Microbial Childhood: Restor(y)ing Daycare Ecologies II

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

This interdisciplinary project explores how microbial life can be meaningfully integrated into early childhood education through the framework of Microbial Education (MicroED), grounded in post-anthropocentric and multispecies pedagogies. It responds to a silent epidemic among children – rising rates of asthma, allergies, immune dysregulation, obesity, type 1 diabetes, and ADHD – linked to reduced microbiota diversity. Early childhood is a critical period for establishing a healthy microbiome, which influences development, learning, and well-being. MicroED fosters attentiveness to microbes as co-inhabitants of both daycare environments and children’s bodies, emphasizing that caring for children also means caring for their ecological surroundings. The project operating across education, host-microbiome research, ecology, and the arts. Using participatory and art methods, it engages children, educators, and families in sensing, relating to, and learning with microbes. Scientific and artistic tools make microbial communities visible and relatable, challenging dominant germophobic narratives and promoting more complex, empathic relations with microbial life. The project also investigates how microbial aspects of educational environments are shaped by pedagogical choices, policies, and public discourse, including print media. Implementation involves research at two daycare sites in Tampere – one with prior engagement and microbial interventions, and one new site for comparative analysis. Through co-design, the project develops intentional, microbe-conscious pedagogies and practices that support microbial diversity and multispecies justice. Outputs include educational resources, artworks, professional development tools, and policy recommendations aimed at transforming early childhood education into a space of ecological care and relational learning.