Environmental education in transition: A critical review of recent research on climate change and energy education

Jorgenson, Simon; Stephens, Jennie C.; White, B.

doi:10.1080/00958964.2019.1604478

Cited by 179 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 79 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…One approach in transition studies corresponds to sociotechnical systems. This perspective seeks to conceptualize, observe, and influence changes at the system level, integrating research into technological innovation, social sciences, and politics [4]. Avelino and Wittmayer [5] state that these changes are the result of the interaction and coordination of actions and innovations across multiple scale levels, highlighting the dynamics of change that result from the tensions between innovation niches and regime [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PBL is a pedagogical approach focused on the acquisition of skills to understand large-scale and systemic change, particularly in its interactions with social movements. It is oriented towards collective social action and innovation, considered key drivers for the transition to sustainability [4]. According to Jensen [35], collective social action is defined as a voluntary action taken in common by a group of actors pursuing a shared interest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Critical Thinking Using Project-Based Learning: The Case of The Agroecological Market at the “Universitat Politècnica de València”

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Higher education institutions play an important role in the transition processes to sustainable development through developing critical thinking (CT) in their students. The case of the Research Methodology course of the International Cooperation Master’s degree at the Universitat Politècnica de València is a paradigmatic case of experiential learning, where students face their own realities related to sustainable topics through an action research project with the Agroecological Market (AM). The learning methodology is project-based learning and helps the participants to deeply analyze problems related to the transition of socio-technical systems, such as sustainable food. The objective of this research was to analyze the contribution of project-based learning to students’ critical thinking through a qualitative analysis of the pedagogical outputs obtained during the course. The analysis and results are structured in three dimensions of critical thinking: (i) students’ critical attitude towards reality; (ii) students’ ability to reason and analyze in order to form their own rigorous judgments; and (iii) students’ capacity to construct and deconstruct their own experiences and meanings. The results show that project-based learning using a real-life scenario helped students reflect on their critical thinking and the challenges that our societies face for a transition to sustainability.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Thinking Using Project-Based Learning: The Case of The Agroecological Market at the “Universitat Politècnica de València”

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A recent review of environmental education research, for example, concludes that the focus of most empirical studies is on individual effects in energy conservation behavior among children and youth, with very limited attention to effects on collective action or on the kind of sociotechnical transformation necessary to move away from fossil fuel energy consumption to renewable based energy systems (Jorgenson et al 2019). The reviewers argue that many of the existing Environmental Education approaches depend on dated approaches developed in the 1970s and 1980s which assumed that "environmental problems could be adequately addressed through resource conservation and incremental changes to technology and human behavior."…”

Section: Climate Change Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In engaging them with local actors, this form of climate change education will also help students develop the skills for collaboration that will serve them well to continue to advance the necessary systemic change to curb climate change. These are the opportunities to gain the skills to understand and transform systems which a recent review of research on climate change and energy education is largely absent from most of the efforts they studied (Jorgenson et al 2019).…”

Section: A Role For Universities Developing and Implementing Contextumentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Universities Building an Ecosystem of Climate Change Education

Reimers

2020

International Explorations in Outdoor and Environmental Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

“…2 and 3, the school-based curricula in the Middle East and Guatemala. I was aware that the opportunity to gain the skills to understand and transform systems eludes most of the efforts of climate change education examined in a recent review of research (Jorgenson et al 2019) and had hoped that grounding an approach to climate change education in engaging students with local institutions and local actors, would seamlessly translate into understanding the systems which undergird current climate education challenges, and to discern what kind of collective action would be involved in changing them. I assumed that such engagement would translate in understanding changing education institutions as an adaptive challenge requiring a multi-stakeholder coalition that could produce collective leadership to sustain the change effort.…”

Section: What Outcomes Matter In Climate Change Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning from Teaching Graduate Students How to Design Climate Change Education Programs

Reimers

2020

Education and Climate Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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 education The power of contextually situated learning A Signature project-based pedagogy to Change Climate through Education Augmenting the capacity for climate change education among teachers and schools The limitations of infusing climate change education in existing courses The 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.

show abstract

Environmental education in transition: A critical review of recent research on climate change and energy education

Cited by 179 publications

References 79 publications

Critical Thinking Using Project-Based Learning: The Case of The Agroecological Market at the “Universitat Politècnica de València”

Critical Thinking Using Project-Based Learning: The Case of The Agroecological Market at the “Universitat Politècnica de València”

The Role of Universities Building an Ecosystem of Climate Change Education

Learning from Teaching Graduate Students How to Design Climate Change Education Programs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About