Beyond techno-solutionism: Towards critical perspectives in environmental education and digital technology. A critical-hermeneutic review

Abstract

As ecological changes escalate and digital technologies continue to entangle themselves into children's lives, there is a need to critically explore the intersection of education, digital technologies, and environmental concerns. This paper aims to uncover underlying assumptions and metanarratives in current scholarship at the intersection of Environmental Education (EE), technology, and Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) to broaden perspectives and foster transformative futures. A decolonial-informed critical hermeneutic literature review of 79 papers explores EE's relationship with digital technology and CCI. Thematic analysis and iterative search cycles reveal a hegemonic discourse centred on anthropocentrism, technological solutionism, and behaviour change in children, predominantly driven by economic priorities in the Global North. Non-hegemonic perspectives (particularly those from the Global South) emphasise critical perspectives on digital technology development and sustainability discourse. These perspectives advocate for non-dualistic understandings of human-nature-technology relationships such as those informed by relationally-based Indigenous knowledges, new materialisms, arts-based pedagogies, and ecopedagogies. This review has implications for EE and the CCI communities alike. Findings suggest that researchers might reconsider prioritising techno-pedagogical sustainability solutions and shift efforts first towards transforming the underlying ways of knowing and being that drive current education and technology narratives and design. By critically addressing these onto-epistemological orientations, we might stand a chance for a more sustainable and ecologically responsible future for today's children.