Stories of disruption: Perspectives on the use of images to prompt children's action taking for sustainability

Complex topics such as sustainability need to be addressed through diverse and innovative approaches to awareness raising, problem solving and action taking. In previous research, I have explored the intersection of the Arts and Education for Sustainability and found that early childhood preservice teachers’ positive attitudes towards sustainability, and their desire to “make a difference,” were enhanced through their engagement in an integrated Arts and sustainability subject in which they were introduced to the images of American visual artist, Chris Jordan (www.chrisjordan.com). Jordan’s images are typically composed of vast numbers of objects or photographs of wildlife affected by plastic pollution, illustrating one aspect of the unsustainability of human consumption patterns. While we now know a little about how adults might respond to powerful and confronting images, we know less about how children might respond. Ethical questions arise about how educators might employ such visual tools in schools and early childhood contexts, or whether such challenging images should be used at all with young people. In this chapter, I present the stories of an early childhood educator and a marine biologist, and explore their unique perspectives on the risks and benefits of sharing confronting images with children. These stories shed light on issues associated with disruption, risk, and children’s capabilities for action taking for sustainability. I argue that findings from this study usefully add to conversations about the potential benefits of bold and risky teaching strategies that challenge traditional protective approaches to teachers’ work with children. The two educators who tell their stories here are unusual because of their background disciplines. Their stories challenge researchers and early childhood education practitioners to reconsider children’s capabilities for sustainability awareness and action taking. In addition, I discuss how images can send risky, yet powerful, messages about sustainability at a time when humanity needs to find new and urgent solutions to this global imperative.