How One School Nurtures Environmental Stewardship
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Editors’ Note: Successful implementation of broad initiatives—such as those outlined in “Supports for Farm to Early Care and Education,” by Meagan K. Shedd and Cynthia Greene—often require policies, initiatives, and funding beyond one classroom or program. This is also true of other aspects of environmental and climate education. In her practitioner reflection, Lisa M. Beck highlights the supports she put in place as director of a preschool in Ossining, New York, and the need for sufficient policies, funding, and other investments to address the impacts of climate change.
Children across the world are feeling the impacts of the climate crisis, with increasing numbers facing rising temperatures, a loss in biodiversity, and more frequent and severe weather (IPCC 2023). The most extreme effects are often experienced by the most vulnerable populations, deepening social and economic inequities (Davis 1998; Spiteri & Pace 2023). In light of these factors, it is critical that today’s children develop an understanding of the connections between humans and the environment and a desire to care for and protect our planet (NAAEE 2016).
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Lisa M. Beck, EdD in curriculum and teaching, is an assistant professor of education at Manhattanville University in Purchase, New York. As a former director of a parent cooperative nursery school in Ossining, New York, she reflects on a decade of environmentally conscious leadership.