I want to do real things: explorations of children's active community participation

Framed within communitarianism, this chapter explores possibilities for young children’s active participation in the sustainability of Earth and its inhabitants, via attention to the interdependence of natural, social, economic and political systems. How embedded social and political structures limit and control the scope of children’s participation is brought to the fore, with insights from two studies offering possibilities for adult practices to work with children to circumnavigate barriers to children’s participation. In particular, possibilities for innovations in pedagogy in early childhood education for sustainability are discussed. One study explored a living theory of storytelling pedagogy, whilst another study investigated the scope of public pedagogy to cultivate shifts in social perceptions of children and citizenship. Data from both studies demonstrate that children want to be active citizens. They want to do ‘real things’, which challenges the metanarrative of young children existing in worlds of play, domesticity, and school. The ideas discussed alert educators, policy makers and community workers to the complexities that surround notions of young children’s active citizenship and provide guidelines for practice to open doors to the breadth of possibilities for young children’s inclusion in civic participation for sustainability