A critical analysis of Chinese Early Childhood Education policy documents from the perspective of education for sustainable development

Abstract

In recent years, researchers have paid increasing attention to the embodiment of education for sustainable development (ESD) in early childhood education (ECE) policies in various countries, but there is a lack of relevant research in China. Therefore, this study adopts the ESD analytical framework to analyze some representative ECE policies in China. It was found that although these policies did not explicitly mention ESD, they contained related concepts, such as educational content covering the three domains of sustainable development, focusing on cultivating children’s cooperation and problem-solving skills and advocating the principles of child-centeredness and multiple synergies. This is closely related to the theoretical foundation of China’s ECE. However, there are also some deviations in the current policy. In the future, policies should be adjusted to focus on children’s relationship with the multidimensional world, enrich relational thinking in curriculum development, transform children’s learning styles and promote the sustainable development of ECE.