Early childhood in the era of post-humanism: lending an ear to nature.

Abstract

Parents, or pre-school educators in early childhood education, focus on assisting children to attain the highest possible pre-numeracy and pre-literacy skills in an attempt to give children a better academic foundation. Children are presented with technology, for example, in the form of a tablet, that act as baby-sitters even before they can speak properly, and this has largely deafened them to the sounds of nature. Sounds of man and machine are the only ones most children will be exposed to, due to their living in cities with few natural spaces. Children are not taken into nature to experience it and get to know the sounds of the bio-network, of which they are an integral part. Rural children may have a better chance to get to know, respect and cherish nature, due to their context, but their guides -parents and/or communities -have sunken into their own disregard for their environment. It is only when children are taught to listen to and appreciate nature that they will be enabled to begin moving back to being ‘mensch’ where the focus, ironically, moves away from the human and focuses instead on creating an equilibrium between humanity and nature, rather than stripping the planet of its natural resources through harmful practices. This empirical research explored the literature to highlight the significance of listening as a mode of developing an appreciation of and caring for nature. Attuning children of the post-humanist era to their natural environment through listening will encourage them to understand their function as part of nature, and assist in the restoration of the planet.