Death, Grief and Collective Care in the Materialist Spirituality of a Forest Preschool

ABSTRACT

In a time when material reality appears disconnected from the spiritual world and meaning is sought through overconsumption of the Earth's material sphere, this study explores how death and grief are narrated as part of the ‘stories of the land’ that unite the material and spiritual worlds in a forest preschool in southeastern Finland. Additionally, the study investigates how shared narratives of death and grief contribute to the collective care that includes both human and more‐than‐human participants. Although place‐based spirituality has been examined in educational contexts, little is known about how shared stories of death and grief connect material and spiritual dimensions and nurture collective care. This study seeks to deepen an understanding of how such narratives may help repair the current spiritual disconnection from the Earth by fostering material connectivity and caring communication among humans and more‐than‐humans in early childhood education. It also explores how children participate in and are supported by collective care when encountering death and grief. The study is based on 5‐day ethnography in a forest preschool, data including field notes, video recordings and a map of the more‐than‐human participants in the environment. The findings revealed three metanarratives that connect the spiritual to materiality: all living beings die and return to the soil, death and nature hold mystery and wonder and grief is shared among humans and more‐than‐humans.