Abstract
The purpose of this study is to reframe education for sustainability (EfS) through the language of children taking action for the environment in their primary school. The language of sustainability is examined as well as the history of EfS in Aotearoa and related Māori concepts and metaphors. The researcher argues that despite children’s vulnerability to climate change and environmental degradation, their voices have been marginalised from the discourse. Using the methodology of poetic inquiry and taking a phenomenological approach, the researcher observed and participated with students at two Auckland primary schools taking action in their enviro-groups. A variety of experiences are represented through the children’s words in a series of found poems. Students experienced problem solving and decision-making, the freedom to engage in imaginative play, connecting with nature, and learning independently, with the help of teachers and whānau in ethically complex settings. The poems reveal an emotional, relational and embodied experience that the New Zealand Curriculum barely indicates. The researcher concludes that children’s voices are essential to future curriculum development, engaging more people in the kaupapa and generating creative and bold responses to the current ecological crisis.
