainability to children. Second,
through the implementation of workshops, we trained teachers about
sustainability in general and the recycling of aluminum packaging in
particular. According to Varela-Losada, teachers play a key role,
especially given the transition toward schools and communities committed
to the environment and people [22]. Third, seven teachers developed and implemented a teaching unit to involve children and families in recycling activities.
This
paper is organized as follows: first, we present the framing used to
conceptualize early education on sustainability. Then, we describe the
methodology. The results are presented afterwards. Finally, we engage in
a more in-depth discussion, providing some concluding remarks and
implications for future research.
2. Education for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood
The application of education for sustainability practices in early childhood has progressed slowly [23].
While it is true that sustainable development deals with abstract and
complex relationships that are especially difficult for children [24],
many authors have stressed the importance of environmental education,
and some say that education in environmental sustainability should start
in childhood [18,25,26,27,28,29].
In addition, early childhood education could play an essential role in
sustainable practice, as it is considered to be a period of time when
children’s main attitudes and values are established for the first time [27,30,31,32,33]. According to Davis [12],
the experiences provided for young children are influential to their
present and future beliefs, values, well-being, and individual and
social development. Furthermore, children represent the interface
between current and future generations [17].
In
terms of early childhood sustainability education, attention to
experiential learning is central and lies at the heart of early
childhood education [33]. Learning through games and active exploration of the environment has been considered a characteristic of early learning [34].
Besides, cooperation between families and preschools appears to be a
critical element when trying to obtain long-term benefits [35]. MacDonald [36]
has highlighted that early childhood sustainability education should be
promoted through active, collaborative, project-based methods rooted in
self, family, school, and community. Chauhan, Rama Das, Haigh, and Rita
[37]
pointed out that pro-sustainability orientation includes changing
habits and making sustainable choices as a matter of daily routine.
Additionally,
there is room in the preschool setting to build connections with and
participate in the community around them and to take advantage of
physical and social resources in the district. This view is incorporated
within place-based education, in which children learn to understand,
value, and care for the heritage, culture, and landscape of the place
where they live. As Luff points out [33]
(p. 453) (after several studies), “Children who have opportunities to
explore, connect with, and appreciate the places where they live develop
a sense of care for self, others, and the environment. This can lead to
work on local social and environmental projects and growing
appreciation of wider national and global issues.” In summary, the
literature recognizes the necessity of organizing experiences in early
childhood environmental education that allow for maximum interaction and
communication between teachers, children, and their families [38].
From
the point of view of teaching, following Loubser et al., “The
implementation of environmental education programs and activities
conducted by teachers for their own students would seem advantageous in
ensuring both continuity and the positive impacts of environmental
education programs on school students, as teachers are familiar with the
curricula and the time availability of students” [14]
(p. 1165). Furthermore, it was found that to implement environmental
education, it is necessary not only that teachers know how to educate
young children, but also that they know general concepts of
sustainability [38]. Therefore, governments and international organizations must provide the means for this to happen [35]. Moreover, according to Hopkins and McKeown [39],
it is necessary that nonformal organizations and the private sector
support formal education to ensure effectiveness in sustainable living.
In this study, this is the role of the association that promotes
aluminum packaging recycling in Spain (Arpal). Arpal provides people as
facilitators and program developers. Experts from Arpal can also provide
additional knowledge and active methodology so that teachers become
sustainability leaders within their schools. According to Kennelly,
Taylor, and Maxwell [40],
when values and beliefs about the issues associated with sustainability
are strong, they become part of the teacher’s identity and provide a
personal motivation to incorporate those values into their teaching.
All of the ideas and knowledge obtained from a review of the literature were considered in the research that follows.
3. Materials and Methods
The
goal of this research was to study whether the teaching unit could
contribute to fostering recycling habits in early childhood. As has been
said before, usually verbal persuasion is not enough to encourage
children to act positively to protect the environment [41]. Moreover, it seems that one of the most crucial challenges in education for sustainable development is didactic [42].
Thus the researchers thought that a teaching unit with active learning
activities that develop under multiple skills could have a better impact
on children’s behavior by focusing on a concrete sustainable practice:
aluminum packaging recycling.
The teaching unit
was designed by seven teachers that were then responsible for the
implementation of a pilot test developed in two preschools in Córdoba
and one in Seville (with an average of 18 children in each preschool) to
assess its efficacy. The teachers belonged to the association Supla (http://suplasl.es),
which promotes social and solidarity economy. The research took place
with the collaboration of Arpal, which was in charge of training
teachers in aluminum packaging recycling issues and of the supervision
of technical issues related to the content of aluminum. On the other
hand, the impact that the teaching unit had on the preschools and the
families was also evaluated. After this exploratory research, the
teaching unit was implemented in 29 Andalusian preschools, with a total
of 1300 children participating in the study.
3.1. Phases and Research Tools
3.1.1. Diagnosis
The
goal of the first phase was to find out the level of knowledge,
awareness, and behavior that children under 6 years old (mainly 2 and 3
years old), parents, and teachers had before the program.
For
the teachers, a questionnaire was prepared to assess three parameters:
four questions tested knowledge about recycling and about aluminum
packaging, three about awareness, and two about behavior. This
questionnaire was answered before the training that Arpal offered to
teachers in November 2017. The survey questions included the following:
- Q1: Do you know what material goes into recycling containers that are green, yellow, and blue?
- Q2: Can you mention packaging made of aluminum?
- Q3: Do you know in which container aluminum packaging must be placed in order to be recycled?
- Q4: How important do you consider your participation in aluminum packaging recycling to be?
- Q5: Why do you consider your participation in aluminum packaging recycling important (or not)?
- Q6: Who benefits if you recycle aluminum packaging?
- Q7: Do you recycle some of the following materials at home or in the workplace: beverage cans, bricks, aluminum packaging, foil paper, or other packaging made of metal?
- Q8: Do you teach about waste recycling in the classroom?
- Q9: Have you ever heard about a circular economy?
To
determine children’s knowledge, teachers tested five parameters at the
beginning of the teaching unit: knowledge of the containers for
recycling, attitudes toward recycling, creativity when working with
recycled material, the classification of packaging before recycling, and
knowledge about where aluminum packaging must be placed in order to be
recycled. They retested the same parameters at the end of the teaching
unit.
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