Navigating Hope as a Complex Endeavour in Environmental Education Amidst Climate Trauma

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Climate Change: Navigating Conflict, Anger, Trauma, and Moving Toward Hope (Table 6)

Abstract

As the frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters increase, so does distress, fear, grief, and anxiety among young people. Inspired by Jonathan Lear (2006) and Rebecca Solnit (2006; 2022) who write about hope as embracing the unknown towards building appropriate concepts and tools for understanding, this interpretive inquiry questions how educators are recognizing, engaging, and participating in openings to curate hopeful possibilities amidst complex climate emotions. Through interviews with educators in western Canada, hope surfaced as a complex endeavour requiring work to: untangle expectations, build appropriate language and dialogue, balance critical and creative possibilities, deliberate on the different scales (global, local), and interrogate social responsibilities. This presentation will discuss the implications of these complexities for meaningful environmental education.

Authors

• Jennifer Macdonald, University of Regina

• Audrey Aamodt, University of Regina

• Nathalie Sandra Reid, University of Regina

• Christel Nanayaa Bonsu, University of Regina