Browsing by Author "Virkkula, Roosa"

Global climate change is one of the greatest threats of our time. Global climate has warmed up already about one degree from pre-industrial level due to human activity. An increase of more than 1.5 degrees will presumably lead to a situation where living conditions on earth are becoming intolerable in increasingly large areas. Global climate change is a wicked problem that is extremely difficult to resolve. Children of our time are living with the consequences of climate change. They will require a wide range of skills in the future. This challenges also the education system. In this thesis, I’m dealing with fundamentals of climate change education and the possibilities of sustainability education. This bachelor’s thesis is a critical discourse analysis. It´s purpose is to study how the global climate change is discussed in the National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care 2018 and what kind of discourses of future does it have. The results of my analysis show that even though sustainability is emphasized in the material, climate change is not discussed. The eco-crisis or global climate change is not mentioned in the material at all. However, the threat of eco-crisis is recognized, because sustainability is empha-sized. The well-being of nature is seen human-centered. However, the child image in the material supports the principles of ecologically wise education. The relationship towards nature is con-cerned meaningful. The material recognizes that the world is changing and that the need for ex-tensive expertise is growing. The future is approached positively. The material emphasizes that children should be involved in everything that concerns their own lives.