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Who is the ‘guardian of the sea’? A Narrative Practice Approach analysis of a short story book for six to eight years old on the main character’s environmental identity construction.

Chatzifotiou, Athanasia (2023) Who is the ‘guardian of the sea’? A Narrative Practice Approach analysis of a short story book for six to eight years old on the main character’s environmental identity construction. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 24 (2). pp. 83-98. ISSN 1691-5534

Item Type: Article

Abstract

This project used a story book for young readers (aged 6-8) to explore environmental identity features and their potential impact upon its young readers. A variety of different units of analysis from the narrative practice approach were employed to explore: a. how the story’s narrative constructs the environmental identity of the main character, b. what kind of environmental identity it promotes and c. whether reading a story can be considered as a ‘proxy’ of a ‘formative’ childhood experience in relation to the environment.
The analysis showed a gradual construction of the main character’s environmental identity; moving from passivity and ignorance to agency and knowledge. However, the notion of agency was rather limited to an individualistic agency that can potentially empower young readers to act on a local level without helping them to see environmental issues in a wider societal context.
Finally, the idea of reading an environmental story as a ‘formative’ experience is discussed in relation to the aforementioned findings and to literature relevant within sustainability education pedagogies.

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Depositing User: Athanasia Chatzifotiou

Identifiers

Item ID: 15862
Identification Number: DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jtes-2022-0018
ISSN: 1691-5534
URI: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/15862
Official URL: https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jtes-2022-0018...

Users with ORCIDS

ORCID for Athanasia Chatzifotiou: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8517-598X

Catalogue record

Date Deposited: 27 Mar 2023 11:37
Last Modified: 17 Apr 2023 12:00

Contributors

Author: Athanasia Chatzifotiou ORCID iD

University Divisions

Faculty of Education and Society

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