Early childhood education is crucial for the development of young children’s understanding of the natural world. Children have a role in sustaining a viable environmental and social future. This research interrogated key ideas concerning STEM education for sustainable development, drawing on seminal research and a range of government policy documents to formulate a futures-oriented approach to supporting children to build understandings in early childhood sustainability. Through the use of ethnography, a research methodology that uses both participation and observation of research participants, it became apparent that young children’s play-based learning enabled agentic responses in aligning with early understanding of STEM and sustainability. Using accepted descriptors of international Sustainable Development Goals within an early childhood research study, the research highlights how the development of interactive, learner-centred STEM teaching not only enables investigative, action-adapted learning, but also fosters independent learners who are responsive to their natural environment. The implication of this research is that further development of children’s environmental agency is suggested by the authors. The introduction of a whole-of-kindergarten approach that focuses on the systemic development of quality STEM education is posited as an avenue for educators to build young children’s understandings of sustainable development.

Bush kindergartens are a new practice in the Australian early childhood learning context and one that is rapidly becoming part of the kindergarten experience. Children leaving the confines of the bounded space of a kindergarten has been practised through excursions to outdoor places like zoos but the notion of conducting regular, ongoing kindergarten sessions away from the traditional kindergarten setting is one which is gaining momentum in Australian early childhood education, with possible impacts on future policy. In late 2014, a pilot programme titled ‘Sandy Shores Kids Go Bush’ was established across bush kindergartens in a region on the coastal fringe of south-eastern Australia using five existing sites. Each of these sites has differing characteristics impacting upon the experience of children attending the bush kinder programme. This paper reviews the settings of three different interpretations of ‘bush kinder’ and considers how the learning experience associated with bush kinder varies according to ‘place’ and how bush kinder has impact on both local and broader education policy.

Research demonstrates that powerful factors are involved in growing young girls’ STEM understandings. The development of a girl’s STEM identity relies on interaction with significant adults/others and the availability of a positive STEM learning environment. Undertaking research into bush kinders across 2015–2020, our data highlighted the learning that was occurring for young children four to five years of age. The children’s play dynamic was facilitating girls’ STEM identities and enabling STEM learning. Applying ethnography to this longitudinal study, data includes researcher observations of children and educators, interviews with educators and educators’ noticing . Using vignettes that demonstrate the STEM disciplines the girls were experiencing, we consider the opportunities that exist for girls’ development of a STEM identity in this context in Australian early years’ education. We argue that Australian bush kinder settings in Australia allow young girls to develop STEM identities through social interactions and that bush kinders act as enablers of STEM learning.

Research into pedagogical approaches used in early years’ nature education, more specifically European and UK forest schools, remains according to Leather, ‘undertheorised.’ In a similar situation in Australia, the bush kindergarten programmes (referred to as ‘bush kinders’), have had limited research attention. Influenced by European and UK forest school approaches, bush kinders are a recent development in Australian early years nature education. We discuss an ethnographic study where teaching and learning in three bush kinder settings was observed, each with different pedagogical approaches. The paper reports one main finding, where a wide range of pedagogical approaches were observed across the different bush kinder sites. To theoretically frame these pedagogical approaches, our analysis builds on Edwards’ notion of play-based learning, along with a model of inquiry-based teaching proposed by Furtak et al. Using ethnographic methods we draw on fieldwork data and research literature to analyse bush kinder pedagogies. The paper contributes to the conceptualisation of pedagogy in early childhood nature and bush kinder programmes.

Raising girls’ aspirations for STEM careers is one way to address Sustainability Development Goal 4 (SDG4)—quality education—which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Various strategies have been suggested in STEM education research literature to achieve this. One such initiative begins with exposing girls to STEM industries during their formative school years. While a range of industry-school partnerships exist, examples of successful models that might inform practice are scarce. This article describes an investigation into how industry professionals, university educators, teachers, and students successfully implemented a STEM education experience (Girls as Leaders in STEM (GALS)). Formative and summative evaluation processes were used to generate data through a co-design research approach to describe and measure changes in student practices, attitudes, and engagement in relation to STEM and leadership as a result of connecting to industry problems. This research focused on the analysis of teacher and student interview data generated upon the completion of the program, which provided feedback on the different aspects of the process and, in particular, the role of industry in relation to the girls’ attitudes. This research highlights the benefits of industry involvement with girls in terms of their engagement with STEM, the authenticity of STEM learning, and the novelty of the learning experience. These benefits are discussed with respect to how they can raise girls’ STEM aspirations and ensure equitable educational opportunities—aligning with SDG4.