Teacher and geographer Jamie at Jamie Ad Stories kicks off year three of the Climate Change Collective with a post on his concerns about the adequacy of climate education in schools. Jamie’s post reminded me that teaching kids about climate change and sustainable living is a responsibility we all share.
Teaching kids about climate change is a shared responsibility
Jamie is a teacher in the U.K., so he’s well qualified to discuss the shortcomings of climate education in schools. In his post, he compared the mandatory school curriculums of the U.K. and Canada (specifically the province of Ontario where I live) related to climate change and environmental education.
Jamie concluded that, while there are hints of environmental education sprinkled across the curriculum of both countries, climate change education needs to be more specific to be effective.
Where subject matter is left to individual schools’ and teachers’ interpretation, there is much room for improvement. We need to be driving home the key messages about global warming, sustainability and pollution a lot harder than schools currently do.
Jamie Adams, Is Climate Change Overlooked in Schools?
Schools can’t do it alone
In addition to climate change, there are many other important things I wish schools would teach. Education on money management, for example, is sorely lacking in most school systems. But schools teach a curriculum mandated by governments. Until governments wake up and take climate change seriously, I don’t think we can expect to see much change.
Since we can’t rely on schools to teach kids many of the things they need, it’s up to parents and other adult role models to fill the gap. Here are some suggestions on how to do that.
8 ways to teach kids environmental responsibility
- Start by ramping up your own learning. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to answer questions and help your children learn. (Visit this post for some resources to help you learn more about environmental issues.)
- Lead by example. Children emulate the behaviour they see from the adults in their lives. If they see you recycling, saving energy, or taking steps to reduce food waste, they will follow suit.
- Spend time together outdoors, taking time to appreciate and talk about the beauty of nature. This will help kids see why we need to work hard to protect our planet.
- Help children understand where their food comes from. A visit to a farm, a farm store, or a farmer’s market will help them see the work that goes into producing the food they eat. It might just get them to rethink food waste.
- Beyond food, help them to be responsible and mindful consumers. Talk to them about how and where the goods they buy are made, and the resources that go into making them.
- Teach them about waste reduction and recycling. Explain what happens to the trash you put out on garbage day. If your local waste management or recycling facility offers tours, take one. We did that last year on Earth Day, and it was fascinating. (See The wonderful world of waste management for a recap of what we learned on the tour.)
- Watch movies and documentaries that discuss climate change. Animated movies like Wall-E, Moana, and Happy Feet can open the door to conversations about environmental issues. This post from Mommy Poppins has an excellent list of movie and documentary suggestions for all age ranges.
- Finally, help kids be part of the solution. Ask them to suggest ideas on how they can help the Earth. Reassure them that every change, no matter how small, makes a difference.
Solving climate change requires collective effort
Climate change is a global issue. Individual parents and schools can only do so much. Solving the environmental crisis will require cooperation from individuals, governments, and corporations. That’s why we, as concerned citizens, need to continue to push for change, and vote for politicians and parties who take climate change seriously.
Please take some time to read Jamie’s post and then educate yourself on what schools in your country are doing.
Is Climate Change Overlooked in Schools?
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About the Climate Change Collective
The Climate Change Collective started after I left a comment on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep the climate change message top of mind for everyone, so I put out a tweet to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!
The members of the collective take turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the post is published, the rest of the group keeps the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.
If you’re a like-minded blogger and would like to join our collective, please get in touch. More voices joining the conversation means more attention to the problems plaguing our planet!
More Climate Change Collective posts
The Climate Change Collective series has been going strong for over two years. See Two years of the Climate Change Collective series for a recap of the posts we published in the first two years.
Thanks to Jamie for being part of our Climate Change Collective and for sharing insights on the shortcomings of climate change education in schools.
What other ideas do you have on teaching kids about climate change? Drop me a comment below with your thoughts.
These tips are so useful! It’s clear that many children (around the world) need a more comprehensive education about climate science and climate change. There is so much the future generations are going to face when it come to environmental impacts, it really is a collective effort to build up the knowledge of young people. Fab post!
Thanks Molly. Since there’s so much politicization of what is taught in classrooms, I think the key is reaching the parents, but many of them deny climate change and will continue to do so even when the evidence is all around them. It’s a conundrum.
It’s an important subject for kids, everyone really, to learn about. Some great suggestions to do so!
Thanks Ab. It is an important topic and we can’t always leave it up to schools to teach our kids everything.
These are the kinds of issues teachers sometimes unintentionally find themselves in. It didn’t happen to me, but I’ve heard teacher friends discuss it. Some teachers who trust the scientific evidence will discuss the issue of climate change with their students. Some parents who are climate change deniers then contact the principal to complain about this being taught, thinking we are politicizing their children. It really can be tough sometimes for educators who are just doing their job.
That’s disappointing to hear. We’ll never solve this if we continue to treat climate change as a political issue rather than a scientific one. Sadly, money talks and corporate interests are in the pockets of the politicians.
It’s amazing how often politics crosses over into education. Book banning is another hot button issue.
The worst thing is that, by limiting the things we expose kids to, we just limit their ability to form their own views. When I was a kid, we learned a lot of things that went against our parents views, but I believe arguing with them about it helped us to be critical thinkers.
In some ways, perhaps the province of Alberta (Canada’s biggest oil producer) is doing something right. Their curriculum discusses the science of climate change along with the economic value of the oil industry. It feels a bit manipulative, but at least they’re acknowleding the environmental impact.
These are definitely complex issues.
Thanks for this. I love your practical tips for improving awareness of climate change.
Thank you Jamie!
Great suggestions, Michelle!
Thanks Wynne!
Everyone including children should learn more about climate change.
I agree. It’s an important topic that we can’t ignore.