Emphasising Loopholes to Facilitate Early Childhood Education for Sustainability

Purpose Due to ecological changes in the world's oceans, there is an overwhelming need to foster respect for marine ecosystems and raise awareness of their protection. The authors therefore ask: How can emergent ocean literacy be facilitated in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS)? The aim was to identify drivers for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration. Design/Approach/Method Ethnographically inspired fieldwork was conducted in two early childhood education institutions on the west coast of Norway. The practices in these institutions revealed collaborative exploration between children and teachers on the seashore. The theoretical framework for the study and the analysis is anchored in Ødegaard's idea of collaborative exploration and based on Bakhtin's concepts of dialogism, polyphony, speech genres, and loopholes. Findings The analysis surfaced place, time, and relations as relevant drivers for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration. These drivers opened up for the emergence of loopholes, play as children's preferred speech genre, and dialogical relationships between children and teachers. Originality/Value The maritime environment, where various prior experiences and knowledge were connected through ongoing play activities, indicates practices that are relevant and meaningful when facilitating ECEfS.