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Pre-Service Early Childhood Educator Experience in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

Author

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  • Thomas Beery

    (School of Teacher Education, Kristianstad University, 291 88 Kristianstad, Sweden)

  • Ola Magntorn

    (School of Teacher Education, Kristianstad University, 291 88 Kristianstad, Sweden)

Abstract

There has been significant interest in the values and benefits of early childhood nature experiences on children’s well-being and development. One aspect of studying the exposure of children to nature that requires more focus is the role played by early childhood educators. In particular, there is a need for early childhood environmental education training for pre-service educators. This study will explore the use of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve as an outdoor classroom for early childhood environmental education pre-service professionals. Exploratory quantitative and qualitative descriptive data from a series of three short surveys (pre/post/delayed post) provide a basic overview of pre-service teacher perspectives, experiences, and outcomes of an environmental education intervention. The results indicate that the participating pre-service educators had little to no familiarity with the environmental concepts or the biosphere reserve site before participation in the intervention. The post-intervention and delayed post-intervention results show that pre-service educators perceived that their understanding of the concept had improved. The results also show a perception of the positive role that biosphere reserve sites can play in early childhood education. Three critical implications emerged from the overall quantitative and qualitative results: (1) specific support should be given for early childhood environmental education training; (2) biosphere reserve functions provide support for efforts to improve connections to nature; (3) early childhood education has the potential to support the broadening of the biosphere reserve audience.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Beery & Ola Magntorn, 2021. "Pre-Service Early Childhood Educator Experience in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4231-:d:533844
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Thomas Beery, 2020. "Exploring Access to Nature Play in Urban Parks: Resilience, Sustainability, and Early Childhood," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-18, June.
    3. Thomas Beery, 2020. "What We Can Learn from Environmental and Outdoor Education during COVID-19: A Lesson in Participatory Risk Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-12, October.
    4. Julie Ernst & Firdevs Burcak, 2019. "Young Children’s Contributions to Sustainability: The Influence of Nature Play on Curiosity, Executive Function Skills, Creative Thinking, and Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-22, August.
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