What are the opportunities for Climate Change Education?

Deakin University
Aug 4, 2019
2 min read

Updated: Aug 12, 2019

We began by asking and sharing, what are the opportunities for climate change in Victoria?

What are the opportunities for climate change education in Victoria?

Barriers – time, dedicated leader/teachers, logistics
Build community involvement
Sustainability being driven by students (action teams etc.)
Many teachers are not experts, but have passion
Timetabled student participation in hands on activities
ResourceSmart program (in a heart!)
Climate change adaptation – what does this look like? How? Action
Educating industry on the positives of change
Linking Education to parents and families
In place education -
Outdoor classrooms
Climate watch trials
Student agency
Climate Resilience
National curriculum – pre service learning – finding ways to integrate it
The farmers Place (e.g. 100km Pizza)
School strikes – power of voice – September 30th is next one
ResourceSmart Schools framework – good solid scaffold
GTAV conference (Sept -10th 2019) ‘Sustainable Futures’
Geography Curriculum is idea platform
How we move forward
Weave it into everyone’s life – their identity, their health
Students participating in the strike but not knowing why
Curriculum
Best choice not the most expensive
People who want to buy humane food, how do we shift the intention into action?
Seeing the shift from not caring
It’s going to destroy the world
80% of people think other people don’t care
Having an understanding
What actions can we take?
Curriculum – climate science – formal and informal
External organisations
Teaching in schools – uni/tertiary e/not just teaching degrees – focus on undergraduate
Cross curriculum opportunities
Not just environment focus – broaden out
Beyond school learning – and beyond the notion of environment
Solutions based focus – futures thinking
Non-fiction promotion of climate change text
Explicit in curriculum and frameworks – collaboration with Australian Psychological Association
Melbourne Declaration – Educators to feed into new curriculum – LOUDLY
Accountability requirements – part of study design
School E.C. – Tertiary
Embedded further in curriculum
Less sensational education from media and more formalised education for credible sources
Community of practice
More positive education
Spread more awareness through various campaigns
Opportunities to integrate citizenship education with literacy through study of climate change
School should teach it more
Education – knowledge
It is important to spread awareness
There are many opportunities to climate change
Opportunity to get across the crucial significance of climate:

- we breathe it

- it sustains all plant life, and animal life and us

- it co-evolved with our planet and helped drive evolution

Building resilient communities
Politics
More exposure needed in schools – not many opportunities
Social media – students feel this is the main way they have learnt what they know
ResourceSmart – develop tools to teach Climate Change to Schools
Parks Vic could do more:

- consistency of approaches with educator creativity/autonomy

- a broader curriculum – delivery in more diverse locations – place specific relevant - climate awareness of local towns

STEMSisters

- planning what a low carbon future will look like

- alliance between schools (students and teachers) and ResourceSmart

Teacher PD education and training
Shopping
Influencing policy/marketing makers – e.g. cheaper, small plastic bags price versus bulk?!
Packaging
Community Programs
Inspiration from activist individuals or groups (e.g. Greta Thunberg, Council Sustainable
Animal agriculture education – vegan
Integrated into curriculum
Schools and kinder’ s policy – waste management, ResourceSmart Schools Program, Sustainable procurement, green purchasing
Family reuse, Refuse, Recycle
Culture – indigenous, ATSI, and other cultures
Pressure teacher’s education
Climate change strike – Media, social media, non-endorsement school, pursuit of conversation, increased awareness
Community forums
Initial teacher education programs – universities
Limited Climate Change Curriculum in Schools