Painting trees in the wind: socio-material ambiguity and sustainability politics in early childhood education with refugee children in Denmark
An art activity with immigrant children, promoting simultaneous immersion in and detachment from nature, questions dominant early childhood pedagogy in Denmark
Current work in environmental education research includes studies reflecting “common world” approaches to early childhood environmental and sustainability education. The “common world” approach recognizes humans as beings existing in common with other species and elements of the natural world. This approach calls into question distinctions between human societies and the rest of the natural world. It emphasizes immersion and sense of oneness while discouraging detachment.
This theoretical paper offers an alternative perspective based on the philosophical work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who challenged traditional Cartesian dualism. Presented in this paper is the idea that “the experience of separation underlying dualistic thinking, as well as the experience of immersion related to notions of entanglement, are fundamental aspects of being in the world.” In other words, both immersion and detachment are valued. This paper also discusses insights gained from a research project carried out over a period of a year (2016-2017) with refugee children newly arrived in Denmark. Four childcare programs in Denmark participated in the project. The insights gained related to participant observation of daily activities, interviews with professional staff, and visits with the families of children with a refugee background.
One particular case is highlighted. The institution involved is located in a social housing area with a large number of immigrant families. The observed activity focused on painting trees, with “nature and sustainability” as the curricular theme. For this activity, children used sticks they found on the ground to draw on large sheets of paper. The space under the tree where the children are drawing and the freedom given by the teacher allow the children to develop their own concepts of nature. This approach “acknowledges different kinds of experiences of and relationships with trees” and allows for ambiguity. Observations of one child’s engagement in the art activity reveals “oscillation between being immersed in relationships with the world and adopting an observing distance to them.” Oscillation, in this case, is viewed as providing a “glimpse of an alternative to dominant ways of inhabiting the world.” This “glimpse” is reinforced after the children return to the classroom and are encouraged “to step back from their paintings and describe them as objects, thereby playing on the oscillation between immersion in an embodied activity and detached reflection.” The art teacher’s intent, in this case, is “to work against the polarisation inherent in identity and integration politics that underlie many other pedagogical activities with minority children.”
This research adds to the literature by challenging the way immigrant children are sometimes viewed “as a problem category” and evaluated in relation to how well they integrate into the culture of the host country. The related discussion highlights ways in which “integration paradoxically creates the otherness that it attempts to dissolve.” The related discussion also highlights the importance of not allowing “attention to children’s relationship with the more-than-human world to overshadow the consideration of social justice agendas.”
Citation
Jørgensen, N. J., Martiny-Bruun, A., (2020). Painting trees in the wind: socio-material ambiguity and sustainability politics in early childhood education with refugee children in Denmark. Environmental Education Research, 26(9-10),
