Appropriating Waste into Teaching Learning Materials for Early Childhood Education – A Sustainability Starts with Teachers approach

Children’s early development socially, emotionally and cognitively is tied to how they are taught and how they learn in tangible ways. The learning experiences in their early years have a significant impact on their general and optimal development. Early childhood is the most critical period of a person’s life in terms of thinking and cognition. Thus, teaching and learning processes need to be innovative with inspiring materials in teacher development programmes. There is a dire shortage of teaching and learning materials in teacher education institutions in Botswana. Using a case study of a teacher education institution in Botswana, the purpose of this article is to demonstrate how an active learning model can be used drawing on a change project approach to respond to the shortage of teaching learning materials (TLMs) for Early Childhood Education (ECE) using waste materials. The change project emerged from a UNESCO-led capacity building programme for teacher educators on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Southern Africa called Sustainability Starts with Teachers (SST). Results from the study showed that development of such materials not only enhanced teaching and learning but created strong whole institutions and community engagement that led to capacity building in students. Students became resourceful in creating TLMs for early childhood education, in the process enhancing their skills for teaching and learning. Keywords: Sustainability Starts with Teachers (SST), teacher education, capacity building, change project, active learning