The Materiality of Children’s Imaginative Sense-making in Climate Change Education

In this article, we discuss our investigation of children’s imaginative sense-making and its materiality in climate change education. Drawing on a new materialist approach, our research contributes to knowledge about the material significance in children’s sense-making related to climate change. Dur...

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Main Authors: Chin Chin Wong, Kristiina Kumpulainen, Jenny Renlund, Jenny Byman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2024-08-01
Series:Australian Journal of Environmental Education
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Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S081406262400051X/type/journal_article
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author Chin Chin Wong
Kristiina Kumpulainen
Jenny Renlund
Jenny Byman
author_facet Chin Chin Wong
Kristiina Kumpulainen
Jenny Renlund
Jenny Byman
author_sort Chin Chin Wong
collection DOAJ
description In this article, we discuss our investigation of children’s imaginative sense-making and its materiality in climate change education. Drawing on a new materialist approach, our research contributes to knowledge about the material significance in children’s sense-making related to climate change. During a project called Riddle of the Spirit in a Finnish primary school, we invited children to explore the concepts of global warming and carbon dioxide through narrative, playful and multimodal activities. Inspired by postqualitative methods, our relational analysis, based on video materials, maps and examines two episodes of children’s small group inquiry. Our findings unfold the material–discursive intra-actions, through which a prop turned into a whale’s head, the Titanic film appeared, and water and carbon dioxide became important to children’s bodies. With these specific events, the study illustrates how various materials conjoined and came to matter in the children’s sense-making of the concepts.
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publishDate 2024-08-01
publisher Cambridge University Press
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series Australian Journal of Environmental Education
spelling doaj-art-97b0f8dccd3940f79e20c1bbb0463dfe2025-08-20T03:03:11ZengCambridge University PressAustralian Journal of Environmental Education0814-06262049-775X2024-08-014077078310.1017/aee.2024.51The Materiality of Children’s Imaginative Sense-making in Climate Change EducationChin Chin Wong0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3432-1868Kristiina Kumpulainen1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0721-0348Jenny Renlund2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7378-0875Jenny Byman3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9244-0174Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Language and Literacy Education, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CanadaFaculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandFaculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandIn this article, we discuss our investigation of children’s imaginative sense-making and its materiality in climate change education. Drawing on a new materialist approach, our research contributes to knowledge about the material significance in children’s sense-making related to climate change. During a project called Riddle of the Spirit in a Finnish primary school, we invited children to explore the concepts of global warming and carbon dioxide through narrative, playful and multimodal activities. Inspired by postqualitative methods, our relational analysis, based on video materials, maps and examines two episodes of children’s small group inquiry. Our findings unfold the material–discursive intra-actions, through which a prop turned into a whale’s head, the Titanic film appeared, and water and carbon dioxide became important to children’s bodies. With these specific events, the study illustrates how various materials conjoined and came to matter in the children’s sense-making of the concepts.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S081406262400051X/type/journal_articleChildrenimaginationsense-makingclimate change educationnew materialismpostqualitative methods
spellingShingle Chin Chin Wong
Kristiina Kumpulainen
Jenny Renlund
Jenny Byman
The Materiality of Children’s Imaginative Sense-making in Climate Change Education
Australian Journal of Environmental Education
Children
imagination
sense-making
climate change education
new materialism
postqualitative methods
title The Materiality of Children’s Imaginative Sense-making in Climate Change Education
title_full The Materiality of Children’s Imaginative Sense-making in Climate Change Education
title_fullStr The Materiality of Children’s Imaginative Sense-making in Climate Change Education
title_full_unstemmed The Materiality of Children’s Imaginative Sense-making in Climate Change Education
title_short The Materiality of Children’s Imaginative Sense-making in Climate Change Education
title_sort materiality of children s imaginative sense making in climate change education
topic Children
imagination
sense-making
climate change education
new materialism
postqualitative methods
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S081406262400051X/type/journal_article
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