Politics and Practice of Climate Change Education

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Climate change is one of the largest existential threats the world is facing today, pushing Earth’s systems to unprecedented global warming and contributing to a rapid decrease of global biodiversity. At least 150 million people are expected to be displaced due to rising sea levels, drought events, and rising temperatures, triggering a global humanitarian crisis (IPCC, 2022). Privileged communities that can afford to get resources from elsewhere will be able to avoid parts of the devastation while people already facing vulnerabilities, particularly low income, BIPOC communities in the United States and countries in the global south, will see these vulnerabilities exacerbated in an unprecedented climate future. This makes climate change not just a scientific issue, but a global moral and ethical crisis. Youth globally are mobilizing in the wake of this crisis, starting a youth climate movement where students leave their classrooms in protest of climate inaction.

It is imperative we prepare students, teachers, and our school environments within the context of this climate crisis, developing resilient communities. As researchers and educators, we are uniquely positioned to examine how all stakeholders perceive climate change education.

This panel includes four papers that together provide a comprehensive look into the politics and practice of climate change education in the United States. The first paper, by Christina Torres, examines public opinion in the United States of whole school approaches to foster climate resilience. Noa Urbach, author of the second paper, explores New York City Public Schools as a case study to understand how K-12 teachers perceive student engagement with climate change. The third and fourth papers of this panel detail how this research on climate change education translates into practice to train the next generation of teachers. Jeremy Jimenez, in the third paper, will discuss the successes and challenges of utilizing climate change in educating teacher candidates. The fourth paper, by Shani Shpilman Hirshberg and Dafna Gan, explores the intersection of climate change and activism with Israeli teachers. This panel is aligned with the CIES 2024 theme The Power of Protest, as we hope to highlight the youth collective action at the core of the climate movement and how we can learn from this movement to transform pedagogy around climate change education.

Sub Unit

• Environmental and Sustainability Education SIG

Chair

• Christina Ann Torres, Columbia University Teachers College

Individual Presentations

• Public Opinion on the Role of Schooling within the Climate Crisis in the United States - Christina Ann Torres, Columbia University Teachers College

• New York City Educators’ Perceptions of Students’ Engagement with Climate Change - Noa Urbach, Columbia University Teachers College

• Assessing future teachers' knowledge and concerns about climate change, and preparation to address it in their future classrooms - Jeremy Jimenez, SUNY Cortland

• A World Systems Perspective of the Diffusion of Environmental Provisions in Constitutions (EPICs) and its Impact on Environmental Education - Darren Rabinowitz, Teachers College