Reading Climate: Indigenous Literature, English Language Arts and Sustainability

• In Event: Engaging Literature to Build for Equitable and Just Futures

Abstract

This paper shares findings ‘Reading Climate’, a project undertaken in 2022 by the Literary Education Lab in collaboration with the Stella Prize for literature. This project responds to the pressing imperative for climate education in schools and activates English literary education as an important interdisciplinary site for reimaging social and environmental futures. Research questions investigated the ways Australian English teachers engage with climate justice education through the Indigenous literature, the environmental humanities and climate science.
The project drew on sociable and relational understandings of literary knowing, deploying national virtual book clubs for/with English teachers. These were facilitated by Indigenous authors and drew teachers from across Australia, offering insights regarding teacher professional learning and anti-colonial, relational approaches to English Language Arts.

Authors

• Larissa J. McLean Davies, University of Melbourne

• Sarah E. Truman, University of Melbourne