Embracing learners’ cultural identity in the early years to enhance education for sustainable development

Abstract

Considering learners’ cultural identity in teaching and learning processes in early years is imperative as it boosts their self-esteem leading to the development of important attributes for their ongoing lifelong learning. It is argued that teachers should implement teaching approaches that aminate learners’ positive identities and inclinations. In the Southern African countries, continuous migration of people creates an identity crisis for the young learners. This study is aimed at promoting education for sustainable development in the early years by incorporating children’s cultural identity during teaching and learning. We utilised John Ogbu (1978)’s cultural-ecological theory as the theoretical framework for the study. Methodologically, the study was conducted following the principles of the participatory transformative paradigm. As a community of practice working 6 co-researchers, we adopted the Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) design for the current study because of its inclusive and participatory form of community-based research, to explore how learners’ cultural identities can be embraced to promote education for sustainable development in early years in three Southern African countries. We found that many teachers who teach in the early years are not well-versed with the learners’ culture, hence they spend more than a reasonable amount of time trying to make learners understand foreign cultures. In this study, we explained how teachers in the early years can cater for the culture of learners in the processes of teaching and learning. We concluded that understanding learners’ culture does not only improve their learning outcomes but also enhances education for sustainable development among them.