Teachers Navigating Educational Movements in Times of Climate Crisis (Poster 9)

• In Event: Mapping the Terrain of Climate Change Education: Literacy, Curricula, Practices, and Policy

Abstract

Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change (CC), the education sector's response has been limited. This paper examines why by exploring how Israeli teachers engage with Climate Change Education (CCE), a global educational movement seeking to empower all people to participate in climate action. Using social movement theory and a multi-method survey (n=490), we investigate factors influencing teachers’ decisions to teach about CC. Our results show that while most Israeli teachers endorse climate science, less than one-fifth teach about CC. Factors like climate concern, teaching experience, and subject assignment (e.g., science) foster CCE adoption, while test-based accountability and issue framing hinder it.

Authors

• Dafna Gan, The Open University of Israel

• Oren Pizmony-Levy, Teachers College, Columbia University