Burciaga González, Adriana; (2023) A Critical Analysis of Environmental Education in Mexican Preschools: Images of Childhood and Pedagogical Models. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This is a qualitative study about Environmental Education (EE) in Mexican preschools. The purpose of this research is twofold. On the one hand, it aims to explore the ways in which EE is understood and practised in two Mexican preschools with contrasting pedagogical approaches and on the other hand, it seeks to critically analyse how dominant images of childhood and pedagogical models influence the ways in which EE is understood and practised in these Mexican preschools. This study consisted of two case studies. One is a private independent preschool fully guided by the Waldorf pedagogy (also known as Steiner education) and the other is a semiprivate preschool guided by the Mexican national curriculum and inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. The main data collection methods used were interviews with 4 and 5-year-old children using a photo elicitation technique, interviews with teachers and other academic staff, interviews with parents, as well as class observations, and other naturally occurring data such as children’s conversations, drawings and models were also included. This thesis is framed theoretically and methodologically by a poststructural approach (Foucault, 1976;1982; Weedon, 1992) and sociological theories of childhood (James, 2010; James, Prout & Jenks, 1998; Jenks, 2004; Kennedy, 2000; Smith, 2012; Sorin, 2005). It unfolds from the premise that diverse images of childhood generate practices which regulate the adult/child relationships (Duhn, 2012; Kennedy,2000; James, 2010; Jenks, 2004; Smith, K., 2012, Sorin, 2005; Woodhead, 2006). The central argument in my thesis is that certain images could either limit or facilitate the possibilities to move towards more critical views of EE in which both children and teachers are recognised as competent citizens and social agents of change that can work together within a democratic community towards a more sustainable world. Ultimately, this thesis sheds light on how certain images of childhood, particularly romantic notions of natural childhood and developmentally driven images could limit the possibilities to move towards more critical and active approaches of EE in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) that recognise children as social agents, and fully value children and teachers’ potential to contribute to a more sustainable world.

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