Rethinking Age-Appropriateness: Action Learning, Biophilia and Environmental Citizenship Education in Bhutanese Primary Schools

Environmental education in Bhutanese primary schools is integrated across various subjects and is primarily guided by the framework of Education for Gross National Happiness (EGNH). It aims to cultivate environmental values to foster environmentally responsible citizens. Nonetheless, how these commitments are translated into meaningful environmental citizenship during the primary years remains insufficiently understood. This paper draws on the first author’s doctoral qualitative research involving interviews with 12 in-service teachers from 12 schools, a three-month ethnographic case study, and a teacher workshop. This paper focuses on three interrelated analytical perspectives: age-appropriateness, action research and action learning, and biophilia. Age-appropriateness concerns aligning environmental learning experiences with children’s cognitive, emotional and social development while recognising their existing knowledge and capabilities. The findings reveal a tension between teachers’ assumptions about primary students’ developmental readiness and the environmental knowledge and understanding that children demonstrate through their lived experiences. Although school conservation activities and experiences of nature help children develop environmental awareness, care and responsibility, these activities often provide limited opportunities for children to investigate environmental problems and participate in decision-making. The paper argues that environmental citizenship education should move beyond teaching children to follow prescribed environmental practices and instead create age-appropriate opportunities for them to question, investigate and contribute to addressing environmental concerns. The paper brings Bhutanese spiritual ecological understandings into dialogue with participatory and scientific approaches. It advances an integrated perspective grounded in ecological belonging, critical inquiry and participatory responsibility, offering a culturally situated contribution to environmental citizenship education in primary schools.