ORCID

Abstract

The burgeoning climate crisis resulting from anthropogenically enhanced global warming has made protection, restoration and affection for the environment an increasingly urgent matter. The irresponsible use of resources and pollution has caused, and will continue to cause, disastrous impacts on habitats and ecosystems globally; we urgently need to better care for the natural environment. Children’s perceptions towards nature are formed during early experiences. There is a research gap for age-appropriate methods to understand children’s perspectives whilst conceptualising them as the experts in their own lives and meaningfully enhancing their involvement in research. The aim of this thesis is to explore the feelings and actions of preschool children towards nature and to increase understanding about how children can be more involved in the research process.Throughout this study, I worked with an interpretivist research paradigm in two preschools in the South West of England with 19 children aged three to four; one school was in a deprived urban area and the other in a more affluent rural location. To gain a holistic view of the preschoolers’ feelings and actions towards nature, I drew from the Mosaic approach, using a variety of participatory methods such as naturalistic (narrative) observation, children’s drawings, child-led tours and photographs taken by children, teacher interviews and parent surveys.Whilst iterating between data generation and analysis, I created a metaphoric and highly replicable child-friendly methodological framework that is used to shape my contribution to knowledge consisting of a bear, a bird and a worm. The bear offers preschool children’s unique perspectives of care for nature, emphasising their recognition that “flies don’t make honey”. The bird explored opportunities and limitations of the methods offered to children, highlighting that different verbal and non-verbal approaches aided with forming a richer mosaic. The worm demonstrated ways of how to enhance children’s involvement in the research process where the spatiotemporal proximity to the topics being discussed had to be close and familiar to them. Children learn best about nature when they can relate to familiar elements, such as those found in their gardens at home or preschool. It is important to give them time to reflect on their experiences, learn related vocabulary, and discuss the significance of different aspects of nature. Practical activities and executing agency in their free play are crucial for deepening their appreciation of, and connections to, nature. Children should be recognised as active members of society whose views must be considered, especially on environmental issues affecting their future. It is our responsibility to listen to them, find innovative solutions, and work together to combat climate change, ensuring we leave them a liveable planet.

Keywords

preschool, participatory research, early childhood education, early childhood education for sustainability, environmental education

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2025

Embargo Period

2025-03-11

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Download

Share

COinS