Worrying with Children and Water in ECEC: Exploring the Pedagogical framing Effects of Actions for Climate Change

Based on Sustainable Development Goals, a recent flurry of activity has begun concerning the responsibilities of teachers to support young children in recognising and responding to aspects of climate change. Less, however, is understood about the emotional impact of these interventions on children themselves, or the extent to which the way they are framed can impact on the actions that follow. The extent to which children are encouraged to worry about water and their responsibilities concerning its sustainability is of relevance to the children of Aotearoa New Zealand and orients the focus of this paper. Walking with 3–4-year-old children over several days across three early childhood education and care sites located near waterways in the South Island, researchers share examples of worrying that took place for these children as we walked together with water. Utilising Bilandzic et al. (Sci Commun 39:466–491, 2017) goal frames to analyse their significance, the ways children worried are explored in a series of narratives that identify as series of positive and negative frames and their consequences. The paper concludes by highlighting the considerable effects of worrying and their consequences for activating children towards climate action. Teachers are invited to take a nuanced view that ameliorates the counter-productive outcomes of negative frames that can immobilise action, in contemplation of positive frames with water as a relational encounter with potential for empowerment and change. As such, a shift from emphasising activities for climate change to the framings that orient their significance through children’s worrying encounters with and about water.