Teaching about , with and for animals – a systematic review in early childhood education

Human-induced climate change, pollution and destruction of habitats are among the main drivers of biodiversity loss. Reaching sustainability goals will require transformations in how we think and act both as individuals and at a systemic level across economic, social and political arenas. This raises the question of how education can contribute to these transformations. The present paper is a review of studies within early childhood education, exploring how teaching about, with and for animals can be approached in preschool. The review explores if and how teaching for animals is or can be operationalized in teaching about and with animals. Directions for transformative practices in teaching and research are highlighted. The key findings of the literature review point to the risks of reproducing unsustainable anthropocentric views of animals and the human-animal relation in early childhood education practices and research. The present review also acknowledges the need to broaden the range of emotions that are attended to in teaching practices and research. Transformative practices require a critical reflection on how teachers and researchers view animals and construct relations to them, as well as on the psychological, political and philosophical implications of our implicit metatheories of emotions.