Collective Teacher Agency for Youth Civic Engagement for Climate Justice (Poster 8)

• In Event: Building STEM Teachers’ Social Justice Teaching Capacities: Future Directions for Teacher Education

Abstract

Purpose
Classrooms for Climate Action (C4CA) connects retired and practicing teachers to community members transforming typical curricula into justice-oriented climate action projects that: a) support meaningful learning about local phenomena; b) position children as civic actors; c) grow a community acting for climate justice (Bullard, 1990; Weiss, 1989). This study investigates how C4CA expands collective agency of teachers who report that they cannot imagine, let alone try, teaching for climate justice without such support.

Theoretical Framework
Climate action projects can feel impossible when teaching is framed as a function of individual teacher agency (e.g., Kardos & Johnson, 2007; Lortie, 1975). A collective teacher agency framework offers a three-dimensional ecological model of agency necessary for carrying out complex teaching activities (Priestley, Biesta, & Robinson, 2015):
Iterational dimension: Knowledge, skills, values, routines, and practices in the collective repertoire of teachers and community members;
Projective dimension: Shared commitments, goals, and uptake or rejection of contextual discourses capturing a collective vision what is (im)possible for teaching;
Practical-evaluative dimension: Pedagogical decision-making and reasoning with contingencies shaping daily activities of teaching.

Study Design & Data Sources
In this poster, we report on a longitudinal ethnographic case study of how C4CA provokes and supports climate justice education. We share findings from 50 C4CA stakeholder interviews including retired teachers, practicing teachers, and community partners (e.g., land/water managers, Indigenous climate activists, farmers). We share narrative cases assembled from interviews, photographs, and classroom artifacts detailing three elementary classrooms and one middle/high school environmental club working for climate justice.

Findings
We found three patterns of contributions building collective agency. First, C4CA works behind-the-scenes drawing upon knowledge of curricula and community connections. Teachers report that this is vital because they do not have the necessary time, connections, or curricular creativity. One described, “I am still so exhausted from COVID-era school. I really don’t have room to learn anything new; I just need the C4CA crew to handle it.”

Second, C4CA contributes scaffolding. C4CA volunteers work with community partners to develop scaffolding for very young children. One teacher shared that she “can feel my shoulders relax when I see the C4CA crew come in and sit with each small group – I know that I can trust that they will take care of kiddos and help them learn from guests or from field trips.”

Finally, C4CA volunteers stay abreast of civic decision-making and create opportunities for youth participation. Often, this requires assertive communication ensuring youth representation. C4CA volunteers support teachers by preparing youth to speak with decision-makers and effect change. Thus far, youth have participated in district, city, county, and state policy-making that will make a difference for climate justice in our community.

Scholarly Significance
This study reframes complex teaching as an accomplishment of collective teacher agency. Individual teachers may feel that teaching about climate justice or engaging in civic climate action projects seems out of reach. A shift toward building collective agency may be necessary to support justice-oriented climate action in schools.

Authors

• Melissa Braaten, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Tiffany Boyd, Classrooms For Climate Action

• Jessica R. Bean, University of California - Berkeley