Addressing the Challenges of Preparing Teachers to Teach about the Climate Crisis

‘Credible, but not really reliable’: teachers' responses to children's literature on energy production and the environment

“…This approach suggests that one way for them to do so is to read, discuss and entangle themselves in questions of how personal experiences and research intersect to contribute to the construction of truthful narratives. Literacy teacher educators and scholars have been slow to incorporate climate narratives in teacher education programmes (Beach, 2023; Olson & Truxaw, 2009; Panos & Damico, 2021); however, this study has demonstrated that the simple two‐part Taker/Leaver paradigm offers a useful framework for analysing literature and furthering literacy teachers' understanding. Ultimately, although talking about climate change is not without discomfort, engagement with narratives about the future can be a source of hope for us all, from elementary students, to school librarians, to preservice teachers to teacher educators.…”

“…One survey of teachers in the United Kingdom found that 69% thought there should be more teaching about climate change in UK schools, but 75% of teachers felt they had not received adequate preparation to do so (Oxfam, 2019). Despite the importance of centring climate change in elementary education, elementary literacy teachers are rarely prepared to engage with climate change within their preservice programmes (Beach, 2023;Damico & Panos, 2016;Olson & Truxaw, 2009), and literacy researchers have been slow to envision possibilities for how to do so (Panos & Damico, 2021). Reports have criticised schools in the United Kingdom (e.g., Harvey, 2022) and in the United States (e.g., Branch, 2021) for their inability to make the necessary shifts towards attending to climate change in classrooms.…”

Teachers and students use of systems thinking about their participation in school environmental clubs

“…While this was not a study of the effects of instruction in the use of the framework, a major implication of these results is that teachers can draw on the components from the systems thinking framework to engage students in systems thinking for critical inquiry in not only environmental clubs but also in their classrooms, leading to students critiquing status‐quo systems to then assume activist roles to communicate the need for adopting sustainability practices for addressing climate change. Given how Elizabeth, Mark, and Dan served as role models for engaging in critical inquiry based on their knowledge of climate suggests the need for training pre‐service and in‐service teachers on methods for teaching climate change (Beach, 2023).…”

Oikeus lähteä, oikeus jäädä, oikeus palata

“…Koska perusopetuksen alaluokkien opetuksessa on rajallisesti yhteiskunnallisia sisältöjä, jää tämä ulottuvuus lasten ilmastokasvatuksessa erityisen heikolle pohjalle, mikä on todettu myös kansainvälisessä tutkimuksessa (esim. Beach 2023).…”