Jane Spiteri
Biographic Data
| ID | 6573718 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jane Spiteri |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jane |
| FAMILY NAME | Spiteri |
| SIGNATURE | SPITERI J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Malta |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6625-2372 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Peer Cultures and Climate Emotions in Early Childhood
Climate change increasingly shapes children’s emotional landscapes, yet research continues to conceptualise young children’s emotional responses primarily as individual psychological reactions rather than as socially produced and culturally transmitted phenomena. This article proposes a new cultural–evolutionary framework, the Peer Emotional Evolution Model (PEEM), to address this theoretical gap. Drawing together scholarship on cultural evolutio…
Access to Healthcare Services for Migrant and Left-Behind Children
Migrant and left-behind children experience health vulnerability that are shaped by climate change, including by climate change, including illness, displacement, and family separation, but also by the organisation of healthcare systems. This scoping review maps the evidence on healthcare services for migrant and left-behind children, with attention to health needs, service provision, barriers and facilitators to access, and gaps in care. Followin…
Climate Anxiety in Early Childhood
Climate anxiety in early childhood is an under‐recognised concern within global climate governance, despite the heightened vulnerability of children under eight to environmental disruption. This study critically examines how international and European governance frameworks address the emotional well‐being of young children affected by climate‐induced displacement, focussing on policy recognition of climate anxiety, the integration of developmenta…
Climate emotions in early childhood
Children's Voices and Agency
The increased international legislation emphasising children's participation agenda heightened the need for high-quality research in early childhood. Listening to young children asserts their participation, agency and voices in research, an approach commonly associated with qualitative research methods. This Element provides a novel perspective to listening to children's voices by focusing on research methods in early childhood studies that are b…
Climate crisis activism in early childhood
This viewpoint considers climate crisis activism through participatory pedagogical approaches to intergenerational learning, in the context of early childhood education. Given the dire predictions surrounding climate change, it is likely that in the immediate future, young children will continue to suffer the disproportionate consequences of intergenerational injustice, further violating their rights to clean, healthy environments even though the…
Promoting gender equality across the sustainable development goals
Gender issues, and gender equality in particular, can be regarded as cross-cutting issues in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), even though it is unclear how they are taken into account. This study addresses this information gap by performing an assessment of the emphasis on gender issues across all the other 16 SDGs, in addition to SDG5, through a literature review and case study analysis, the basis for the newly dev…
Environmental learning across generations
While research demonstrates that family and school dynamics play a role in shaping children's behaviour, little is known about the actual and potential bi-directional influences young children have on their teachers' and mothers' environmental learning. This study begins to fill this gap in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) research by recognising young children as agents of intergenerational learning for sustainability. It exp…
Early childhood educators’ conceptions of the environment
Despite the growing awareness of the environmental crisis, few studies have examined how early childhood educators conceptualise the environment and the funds of knowledge they draw upon to describe these. Using ‘funds of knowledge’ as a theoretical lens, this study explores how early childhood educators in Malta describe the environment. Guided by a qualitative case study methodology, data were collected via semi-structured interviews with five …
Quality early childhood education for all and the Covid-19 crisis
Can you hear me? Young children’s understanding of environmental issues
This study examines young children’s understanding of environmental issues in Malta. Informed by a socio-cultural perspective and adopting a qualitative methodology, this case study was conducted with 10 children (ages 3–7). The data were obtained through children’s interpretation of photographs depicting environmental issues. The results showed that young children possess some understanding of environmental issues and they could talk about them,…
Why is it important to protect the environment? Reasons presented by young children
How children piece together their reasons for protecting the environment is an important but under-research area in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS). This article reviews findings related to young Maltese children’s (aged 3–7 years) reasons for protecting the environment. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, preliminary data were collected via observations in two state schools and one family household, semi-structured c…
Young children’s perceptions of environmental sustainability
This thesis is located in the emerging field of early childhood education for sustainability and has particular focus on Malta. It sought to gather insights into young children’s perceptions of environmental sustainability, and the influences that shaped these perceptions, particularly in the context of the family and the school. Twelve Maltese children, aged between 3 and 7 years, ten parents, five teachers and a head teacher participated in thi…
Why is it important to protect the environment? Reasons presented by young children
How children piece together their reasons for protecting the environment is an important but under-research area in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS). This article reviews findings related to young Maltese children’s (aged 3–7 years) reasons for protecting the environment. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, preliminary data were collected via observations in two state schools and one family household, semi-structured c…
Environmental learning across generations
While research demonstrates that family and school dynamics play a role in shaping children's behaviour, little is known about the actual and potential bi-directional influences young children have on their teachers' and mothers' environmental learning. This study begins to fill this gap in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) research by recognising young children as agents of intergenerational learning for sustainability. It exp…
Can you hear me? Young children’s understanding of environmental issues
This study examines young children’s understanding of environmental issues in Malta. Informed by a socio-cultural perspective and adopting a qualitative methodology, this case study was conducted with 10 children (ages 3–7). The data were obtained through children’s interpretation of photographs depicting environmental issues. The results showed that young children possess some understanding of environmental issues and they could talk about them,…
Young children’s perceptions of environmental sustainability
This thesis is located in the emerging field of early childhood education for sustainability and has particular focus on Malta. It sought to gather insights into young children’s perceptions of environmental sustainability, and the influences that shaped these perceptions, particularly in the context of the family and the school. Twelve Maltese children, aged between 3 and 7 years, ten parents, five teachers and a head teacher participated in thi…
Young children’s perceptions of environmental sustainability
This thesis is located in the emerging field of early childhood education for sustainability and has particular focus on Malta. It sought to gather insights into young children’s perceptions of environmental sustainability, and the influences that shaped these perceptions, particularly in the context of the family and the school. Twelve Maltese children, aged between 3 and 7 years, ten parents, five teachers and a head teacher participated in thi…
Why is it important to protect the environment? Reasons presented by young children
How children piece together their reasons for protecting the environment is an important but under-research area in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS). This article reviews findings related to young Maltese children’s (aged 3–7 years) reasons for protecting the environment. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, preliminary data were collected via observations in two state schools and one family household, semi-structured c…
Quality early childhood education for all and the Covid-19 crisis
Can you hear me? Young children’s understanding of environmental issues
This study examines young children’s understanding of environmental issues in Malta. Informed by a socio-cultural perspective and adopting a qualitative methodology, this case study was conducted with 10 children (ages 3–7). The data were obtained through children’s interpretation of photographs depicting environmental issues. The results showed that young children possess some understanding of environmental issues and they could talk about them,…
Early childhood educators’ conceptions of the environment
Despite the growing awareness of the environmental crisis, few studies have examined how early childhood educators conceptualise the environment and the funds of knowledge they draw upon to describe these. Using ‘funds of knowledge’ as a theoretical lens, this study explores how early childhood educators in Malta describe the environment. Guided by a qualitative case study methodology, data were collected via semi-structured interviews with five …
Promoting gender equality across the sustainable development goals
Gender issues, and gender equality in particular, can be regarded as cross-cutting issues in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), even though it is unclear how they are taken into account. This study addresses this information gap by performing an assessment of the emphasis on gender issues across all the other 16 SDGs, in addition to SDG5, through a literature review and case study analysis, the basis for the newly dev…
Environmental learning across generations
While research demonstrates that family and school dynamics play a role in shaping children's behaviour, little is known about the actual and potential bi-directional influences young children have on their teachers' and mothers' environmental learning. This study begins to fill this gap in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) research by recognising young children as agents of intergenerational learning for sustainability. It exp…
Children's Voices and Agency
The increased international legislation emphasising children's participation agenda heightened the need for high-quality research in early childhood. Listening to young children asserts their participation, agency and voices in research, an approach commonly associated with qualitative research methods. This Element provides a novel perspective to listening to children's voices by focusing on research methods in early childhood studies that are b…
Climate crisis activism in early childhood
This viewpoint considers climate crisis activism through participatory pedagogical approaches to intergenerational learning, in the context of early childhood education. Given the dire predictions surrounding climate change, it is likely that in the immediate future, young children will continue to suffer the disproportionate consequences of intergenerational injustice, further violating their rights to clean, healthy environments even though the…
Climate Anxiety in Early Childhood
Climate anxiety in early childhood is an under‐recognised concern within global climate governance, despite the heightened vulnerability of children under eight to environmental disruption. This study critically examines how international and European governance frameworks address the emotional well‐being of young children affected by climate‐induced displacement, focussing on policy recognition of climate anxiety, the integration of developmenta…
Climate emotions in early childhood
Peer Cultures and Climate Emotions in Early Childhood
Climate change increasingly shapes children’s emotional landscapes, yet research continues to conceptualise young children’s emotional responses primarily as individual psychological reactions rather than as socially produced and culturally transmitted phenomena. This article proposes a new cultural–evolutionary framework, the Peer Emotional Evolution Model (PEEM), to address this theoretical gap. Drawing together scholarship on cultural evolutio…
Access to Healthcare Services for Migrant and Left-Behind Children
Migrant and left-behind children experience health vulnerability that are shaped by climate change, including by climate change, including illness, displacement, and family separation, but also by the organisation of healthcare systems. This scoping review maps the evidence on healthcare services for migrant and left-behind children, with attention to health needs, service provision, barriers and facilitators to access, and gaps in care. Followin…
Environmental Education and Sustainability (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Qualitative research (7 works) · Children's Rights and Participation (6 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works) · Early childhood (6 works) · Early childhood education (6 works)