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Minding the Gaps in Climate Change Education

Originally published in April 2024  |  Research note contributed by Michele Martin, University of Waterloo Climate Institute & Debora VanNijnatten, academic director, Teaching Excellence and Innovation

What’s the Pedagogical Challenge? 

Scientists worldwide agree that we are facing a climate emergency (Ripple et al., 2020). Research indicates that students across Canada and around the world are experiencing complex emotions related to climate change; they are worried about its impacts and about their future (Hickman, 2021), but they also want to learn about how to address it (Galway & Field, 2023).

Universities have a critical role to play in helping Canada meet the climate change challenge in terms of conducting research on mitigation and adaptation, climate-proofing our operations and governance, and integrating climate literacy and action into curriculum, course design and classroom activities (Alexander, 2023). Of these three prongs for action, climate pedagogy is lagging the most (Henderson et al., 2017). Climate pedagogy is a practice that “examines how educators and learners can effectively engage with climate change through themes of environmental, economic, political and social justice issues in their teaching and learning practice” (Lakehead University, n.d.). 

Research Insights 

The Status of Climate Change Education in Canadian K-12 Schools

Several studies have looked at how the K-12 school system is responding to the climate crisis, providing us with insights into what incoming students are or aren’t learning before coming to university. Key findings are:

  • Provincial climate policies call for education to contribute substantially to addressing climate change, but education policies are not aligned with this call (Bieler et al., 2018).
  • In a study of K-12 education policy across all provinces and territories, climate change education (CCE) was not a substantial component of any policy analyzed (Aikens & MacKenzie, 2021).
  • An investigation of curriculum policy within Canada shows fractured and uneven inclusion of climate change topics, themes, and units within grade 7 – 12 curricula, with most occurring in elective (not mandatory) senior secondary courses. Further analysis of these topics using a ranking tool indicates only shallow inclusion (Field et al., 2023).

In a 2022 survey of Canadian perspectives on climate change and education, Learning for a Sustainable Future found that:

  • 67% of Canadians believe that CCE should be taught in all K-12 grades and in all subjects. 
  • Only 34% of Canadian K-12 educators feel that they have sufficient knowledge and skills to teach climate change, and 64% said they require more training, resources and support.
  • 35% of educators do not cover climate change topics in any subject that they teach and of the ones that do, only 13% taught 11 or more hours of climate change content within the school year or term, and 31% spent less than 5 hours.

In 2022, Deans of Faculties of Education across Canada signed an accord to incorporate education for sustainability (including climate change) into teacher education programs. At this time, though, it is likely that students transitioning into the postsecondary system lack the key pillars of climate change knowledge necessary to engage in problem-solving.

The Status of Climate Change Education in Post-secondary Institutions

How prepared are universities to fill these gaps. Several studies cast doubt on whether universities globally and in Canada are integrating climate change education into their policies, curriculum and pedagogy:

  • A 2019 global survey of climate change education integration strategies in higher education across 45 countries found it to be highly variable. Recommendations were made for more curricular and extra-curricular approaches to embedding climate change across all disciplines (Molthan-Hill et al., 2019).
  • In 2023, a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer was used to map how universities are engaging with climate change. The results were clustered under four themes (policy and governance, teaching & learning, climate research, climate impacts and action) and indicated that overall, universities’ responses to climate change are not aligned with the urgency of the climate crisis (Leal Filho et al., 2023).
  • Universities aim to create positive change in relation to climate change, yet their initiatives are often narrow (McCowan, 2020). 
  • The implementation of university climate education policy is hindered by wider systemic factors related to organizational culture, values, and positionality (Hindley, 2022). 
  • There are multiple challenges to mainstreaming climate pedagogy in tertiary education, including uneven understanding among faculty members of climate complexity (Leal Filho et al., 2023), how to address it in their courses and programs, and competing demands on curriculum. 
  • A 2017 study of 50 Canadian postsecondary institutions across Canada revealed that almost half had a climate policy but focused more on the built campus environment and not on curriculum, research, governance or community outreach. When climate change integration into education was mentioned, it was in the context of behaviour change, such as reducing energy consumption (Henderson et al., 2017).
  • In a survey of sustainability topics being integrated into the curricula of Canadian higher education institutions, climate change was not featured as one of the key topics (MacKenzie & Chopin, 2022).

What Students Say

For their part, students look into the future with concern:

  • In a survey of 1000 young people (aged 16–25) across Canada about their climate emotions (Galway & Field, 2023), researchers found that: 
    • at least 56% reported feeling afraid, sad, anxious, and powerless.
    • 78% reported that climate change impacts their mental health.
    • 37% reported that their feelings about climate change negatively impact daily functioning.
    • 39% of respondents report hesitation about having children due to climate change.
    • 73% report thinking that the future is frightening.
    • 71% feel angry.
    • 69% feel abandoned.
    • 76% report that people have failed to take care of the planet.
    • 71% believe that together we can do something.
    • 50% believe that they can contribute.
  • Half of all Canadians (50%) believe climate change is already causing mental health issues or making them worse. Students are more likely than any other respondent groups to report feeling anxious (41%) and frightened (32%) (LSF, 2022).
  • 66% of student respondents believe that schools should be doing a lot more to educate young people about climate change (LSF, 2022).

Indeed, one of the central questions posed by the youth climate strikes has been to ask why should they bother spending so much time in school if they’re not even learning how to live in a climate changed world?

More Reading and Resources 

References 

 

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