Set 2020: no. 3

Set 2020: no. 3

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The climate strikes of 2019, an extraordinary worldwide phenomenon, swiftly and succinctly showed the world the collective concern of youth. What insights might curriculum planning for climate-change education and classroom pedagogy gain from these climate strikes? Preliminary findings from this study identified four significant considerations in regard to climate-change education. First, the soaring level of climate anxiety among youth. Secondly, political literacy is as important as… Read more

Recycling is often included in lists of things that can be done to mitigate climate change. Recycling is not a “bad’ thing, but recycling alone is an insufficient response to the complex problems posed by climate change. This article takes the reader through the journey of an experienced teacher who began with a hopeful vision to include climate change in her school’s programme, meandered through a myriad distracting recycling schemes, until she reached a deeper understanding of the barriers… Read more

Climate change is described as the defining issue of our time. There are many climate-change teaching resources that cover the science of climate change and actions to make a difference. However, there is limited focus on envisioning the future we want to create together. Enviroschools’ key concepts of interrelatedness and whanaungatanga support students, schools and communities to explore how they are connected to each other and the world they live in. Using an example from one school, I… Read more

This study examined the role of a future-oriented scenario with secondary school students using diorama construction which included climate-change knowledge and envisioning alternative futures. To explore the potential role of futures-thinking modelling, students from one class participated in a 12-week cross-curricular inquiry with their teachers. Jensen’s (2002) dimensions of action-oriented knowledge are used to examine the climate-change knowledge developed by the students. Four common… Read more

International climate agreements say education can play a key role in responding to the global challenge of climate change. My team and I are currently carrying out research to help build a national picture of educational responses to climate change. Our research suggests that New Zealand’s educational policies and strategies currently provide a diffuse framework for responding to climate change, and there is a lack of coherent messaging “from the top” about what could or should be expected… Read more

This article provides a critical commentary on the recently released learning programme, Climate Change: Prepare Today, Live Well Tomorrow (Climate Change programme). The Climate Change programme is sorely needed in this time of climate emergency and we believe it to be a great start in guiding teachers in this important work. Here we comment on its science focus and its attention to wellbeing and participation, and we make some recommendations for how teacher practice can build on what the… Read more

Young people are worried about the impacts that climate change will have on their lives. Educators need learning programmes that can help students to manage these dark emotions and become more positive about their future. Including emotions in climate-change education is now considered a crucial element and hope, in particular, has been identified as a motivating force which can help young people to become more positive and take action to respond to the climate emergency. Drawing on… Read more

In this article, we discuss the importance of developing the skills of ecological citizenship for teachers and students. In particular we consider how we can support teaching practice to develop the skills of social agency and ecoliteracy. We argue that these skills are essential for building teacher and student capabilities to co-create regenerative futures on a warming planet. In this discussion we reflect on our experiences as educators and researchers invested in place-based education,… Read more

This commentary focuses on philosophical underpinnings that could guide a sea change in approaches to sustainability within English-medium curricula in Aotearoa. Framed optimistically, it engages with the possibilities that exist for Pākehā to transform relationships with tangata whenua and this land through regenerative curriculum design. Three Treaty of Waitangi principles provide the framework for illustrating the ways in which a more consciously designed curriculum could address… Read more