A qualitative study of primary teachers knowledge and practices in climate change education in coastal Bangladesh

Teachers approach curriculum with complex experiences, ideas, beliefs, and values that shape the way they interpret and respond to curriculum documents. In the context of national and state curriculum frameworks and policies supporting education for sustainability (EfS), it is important to examine the role and influence of teachers’ beliefs about climate change and pedagogy on climate change education practices within their school classrooms. This paper examines teachers’ personal and professional beliefs about climate change and climate change education. Survey data from over 300 Queensland primary and secondary teachers were first analysed to identify teachers’ understandings and beliefs relating to the realities, causes, and consequences of climate change. Next, the data were analysed to illuminate how teachers conceptualise climate change education in terms of content and processes. This research is part of a larger PhD research project investigating teacher beliefs and climate change education.

This chapter introduces the field of climate change education, noting the paradox that in spite of many efforts at incorporating climate change in education policy and curriculum frameworks, and a diversity of practices in schools, there is little evidence that such efforts are contributing to adaptation, mitigation or reversal of climate change. The chapter reviews the role of international development organizations advocating for and developing frameworks in support of climate change education. This is followed by an analysis of ongoing efforts of climate change education.The chapter argues that more effective education for climate change at the primary and secondary education levels around the world requires context specific strategies that align the specific learning outcomes with the impacts of climate change in that context. Implementing those strategies requires the development of institutional capacity in schools that is aligned to the stage of institutional development of the school. The chapter explains how a multidisciplinary framework that accounts for the cultural, psychological, professional, institutional and political dimensions of the change process can support the development of collaboration and coherence in implementing those climate change education strategies. Those strategies need to also specify the particular populations that need to develop such competencies and the optimal means of delivery. The chapter also situates the literature on climate change education within the larger context of the literature on deeper learning, twenty first century skills and education system change, explaining how deeper learning in climate change education might influence attitudes and behaviors in ways that prevailing didactic approaches focused principally on the transmission of scientific knowledge do not.To develop such context specific climate change education strategies and to build the institutional capacity to implement them, the chapter makes the case for more intentional engagement of universities, in partnership with schools and non-formal education organizations. This would serve the dual role of providing support for schools in advancing climate change education, while also educating higher education students on climate change through problem based, participatory and contextually situated approaches.

This article explores the integration of sustainability skills within a screen industry module through the critical lens of climate change education. Applied Skills for a Sustainable Media Industry was designed for UK higher education by a university–industry collaboration with BAFTA albert. This initiative started with a handful of higher education institutions and representatives from education bodies, but it now includes more than 50 partner institutions and organisations. This case study focuses on the module developed by the university–industry collaboration. The Applied Skills course, which teaches both production-based and content-focused curricula, is explored through its various continuities and alterations in the context of the wider literature on climate change education. While the name may sound deceptively simple – in being teaching about climate change – climate change education is a complex and multifaceted concept which spans international education policies, disciplines, interpretations and actualisations. In recent years, focus has been placed on understanding climate change as a complex social issue as well as a scientific one. This has meant a shift away from a science-only approach towards more systems-level thinking that cannot escape sociopolitics. Thus, there is an imperative within climate change education to teach both ‘climate’ and ‘change’. In response, this article explores how the offerings from Applied Skills can be analysed with reference to the wider scholarship on climate change education, with a particular focus on the scientific (climate) and social (change) themes. The research concludes with an overall reflection on the BAFTA albert Education Partnership in the context of climate change education, the wider university landscape, and university–industry collaborations.

Climate change is a concern for all countries in the world. UNESCO is taking part in efforts to increase awareness regarding climate change, one of which is by creating the Greening Education Partnership program. Climate Change Education (CCE) is an effort in the education sector to increase students' awareness of climate change. This article attempts to analyze publication trends regarding CCE and explore other opportunities for further research on the topic of CCE. The method used is the systematic literature review (SLR) method and data analysis using bibliometrics. The data used in this research are documents published by journals on the Scopus database published in 2013-2022. In 2013-2022, 462 documents can be searched in the Scopus database with the keyword ‘climate change education’. The analysis results show that discussions about CCE related to curriculum, learning, and students have been widely studied and published. However, there is no visible academic interaction between the authors. These conditions can be the basis that CCE needs to be implemented thoughtfully to increase awareness of environmental change. Apart from that, its implementation also requires collaborative roles from each sector so that CCE implementation can be carried out optimally. There needs to be a policy to encourage implementation by integrating CCE and the curriculum. Schools and universities encourage teachers and lecturers to deliver CCE in learning by including specific topics that can be related.

School culture includes values, principles, and criteria. It is an integral part of sustainability education, of which climate change education (CCE) is seen as a way to improve students’ ability to take action to mitigate climate change. This survey aimed to investigate Finnish student teachers’ views of factors important in implementing CCE in school culture and their abilities as teachers to promote CCE. Thirty-six student teachers wrote essays regarding the implementation of school culture and responded to a questionnaire concerning their ability to act as climate change (CC) educators and the challenges they identified in teaching and learning about it. Inductive content analysis was used to study the essays. In student teachers’ answers, six themes to implement in school culture were identified: elements, work community, teacher’s impact, students in the centre, actors outside the school, and challenges. The student teachers highlighted challenges, such as views that deny CC and challenge the transformation of school culture to support sustainable development. The suggested ways to support CCE in daily school life that were very concrete, such as recycling and food education. Student teachers found their own ability to act as climate educators to be relatively good. They identified challenges, especially in motivating students to learn about CC and to participate and take action towards a climate-friendly lifestyle. Students’ conflicting attitudes, values, and beliefs related to CC, reinforced by their inner circle, were seen as challenges in teaching and learning about CC. Despite these challenges, transforming a school culture to support CCE should be the goal of every school.

Climate change presents significant challenges to current and future generations. How is formal schooling helping to meet this challenge? The Australian Curriculum, including the Cross Curriculum Priority of Sustainability, may provide space for teachers to engage with the complexities of climate change in their classrooms but does not, in most cases, encourage teachers to engage with climate change as a complex, multi-dimensional issue and relies instead on teachers’ own initiative. A doctoral research study explored Queensland teachers’ understandings of climate change and climate change education and how these understandings, along with other factors identified by teachers, influence their engagement with climate change education. The data reported here were collected from over 300 surveys and 21 interviews with in service teachers. The results suggest that despite the apparent priority teachers place on climate change education, few feel they are adequately supported to include climate change in their classes in any meaningful way. As a result, many do not include the issue in a formal capacity but rather rely on incidental conversations and discussions. From this study it appears that Queensland’s formal schooling sector is inadequately preparing Queensland students for an uncertain future shaped by rapid climate change.

In 2005, the Pacific Islands Forum leaders endorsed the Pacific Islands Framework Environment Programme to ensure resilient capacity building for Pacific Island communities through education (Hay in Assessment of implementation of the Pacific islands framework for action on climate change. SPREP. Apia, Samoa 2009). In 2006, Ministers of Education from Pacific Islands Forum countries adopted the Pacific Framework for Education for Sustainable Development “to empower Pacific peoples through all forms of locally relevant and culturally appropriate education and learning to make decisions and take actions to meet current and future social, cultural, environmental and economic needs and aspirations” (UNESCO in Pacific education for sustainable development framework. Apia, Samoa 2006, p. 11). The Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management (Joint outcome statement from the 4th session of the Pacific platform for disaster risk management & Pacific regional water and sanitation consultations 2012) recognized the need for integrating climate change into education. Despite increasing focus on including climate change and adaptation education in mainstream curricula, an analysis of available literature reveals a wide gap between the inclusion and actual implementation. This study reviews past and current climate adaptation curricula for junior- and senior- level students in the Pacific Islands Region. The purpose of this appraisal is to invite relevant governmental institutions, international organizations, and researchers to develop a sound Pacific-wide climate adaptation curriculum. The paper advocates incorporating traditional knowledge as a pedagogical medium and as customized thematic content for each island into the design and implementation of the Pacific Islands climate adaptation curriculum. Although the paper does not propose or endorse a particular curriculum, it provides a general outline and critiques past and current endeavours in climate change education in this region, as well as potential challenges and solutions.

This chapter discusses lessons learned engaging my graduate students in education policy analysis at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in designing climate change education curricula in partnership with educational institutions around the world. Studying those programs developed by my students, I draw out seven cross-cutting themes about what such an approach yields for students, for the educational institutions they partnered with and for my own institution, while drawing parallels between those curricula and the graduate course in comparative education policy analysis in which these curricula were developed. In addressing those themes the chapter revisits some of the central arguments presented in the introductory chapter about the urgency and the challenges of enhancing the effectiveness of climate change education, and some of the key conclusions of critical reviews of the literature on education and climate change about the limitation of existing approaches to the subject.Those themes are:Educating students to address climate change is about engaging them in active problem solving, not contemplation.While learning from doing is valuable, to advance the field of climate change education, it is necessary to conceptualize and theorize practice.The need to think broadly about learning outcomes in climate change educationThe power of contextually situated learningA Signature project-based pedagogy to Change Climate through EducationAugmenting the capacity for climate change education among teachers and schoolsThe limitations of infusing climate change education in existing coursesThe chapter concludes examining some blind spots in the climate change curricula presented in the book and drawing parallels between the education response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 and the education response to Climate Change.

Is it possible to build adolescents’ cognitive adaptive capacity through climate change education? Insights into a two-year long educational programme in North Tyrol (Austria) and South Tyrol (Italy)

Education is a critical element in our response to climate change. Climate change education (CCE) can help us plan and implement adaptations with respect to current and future impacts of climate change. In this chapter, we will review the status of CCE in the Philippines and Vietnam, two of the countries that are most at risk to climate threats. In order to address the complex climate change problem, CCE curricula should be informed by dialogue between the academe and those most likely to be affected by the impacts of climate change, in a transdisciplinary approach. Out-of-school settings for CCE should be explored and utilized. By providing several avenues for CCE, we might be able to engage learners in discussing the causes and urgent implications of climate change and what needs to be done and achieved. Learners need to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to make informed decisions and to act upon these decisions. In addition, CCE developed within the overall context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and closely aligned with disaster risk reduction (DRR) education can contribute to safeguarding development gains and building resilience in countries vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.KeywordsClimate change educationDisaster risk reduction educationEducation for sustainable development

Current status of climate change education and suggestions for its integrative development in Japan

The devastating effect of climate change (CC) on the environment all over the world has been a worrisome phenomenon. The effort by the government and other stakeholders at integrating climate change education (CCE) into the school curriculum in South Africa has not yielded the desired result because of the lack of teacher professional training programs for teaching CCE in the classroom. Using the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) theory as lenses, this qualitative study investigated the implementation of the in-service teacher development programs and their role in enhancing the integration of CCE in Natural Sciences lessons. Five secondary schools out of twenty schools that participated in the in-service teacher training program conducted by one higher education institution (HEI) were purposely selected. Data for this study were generated through one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted with four participating Natural Sciences teachers at the selected schools. It emerged from the data that the implementation of in-service teacher development programs helped Natural Sciences teachers to integrate CCE into their lessons. The data also revealed that Natural Sciences teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge on CC was lacking thus they were not adequately integrating CCE in their lessons. The study concludes that the teacher training programs are responsible for teacher improved pedagogical practice of Natural Sciences teachers in the classroom and the integration of CCE. The paper, therefore, recommends that teacher professional development programs on CCE for Natural Sciences teachers be organized on a continuous basis.

Climate change education (CCE) has been proposed to be a driver for the much-needed knowledge and skills on climate change (CC). Teachers, and consequently learners, are key change agents in any society; therefore, it is necessary that they have knowledge and skills on CC and how to mitigate and adapt to these changes. This chapter discusses pre-service teachers' pedagogical knowledge and perceptions of CCE. The discussion is contextualized through research conducted in Kenya. While it was evident that the pre-service teachers had basic knowledge and skills about CC, they also had misconceptions. Further, CCE was not documented in their curricula. They propose that CCE can be integrated with other subjects or implemented as a stand-alone subject or both. The study consequently identifies pre-service teachers' knowledge gaps and reports on their mixed perceptions of CCE. The need to include CCE in the curriculum is then underscored in view of targeted agencies.

The basics of climate must be understood to have a climate literate populace. Understanding climatic change is a wicked problem. This work identifies three foundational content challenges to climate and climate change education, discusses them thoroughly, and offers graphics and conceptual models to address this content in the classroom. The three concepts covered are: 1) conflation between weather and climate, 2) understanding the differences among spatial and temporal scales of climate, and 3) distinguishing between natural climate variability and human-driven climatic change. The goal of this work is to offer science-based pathways for teaching important concepts in climate change education.

Local government and climate literacy: exploring community perspectives in Ghana’s coastal zones