Enhancing Early Childhood Education for Sustainability: Integrating (Re) Connect with Nature into the 7R Themes

Abstract This study aims to examine how forest school practices support Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) and to explore how sustained engagement with nature extends or challenges the existing 7R themes (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Redistribute, Respect, Reflect, and Rethink). Using a qualitative case study design, the research was conducted in a forest school in Türkiye and involved semi-structured interviews with five preschool teachers, as well as structured and unstructured classroom observations. Data were analysed through a systematic three-level content analysis guided by the 7Rs. The findings reveal that ECEfS is enacted through interconnected practices of reducing consumption, reusing materials, recycling through composting, redistributing resources, rethinking, reflecting, and fostering respect. However, sustained and immersive engagement with nature emerged as a distinct pedagogical dimension not fully captured by the existing 7Rs, leading to the identification of an eighth theme: Reconnect with Nature. By addressing a gap in the literature regarding how sustainability is enacted in nature-based early childhood settings, the study contributes conceptually by extending the 7R themes and empirically by illustrating how teachers integrate sustainability into everyday forest school practices. The findings have important implications for practice, policy, and research, suggesting that ECEfS should prioritise daily sustainability routines, teacher-led reflective and relational pedagogies, and sustained immersion in natural environments. Furthermore, policy frameworks and teacher education programmes should explicitly recognise nature connection as a core component of ECEfS. Finally, future research should examine the long-term impacts of such approaches across diverse educational contexts.