Young Voices - The Challenges and Opportunities That Arise in Early Childhood Environmental Education Research - A Mosaic Approach

Oct 15, 2026

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Early childhood environmental education programs are growing in Canada, yet young children have historically been marginalized in environmental education research. The work emphasizes that including young children is essential for understanding their relationships with the natural world, but requires developmentally appropriate research tools and data collection methods. The article discusses this inclusion as challenging while highlighting effective approaches, particularly the Mosaic approach, as a successful data collection pathway.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

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Young Voices: The Challenges and Opportunities That Arise in Early Childhood Environmental Education Research Elizabeth Yvonne Shaw Boileau, Université de Montréal, Canada Abstract The number of early childhood environmental education programs are on the rise in Canada and although young children have been quite marginalized from environmental education research, better understanding young children’s relationships with the natural world is increasingly seen as important. Including young children themselves in research is important; however, it is essential for researchers to utilize developmentally appropriate research tools and data collection methods, just as environmental educators should create programs that are congruent with the emotional, physical, and cognitive abilities of young children. Including young children in environmental education research can bea challenge, but there are several data collection methods that have proven to be successful, for example, the Mosaic approach, which is discussed in this article. Resumé Le nombre de programmes d’éducation relative à l’environnement pour la petite enfance augmente au Canada, et bien que la recherche en éducation relative à l’environnement ait largement négligé les jeunes enfants, on accorde de plus en plus d’importance à la compréhension de leur relation avec le monde naturel. Il est important d’inclure les jeunes enfants dans la recherche. Il est cependant essentiel que les chercheurs appliquent des outils de recherche et des méthodes de collectes de données conçues pour les enfants ; tout comme les animateurs devraient créer des programmes en harmonie avec les capacités émotionnelles, physiques et cognitives des jeunes enfants. L’intégration de la petite enfance dans la recherche en éducation relative à l’environnement peut comporter des défis, mais plusieurs méthodes de collecte de données se sont avérées concluantes, l’approche Mosaïque par exemple, qui est traitée dans l’article. Keywords: environmental education research, mosaic approach, early childhood, children’s rights, children and nature Introduction Outdoor learning and environmental education have many proven benefits forchildren (Robertson, 2008; R. A. Wilson, 1994; R. Wilson, 2008) and, as shown by a growing body of research, early environmental experiences are vital in developing a relationship with the environment and developing environmental 142 Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 18, 2013 concern (Barratt Hacking, Barratt, & Scott, 2007) . The lack of such experiences can lead to a loss of connection from the natural world and what Louv (2008) has called “nature deficit disorder.” Informal environmental programs, such as nature play groups or early years programming offered by environmental institutions, can help parents and caregivers provide opportunities to nurture children’s environmental learning as well as stimulate many facets of children’s normal physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Environmental education can also be an ideal setting to develop naturalistic intelligence,“the ability to recognize and classify plants, minerals, and animals, including rocks and grass and all variety of flora and fauna”(Checkley, 1997, para. 16) . Thereis a need to better understand children’s development in relation to the natural world and to include environmental education in the whole education of the child (Oltman, 2002) . Happily, there is a growing interest in nature-related programming forchildren. Ravensbergen (2012), who conducted a review of environmental programs in North America, reports that a large-scale movement towards the integration of environmental learning into school curriculums is taking place in a variety of forms. She outlines a number of programs in Canada that have a definitive environmental focus, like the Forest Preschool in Ottawa, Ontario (Carp Ridge Learning Centre, n.d.) and Sangster Elementary School Nature Kindergarten in British Col

FAQs

Why is early childhood environmental education research increasingly important in Canada?

It is increasingly viewed as important to understand young children’s relationships with the natural world, while environmental education opportunities for children are expanding.

What is the key challenge in including young children in environmental education research?

Researchers must use developmentally appropriate tools and data collection methods, because including young children can be difficult without suitable approaches.

Which data collection method does the article highlight as successful?

The article discusses the Mosaic approach as one method that has proven successful for research involving young children.

Oct 15, 2026

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