Peer-reviewed article
Climate change education for children: a critical integrative review and the participation–emotion–resilience (PER) framework
Jane Spiteri ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This review looks at 47 empirical, conceptual, review and policy studies on climate change education for young children in early childhood and primary settings. It examines how children's participation, emotions and resilience are treated in this work. The authors find three patterns in the literature and propose the Participation–Emotion–Resilience (PER) framework, which treats the three as linked processes. The framework is grounded in children's rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The review ends with implications for theory, teaching and policy.
Key points
- Climate change education for young children has expanded rapidly but is unevenly theorised on participation, emotion and resilience.
- Participation is often limited to expression rather than real influence.
- Attention to climate emotions is not matched by structural responsiveness.
- Resilience framings risk becoming individualised without collective and rights-based supports.
- The quality of participatory opportunities shapes emotional experiences and whether resilience becomes collective capacity or individual coping.
Limitations
The abstract does not say which countries the 47 studies come from, so the country hint (MT) cannot be confirmed from the text. It is a conceptual synthesis and does not test whether any intervention works.
Abstract
Climate change education (CCE) in early childhood and primary settings has expanded rapidly, yet remains unevenly theorised with respect to children’s participation, emotional experiences, and resilience. While existing approaches frequently emphasise knowledge acquisition, pro-environmental behaviour, or coping skills, they offer limited explanatory insight into why children’s engagement with climate issues can simultaneously create agency, anxiety, hope, or disengagement. This critical integrative review synthesises 47 empirical, conceptual, review, and policy-oriented studies to examine how participation, emotion, and resilience are conceptualised and enacted in CCE for young children. Drawing on established guidance for integrative synthesis, the review identifies three patterned tendencies across the literature: constrained forms of participation that prioritise expression over influence; heightened attention to climate emotions without corresponding structural responsiveness; and resilience framings that risk individualisation in the absence of collective and rights-based supports. To explain these patterns, the review advances the Participation–Emotion–Resilience (PER) framework, which conceptualises participation, emotion, and resilience as mutually constitutive processes rather than discrete domains. Grounded in children’s rights research and aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the PER framework elucidates how the quality of participatory opportunities shapes emotional experiences and conditions whether resilience emerges as collective capacity or individualised coping. The review concludes by outlining implications for theory, pedagogy, and policy, arguing for climate education approaches that attend to the ethical and affective dimensions of children’s participation in conditions of climate uncertainty.