A whole (pre)school approach to sustainability in eco- and non-eco-certified preschools in Sweden: Principals’ views and attitudes

Abstract

Session: Hållbar utveckling

Although a whole school approach (WSA) to sustainability has been described as one of the most meaningful education approaches, the concept of WSA has not yet been widely explored within the context of preschool education, where the play, learning, and care are preconditions for a wholeness in childhood. The concept of the WSA considers raising quality and standard across entire education institution (Henderson & Tilbury, 2004). This approach also emphasizes the needs for (pre)school to engage children, teachers, parents, and the wider community in sustainability (Mogren, Gericke & Scherp, 2019). The principals have important roles to play in reforming and prioritizing preschools activities towards sustainability (Borg & Vinterek, 2020). This paper explores 50 principals’ views and attitudes towards sustainability from a WSA perspective. Using randomized sampling, the principals were selected from 25 eco-certified and 25 non-eco-certified preschools in 25 municipalities in Sweden, out of 290. A questionnaire was utilized to collect demographic information about the preschools, number of children, number of qualified teachers, principals’ attitudes towards preschool’s activities with sustainability, and also an open-ended question about how the principals themselves integrate sustainability in their planning of preschool activities and what they actually do. The qualitative data was analyzed by using Wals and Mathie’s (2022) six component Whole School Approach Flower Model. The components are: 1. Vision, ethos, leadership and coordination; 2. Institutional practices; 3. Pedagogy and learning; 4. Curriculum; 5. Community connections; and 6. Capacity building. The components were adapted and operationalized within a preschool context. The quantitative data was analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) in the SIMCA statistical software (Umetrics 2020). This study is a part of a project, “Eco-certified preschools and children’s learning for sustainability: Researching holistic outcomes of preschool education for sustainability (HOPES)” (Swedish Research Council, Dnr. 2018-04445). The analyses will be completed by June, 2023. 

References

Borg, F., & Vinterek, M. (2020). Principals´ Views on and Descriptions of Preschool Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of Applied Technical and Educational Sciences, 10(2), 18-40.

doi:10.24368/jates.v10i2.170

Henderson, K., & Tilbury, D. (2004). Whole school approaches to sustainability: An international review of sustainable school programs. Report prepared by Macquarie University for the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage. Sydney.

Mogren, A., Gericke, N., & Scherp, H.-Å. (2019). Whole school approaches to education for sustainable development: a model that links to school improvement. Environmental Education Research, 25(4), 508-531. https://doi:10.1080/13504622.2018.1455074  

Umetrics. (2020). SIMCA-P+. In (Version 16.0) [Computer software]. Sartorius Stedim Inc.

https://www.sartorius.com/en/products/process-analytical-technology/data-analytics-software/mvdasoftware/simca?gclid=Cj0KCQiAvvKBBhCXARIsACTePW-oD9sm_Ng1dgNBivHH9GFSApdp5wo2G0EDOydryNnzZQ-20Xoj_vIaApIwEALw_wcB   

Wals, A. E. J., & Mathie, R. G. (2022). Whole school responses to climate urgency and related sustainability challenges: A perspective from Northern Europe. In M. Peter & R. Heraud (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational innovation (pp. 1-8): Springer: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2262-4_263-1.