Building foundations for climate justice education in early childhood: Using inquiry, care, and hope-filled action

This article examines how foundations of climate justice education can be meaningfully integrated into early childhood settings through developmentally appropriate, inquiry-based approaches. Using a participatory case study design, the study presents two cases of early childhood educators who embed foundational learning for climate justice into everyday classroom practices. Findings highlight that, while these educators do not explicitly teach the science of climate change, they conceptualize foundational climate literacy occuring through play-based inquiry, nature exploration, and action-oriented activities that build systems-oriented understanding of children’s communities and the natural world. Both cases emphasize the importance of cultivating children’s agency, encouraging “hope-filled action,” and integrating social-emotional learning with environmental responsibility. Practices such as waste reduction, outdoor exploration, and community engagement support children in understanding interdependence and developing care for the environment without inducing anxiety. These cases suggest that early childhood education offers a critical and underutilized opportunity for climate justice education, and lead to a recommendation for stronger systemic supports through professional development, policy, and accessible curricular resources to expand this work.