Addressing the Social Debates of Climate Change Education Through Building Common Ground

• In Event: Empowering Students Through Innovative Pedagogies in Environmental and Climate Change Education

Abstract

Despite broad scientific consensus on climate change, teachers frequently encounter resistance from families and the public when teaching this topic. Grounded in social psychological theories, this study tested the effectiveness of two strategies with an online sample (N=561), aiming at helping teachers build common ground with constituents regarding climate change education. The findings indicate that both strategies—affirming participants' arguments and affirming their intentions—enhance participants' perceptions of the speaker's social perspective-taking, similarity, fairness, and participants' anticipated friendship with the speaker. Notably, argument-based affirmation has a significantly larger impact. Knowing how these promising common ground approaches work best is crucial for educators to navigate the tricky political terrain of climate change education.

Authors

• Li Li, Johns Hopkins University

• Emily Branch, Johns Hopkins University

• Lindi Shepard, Johns Hopkins University

• Nan Mu, Indiana University

• Lisa D. Nehring, Johns Hopkins University

• Hunter Gehlbach, Johns Hopkins University