Gender Equality, Sustainability and Early Childhood Education

This chapter explores educators’ perspectives on the connections between gender equality and sustainability in Victorian early childhood education programmes. It is based on a small-scale master’s dissertation project that researched various gaps between theory and practice in this area. A key theme arising from the study was a need to understand the barriers, enablers, and drivers of gender equality being integrated into early childhood sustainability programmes. Re-analysis of the topic using the Quality Use of Research Evidence (QURE) Framework suggests that there is a need to develop educators’ skillsets to access and engage with evidence on the connections between gender equality and sustainability in two key ways: conceptually, and as desirable outcomes of educational provision. The findings of the research project have also been used to develop a Continuum of Gender-Equitable Early Childhood Education for Sustainability to bring these two aspects together. Such a continuum can be used to raise awareness, contribute to conceptual clarity and encourage educators to engage with gender-transformative approaches to sustainability. To illustrate its possible uses and value, the chapter concludes by discussing how it was used to assess gaps in, and then innovate, the design and experience of a unit for preservice early childhood teachers at Monash University, Victoria, Australia.