Positive Education for Realizing Sustainable Development Goal 4 for All Children

Although much that is promising has already been achieved regarding sustainable development, the sustainability of early childhood education in terms of reaching the targets of Sustainable Developmental Goal 4 (SDG4) remains debatable. The aim of this chapter is not to generalize but rather to reflect and integrate the ideas of participants to seek ways to use positive education to accelerate Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS). The author reviews the potential of positive education based on the framework of Seligman’s (2011) positive psychology model PERMA, as a basis for a collaborative approach between policymakers, teachers, and parents regarding ECEfS. A participatory action-learning and action-research approach (PALAR) enabled the participants to generate the data in three different action-learning sets (ALS) in rural early childhood care and education (ECCE) centers in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). Within a transformative paradigm, participants were encouraged to think critically about challenges encountered while employing inclusive quality education to develop young children holistically. The findings suggest that the timeline for reaching the targets of SDG4 before 2030 is rapidly shrinking. It is argued that positive education offers the potential for policy makers, teachers, and parents to implement transformative actions in ECCE with a view to creating caring, responsible, and ultimately productive members of society.