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PRESS RELEASE - The study led by Lakehead University researchers, in collaboration with Learning for a Sustainable Future, reveals that Canadians are deeply concerned about climate change, yet only half feel they know enough about the issue.
The nationwide study, Canada, Climate Change and Education: Opportunities for Public and Formal Education,...
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Another generation of young people, after Y generation, who is currently standing at the threshold of their careers, and for employers - a new quality of employees, with specific attitudes, aspirations and expectations towards work and professional development, is the Z generation. Recognizing and understanding the attitude of the representatives o...
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... Young people primarily learn about climate change through formal schools (Field et al., 2019); however, most often climate change education occurs within science subjects and often predominantly focuses on cognitive knowledge, specifically centering scientific literacy in terms of the physical mechanisms of climate change and the validity of climate science (Henderson, 2019;Wynes & Nicholas, 2019). While a cogni-tive understanding of climate change mechanisms and impacts is imperative, it does not attend to the whole person and often lacks an action-oriented engagement with socio-emotional or justice-focused dimensions of climate change education (Grewal et al., 2022;Hargis & McKenzie, 2020;McKenzie, 2021;UNESCO, 2019;Wynes & Nicholas, 2019). ...
... A national study on climate change education practices in Canada showed that there is limited class time spent on climate change content with between 33% (closed-sample) and 59% (opensample) of teachers reporting teaching any climate change in a national survey. For the teachers who do integrate climate change content, most students experience 1-10 h of instruction per year or semester (Field et al., 2019). ...
... Knowledge gaps among parents, staff, and teachers were also identified as a barrier by all three schools. These gaps align with findings from a national climate change education study, which found that only 32% of closed-sample teachers feel that they have the knowledge and skills to teach about climate change, indicating the need for professional development, classroom resources, and curriculum policy (Field et al., 2019). ...
This chapter explores how three schools in Canada are accelerating climate action through a whole school approach, facilitated by the Climate Action Accelerator Program (CAAP). Teachers and administrators from three different schools and at different stages (early, intermediate, and advanced) of whole school sustainability, engaged in critical reflection on their schools’ journeys, shared through three vignettes. The vignettes are followed by a discussion of shared approaches across the schools that we noted as important—including regenerative practice as a paradigm shift—for moving schools along climate action pathways and whole school journeys as well as shared challenges and emerging opportunities.
... In teacher education in Canada and Greenland, survey research suggested that education students, most of whom had not taken a climate change education course, needed more knowledge about the causes of climate change, as evidenced by knowledge gaps in climate science, while across disciplines almost all wanted to teach climate change and believed that preparing to do so should be a part of initial teacher education (Demant-Poort and Berger 2021). For comparison, about one-third of in-service educators in Canada felt that they had the necessary knowledge and skills (Field, Schwartzberg, and Berger 2019; Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF), 2022), and in the US, less than half of teachers felt prepared to teach about climate change (North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), 2022). These findings indicate a lack of preparation during their initial teacher education. ...
... In US research, 82% of ten to twelve-yearolds expressed feelings of fear, sadness, and anger when discussing environmental issues (Burke et al., 2018). In Canada, the national survey conducted by Field et al. (2019) completed an engagement ladder analysis (LaChappelle et al., 2016) and found that Canadian youth between 12 -18 years of age were categorized as 'aware,' meaning they understood that anthropogenic climate change was happening, but they did not believe that human efforts will be effective in mitigating the impacts. An international study of 10,000 young people between ages 16 -25 from 10 different countries reported that 75% of young people agreed that "the future is frightening," more than half indicated that they felt they will have fewer opportunities than their parents, and climate anxiety and distress were correlated with perceived inadequate government response and associated feelings of betrayal (Hickman et al., 2021). ...
... The report, Canada, Climate Change and Education: Opportunities for Public and Formal Education, shares findings from a comprehensive national survey (n=3196) that reflected the widespread support among the Canadian public for improved climate change education in schools. It reported that two-thirds (68%) of Canadians and 80% of teachers believed that schools should be doing more to educate students about climate change (Field et al., 2019). This report also showed that there is limited class time spent on climate change content with between 33% (closed-sample) and 59% (open-sample) of teachers reporting teaching any climate change topic. ...
... This report also showed that there is limited class time spent on climate change content with between 33% (closed-sample) and 59% (open-sample) of teachers reporting teaching any climate change topic. For the teachers who did integrate climate change content, most students experienced 1-10 hours of instruction per year or semester (Field et al., 2019). Only 32% of closed-sample teachers felt that they had the knowledge and skills to teach about climate change, indicating the need for professional development, classroom resources, and curriculum policy (Field et al., 2019). ...
This paper reports on curriculum analysis of climate change expectations in Canada’s provincial curricula. The research is focused on curriculum policy in Canadian provinces; however, it pertains to an international audience as Article 12 of the Paris Agreement, the international treaty on climate mitigation, adaptation and finance, calls for signatories to “enhance climate change education,” and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have called for environmental education to be a core curriculum component by 2025, which will require all countries to evaluate and improve their curricula globally. Curriculum policy within Canada has not yet been aligned with these policy calls, and our analysis showed fractured and uneven inclusion of climate change. Data findings present explicit climate change education curriculum expectations for each province according to grade, subject, and mandatory versus elective courses. The review shows uneven inclusion of climate change topics, themes, and units within grade 7 – 12 curricula, with most expectations occurring in elective senior secondary courses. A second level of analysis with a ranking tool indicates shallow inclusion. The paper concludes with recommendations for addressing gaps.
... Dans cette perspective, l'éducation des jeunes au climat pourrait sans doute représenter une voie à privilégier pour faire face aux changements climatiques (Busch et al., 2019;Field et al., 2019;Gibert, 2020;Kwauk, 2020). C'est d'ailleurs ce que préconise l'UNESCO (2020) et l'United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) (2016) qui soutiennent que l'éducation au développement durable et à la citoyenneté mondiale (avec en particulier le programme Action for Climate Empowerment) est une voie incontournable pour améliorer le sort de l'humanité. ...
... Cette visée de formation formulée dans les programmes scolaires québécois, bien que fort pertinente en particulier lorsqu'il est question de l'éducation au climat, ne semble pas s'appuyer sur des travaux de recherche ayant documenté ce que signifie concrètement le développement du pouvoir agir. (Bader et al., 2013;Blaze Corcoran et Osano, 2009;Elshof, 2010;Field et al., 2019;Hayward, 2012;Jickling et Wals, 2018;Kwauk, 2020;Pruneau et al., 2015;Zeyer et Kelsey, 2013). Trop souvent encore, et en dépit d'une approche socioconstructiviste de l'apprentissage privilégiée par les programmes scolaires 11 , il ressortirait, en classe, une image des sciences décrivant exactement « ce qui se passe dans la nature », un peu comme si « le savoir scientifique concernant la nature » et « la nature » n'étaient qu'une seule et même chose (Fourez, 2001;Morin, 2004Morin, , 2019Pouliot et al., 2010). ...
... Comme il sera présenté dans les prochains paragraphes, à l'école secondaire et en classe de sciences notamment, l'adoption d'une posture épistémologique de type socioconstructiviste, critique et transformatrice pourrait, théoriquement, contribuer au renforcement du pouvoir agir des jeunes (Bader et al., 2014;Jickling et Wals, 2013;Morin et al., 2019;Zeyer et Kelsey, 2013) Dans le domaine de l'éducation à l'environnement, Jickling et Wals (2008 illustrent ces deux postures épistémologiques (positiviste/transmissive et socioconstructiviste/transformatrice) dans l'axe vertical d'un modèle théorique dit heuristique 13 dont l'objectif premier est d'engager de manière critique les acteurs de l'éducation face aux tensions qui peuvent exister en éducation à l'environnement, mais aussi de situer et de questionner leurs propres perspectives. Ce modèle, illustré dans la figure 1.1, semble pertinent pour la présente recherche puisqu'il permet de situer ce qui se fait actuellement dans les classes en matière d'éducation au climat (Field et al., 2019; d'un modèle qui est présenté ici dans ses extrêmes pour en faciliter la compréhension. ...
L’éducation des jeunes au climat représente une voie incontournable pour faire face aux changements climatiques et ainsi améliorer le sort de l’humanité (Kwauk, 2020; UNESCO, 2020). Elle fait toutefois face à de nombreux défis tels que la complexité et l’inertie de la problématique qui nous empêche de percevoir rapidement les effets des gestes que l’on pose. De plus, il semble que l’éducation telle qu’elle se réalise actuellement en classe du secondaire laisse généralement les jeunes désespérés et anxieux face à la problématique des changements climatiques. Afin de développer le pouvoir agir des jeunes, les intervenantes et intervenants du secondaire gagneraient à aborder différemment cette problématique en classe. Dans le domaine de l’éducation au climat, il apparaît nécessaire de dépasser un simple enseignement des faits scientifiques et de miser davantage sur un enseignement sociocritique des questions environnementales et une plus grande prise en compte des dimensions affectives impliquées. Le sentiment de pouvoir agir des jeunes face aux changements climatiques semble, en ce sens, porteur et pourrait être développé en classe.
Bien que le sentiment de pouvoir agir ne soit pas conceptualisé jusqu’à maintenant dans la littérature scientifique, un nombre grandissant de chercheuses et de chercheurs s’intéressent néanmoins à une éducation au climat pour le développement du pouvoir agir. Or, il ne semble pas y avoir de consensus entre ceux-ci sur ce qui est entendu par pouvoir agir. Certains réfèrent au sentiment d’efficacité personnelle, tandis que d’autres privilégient le concept d’agentivité ou encore celui d’empowerment (développement du pouvoir agir), mais plus rares sont les chercheuses et chercheurs qui en proposent une conceptualisation suffisamment précise. De cerner les apports et les limites de chacun de ces concepts ainsi que les liens entre ceux-ci semble donc pertinent. Une théorie en particulier, celle des capabilités de Sen (1985, 2010), permet d’ailleurs de rassembler ces trois concepts. Elle permet également de réaffirmer la pertinence de s’intéresser au sentiment de pouvoir agir et, par le fait même, aux différentes formes de liberté (Sen, 2010) que devraient posséder les jeunes.
L’étude empirique menée dans le cadre de ce travail de thèse visait à caractériser ce sentiment de pouvoir agir à partir de la manière dont des jeunes en parlent afin d’en arriver à en cerner les différentes dimensions. La population cible de cette recherche était constituée de jeunes Québécoises et Québécois de la fin du secondaire qui terminent leur scolarité obligatoire et ont reçu un enseignement spécifique sur la thématique des changements climatiques tel que prévu au programme scolaire qui vise notamment à développer leur pouvoir agir. Au total, 29 jeunes francophones, 18 filles et 11 garçons, de 15 à 17 ans ont participé à des entretiens de groupe semi-dirigés, dans cinq écoles secondaires du Québec.
L’analyse thématique réalisée autour des données qualitatives obtenues à la suite de ces entretiens a permis de caractériser le sentiment de pouvoir agir des jeunes de la fin du secondaire face aux changements climatiques, et ainsi, d’en cerner les dimensions principales. La synthèse de ces données qualitatives analysées à la lumière du cadre théorique développé a permis de dégager des conditions favorables au développement du sentiment de pouvoir agir des jeunes à l’école secondaire. Cette synthèse mène entre autres à affirmer la nécessité, pour le développement de ce sentiment de pouvoir agir face aux changements climatiques, de la solidarité intergénérationnelle, du bien-être des jeunes et des opportunités que nous leur accordons. Elle nous invite également à considérer véritablement les jeunes comme des interlocutrices et des interlocuteurs valables à qui il faut accorder davantage de confiance et de libertés.
... Given the lack of specificity in the curriculum, the way that students engage with learning experiences will vary depending on teacher and school practices and cultures. Niamh and Harriet had reason to be interested in climate change because of their extra curricula and out of school activities and their home/family environment (consistent with Field, Schwartzberg, & Berger, 2019). Their school experiences of learning about climate change were different and limited. ...
Two school strikers − Niamh and Harriet − come together with two environmental education academics − Peta and Joseph − to explore what it means to be young people enacting politics for the environment in Australia, and what this might mean for re-imagining education. Niamh and Harriet are leaders of, and were integral to initiating, the highly effective School Strike 4 Climate − Australia (SS4C) movement, enacting ‘principled disobedience’. Peta and Joseph work in teacher education, preparing future teachers who will teach students who are increasingly climate savvy and politically active. In coming together and through the lens of pragmatism, we highlight the political nature of what Niamh and Harriet have been undertaking as they negotiate social, cultural, educational and environmental issues implicated in the climate crisis. Collaborative autoethnography framed our exploration of motivations for action, politics and education within our communities. Through Niamh’s and Harriet’s experiences, we explore how young people express agency while developing identity. Our autoethnographic conversations highlighted the experience and political agency that many of our young people demonstrate and led to us reflecting on the resulting opportunity for educators to ‘dare to think’ differently about education.
How to Change Everything (2021) takes Klein's renowned work This Changes Everything (2014), and with the support of Rebecca Stefoff, an author with significant experience writing for young readers, targets the youth that came of age during the climate strikes. Throughout the 300 well-paced and authoritative pages, Klein and Stefoff centre the work of Greta Thunberg and the principles of climate justice and seek to build on the momentum of youth activism from before the pandemic. Yet readers coming from a public education background will note the dearth of practical applications for the classroom. The world of tomorrow will be changed through movement building outside of the school and instead in community and on the streets claim Klein and Stefoff, leaving behind increasingly disconnected systems of education.
The current climate crisis necessitates effective mitigation action across all scales, including behaviours and lifestyle decisions at the individual level. Youth need to align lifestyle with the 2.1 tonnes of CO 2 emissions per person per year required by 2050 to prevent the worse impacts of climate change (CC), yet little is known regarding their preparedness to act nor knowledge of the efficacy of the personal actions available to them. The main objectives of this study were to determine in a representative sample of 17-18 year old Canadians (n = 487) their: (1) beliefs around whether their activities or lifestyle choices can help to lessen CC, and (2) knowledge of the efficacy of individual-level behaviours in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GGE). Results from the online survey (Likert scale) show that youth have limited confidence in how well their schooling has prepared them for CC and mitigation. However, the majority (88%) believe that their activities and lifestyle choices can help in mitigating CC. Knowledge of the relative efficacy of GGE-reducing actions was generally poor (Wilcoxon signed rank tests and open-ended responses) with, for instance, recycling overestimated and having one fewer child underestimated, suggesting that youth are not well equipped with the requisite knowledge to maximise CC mitigation through their personal choices. Our findings inform high school curricula and CC education and policy more broadly.
