IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i19p8686-d1759374.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Empathy, Reconciliation, and Sustainability Action: An Evaluation of a Three-Year Community of Practice with Early Educators

Author

Listed:
  • Julie Ernst

    (College of Education and Human Service Professions, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA)

  • Claire Underwood

    (Arlitt Center for Education, Research & Sustainability, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA)

  • Thelma Nayquonabe

    (Lac Courte Oreilles, Hayward, WI 54843, USA)

Abstract

Early childhood educators are integral to shaping the knowledge, values, skills, and behaviors of young children, which in turn contribute to a more sustainable future. This qualitative evaluation reports on a three-year community of practice of 15 early educators focusing on land-based pedagogy in early education for sustainability contexts. Findings suggest participation influenced educators’ dispositions, knowledge, and teaching practices (their ways of being, knowing, and doing). Educators also provided insight into elements that made this form of professional learning impactful. We offer reflections regarding the use of the community of practice approach, stemming from these findings, which may be useful for other providers in their efforts to plan, implement, and evaluate professional learning for early education for sustainability in culturally responsive and sustaining ways.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie Ernst & Claire Underwood & Thelma Nayquonabe, 2025. "Empathy, Reconciliation, and Sustainability Action: An Evaluation of a Three-Year Community of Practice with Early Educators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-21, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8686-:d:1759374
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8686/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8686/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Natalia V. Czap & Hans J. Czap & Marianna Khachaturyan & Mark E. Burbach & Gary D. Lynne, 2018. "Experiments on empathy conservation: Implications for environmental policy," Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE), vol. 2(2), pages 71-77, September.
    2. Martín Bascopé & Paolo Perasso & Kristina Reiss, 2019. "Systematic Review of Education for Sustainable Development at an Early Stage: Cornerstones and Pedagogical Approaches for Teacher Professional Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Savas Pamuk & Rıdvan Elmas & Yakup Saban, 2022. "A Modeling Study on Science Teachers’ Sustainable Development Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-14, August.
    2. Birgitta Nordén & Helen Avery, 2021. "Global Learning for Sustainable Development: A Historical Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-31, March.
    3. William Villegas-Ch & Xavier Palacios-Pacheco & Sergio Luján-Mora, 2019. "Application of a Smart City Model to a Traditional University Campus with a Big Data Architecture: A Sustainable Smart Campus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-28, May.
    4. Jorge Rojo-Ramos & Fernando Manzano-Redondo & Sabina Barrios-Fernandez & Miguel Angel García-Gordillo & José Carmelo Adsuar, 2021. "Early Childhood Education Teachers’ Perception of Outdoor Learning Activities in the Spanish Region of Extremadura," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-12, August.
    5. M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández & Juan José Maldonado-Briegas, 2019. "Sustainable Entrepreneurial Culture Programs Promoting Social Responsibility: A European Regional Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Shih-Yeh Chen & Shiang-Yao Liu, 2020. "Developing Students’ Action Competence for a Sustainable Future: A Review of Educational Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, February.
    7. Rita Parmawati & Fadli Mulyadi & Rosyani Rosyani & Suaedi Suaedi & Yunikewaty Yunikewaty, 2023. "The Role of Environmental Education and Green Supply Chain Practices in Achieving Sustainable Development: Evidence from Indonesia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(1), pages 421-430, January.
    8. Silvia Sipone & Víctor Abella-García & Marta Rojo & Luigi dell’Olio, 2021. "Using ClassCraft to Improve Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Interest in Sustainable Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, September.
    9. Yiannis Georgiou & Andreas Ch. Hadjichambis & Demetra Hadjichambi, 2021. "Teachers’ Perceptions on Environmental Citizenship: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-29, March.
    10. Diego Bellini & Alberto Crescentini & Giovanna Zanolla & Serena Cubico & Giuseppe Favretto & Lorenzo Faccincani & Piermatteo Ardolino & Giovanna Gianesini, 2019. "Mathematical Competence Scale (MCS) for Primary School: The Psychometric Properties and the Validation of an Instrument to Enhance the Sustainability of Talents Development through the Numeracy Skills," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-13, May.
    11. Coral Campbell & Christopher Speldewinde, 2022. "Early Childhood STEM Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-11, March.
    12. Gary D Lynne & Natalia V Czap, 2024. "Towards Dual Interest Theory in Metaeconomics," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 36(1), pages 7-25, January.
    13. Atif Saleem & Philip Saagyum Dare, 2023. "Unmasking the Action-Oriented ESD Approach to Acting Environmentally Friendly," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-22, January.
    14. Muradian, Roldan & Gómez-Baggethun, Erik, 2021. "Beyond ecosystem services and nature's contributions: Is it time to leave utilitarian environmentalism behind?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    15. Antonio-Manuel Rodríguez-García & Jesús López Belmonte & Miriam Agreda Montoro & Antonio-José Moreno-Guerrero, 2019. "Productive, Structural and Dynamic Study of the Concept of Sustainability in the Educational Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-12, October.
    16. Rong Hu & Shuhang Mou, 2025. "Outdoor Education for Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-25, April.
    17. Figen Akça, 2019. "Sustainable Development in Teacher Education in Terms of Being Solution Oriented and Self-Efficacy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-16, December.
    18. Aihua Hu & Siv Ødemotland, 2021. "Fostering Cultural Sustainability in Early Childhood Education through a Neighbourhood Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-13, May.
    19. Veronica Bergan & Inger Wallem Krempig & Tove Aagnes Utsi & Kari Wallem Bøe, 2021. "I Want to Participate —Communities of Practice in Foraging and Gardening Projects as a Contribution to Social and Cultural Sustainability in Early Childhood Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-15, April.
    20. Jhih-Ning Jhang & Yi-Chun Lin & Yen-Ting Lin, 2025. "A Study on the Effectiveness of a Hybrid Digital-Physical Board Game Incorporating the Sustainable Development Goals in Elementary School Sustainability Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-23, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8686-:d:1759374. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.