Learning With the World: Challenges and Dilemmas

What do we actually know about creating science-based learning environments in early childhood — and what makes it so challenging to turn research into everyday practice? In this episode, three international researchers share different perspectives on how children learn with the world through science, nature, play, and sustainability. They speak about the dilemmas educators face in practice, the challenges researchers encounter when translating knowledge into real-life settings, and the questions that continue to keep them curious. Rather than offering final answers, this conversation opens space for reflection, dialogue, and disagreement — acknowledging that learning, like childhood itself, is complex, relational, and always in motion. The episode is hosted and moderated by Mille Bruun Sjøgren, who guides the conversation with a focus on dialogue, curiosity, and lived experience. Featuring: Marilyn Fleer, on learning in play and deep conceptual understanding Christine McWayne, on relationships, inclusion, and connecting learning to children’s everyday lives Sean Blenkinsop, on wild pedagogies, cultural change, and staying connected to the natural world This episode is part of the NAVADA project, which explores how science, mathematics, nature, and sustainability can be meaningfully integrated into early childhood education — not through fixed solutions, but through ongoing inquiry.