Early childhood students perspective on climate change education and sustainability through the lens of critical and sustainability pedagogies

Climate change is recognised as a pressing global environmental challenge, disproportionately affecting children’s development, wellbeing, and rights. This study investigates final-year early childhood studies students’ perspectives on climate change education and sustainability in two national contexts, the United Kingdom and Hungary, which differ in the extent to which environmental and sustainability education is explicitly reflected in early childhood curriculum guidance. In England, while the Department for Education’s sustainability and climate change strategy recognises the importance of developing children’s understanding of nature, sustainability, and climate change, these themes are not explicitly identified as areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework. In contrast, Hungarian early years teacher education systematically integrates environmental pedagogy into professional training. Therefore, the aims of the study were to explore how early childhood studies students interpret their role in addressing climate change education and sustainability when working with children, how they perceive the curriculum, and develop pedagogical practices in climate change education they consider age-appropriate and meaningful. Across both contexts, students valued early engagement with climate awareness but highlighted challenges including lack of explicit awareness of the early childhood education workforce how to address children’s emotional readiness, developmental appropriateness, and limited pedagogical resources. The findings underscore the importance of higher education in preparing future practitioners to teach climate change effectively and suggest the need for clearer curriculum guidance, structured pedagogical support, and practical resources.