Reflecting on Climate Change Education Priorities in Secondary Schools in England: Moving beyond Learning about Climate Change to the Emotions of Living with Climate Change
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
Climate Change Education in Schools in England
3. Research Design
3.1. Data Collection
3.2. Data Analysis
4. Findings
4.1. Climate Change and Young Peoples’ Content Knowledge
4.2. Climate Change and Young Peoples’ Content Knowledge
4.3. Reflections on Research Data Limitations
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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School Name | School Overview | Key Stage of Focus Group Participants | Number of Participants |
---|---|---|---|
School A | Non-selective academy located in the rural east of England; pupil roll of ~2000, aged 11–18 years, of mixed gender; lower than national average free school meal population and IDACI score of 1 | 3 | 5 |
4 | 5 | ||
School B | Non-selective community school in rural northeast England; pupil roll of ~350, aged 9–13 years, of mixed gender; lower than national average free school meal population and IDACI score of 1 | 3 | 4 |
School C | Non-selective academy located in the rural southwest of England; pupil roll of ~1400, aged 11–18 years, of mixed gender; lower than national average free school meal population and IDACI score of 1 | 3 | 8 |
5 | 4 | ||
School D | Non-selective academy located in suburban northeast England; pupil roll of ~2000, aged 11–18 years, of mixed gender; lower than national average free school meal population and IDACI score of 1 | 3 | 8 |
School E | Non-selective academy located in the coastal east midlands of England; pupil roll of ~1000, aged 11–18, of mixed gender; higher than national average free school meal population and IDACI score of 5 | 3 | 16 |
4 | 5 | ||
School F | Non-selective academy located in rural southeast England; pupil roll of ~1700, aged 11–18 years, of mixed gender; lower than national average free school meal population and IDACI score of 1 | 3 | 4 |
4 and 5 | 3 (1 and 2) | ||
School G | Non-selective academy located in the rural west midlands of England; pupil roll of ~1600, aged 11–18, of mixed gender; lower than national average free school meal population and IDACI score of 3 | 3 | 7 |
4 | 2 | ||
School H | Non-selective academy located in central London; pupil roll of ~1110, aged 11–18 years, of mixed gender; higher than national average free school meal population and IDACI score of 5 | 3 | 8 |
4 and 5 | 6 (3 and 3) | ||
Total: 8 schools | 14 focus groups | 85 participants |
Content Knowledge (928) | Responses |
---|---|
Animals/wildlife (35) | Animals/wildlife (6); cows (2); insects (2); plants (11); polar bears (10); species (2); other (2) |
Biodiversity/habitat loss (121) | Animals dying and suffering (16); deforestation (39); extinction (32); loss of biodiversity (5); loss of ecosystems (3); loss of habitats (23); need to plant trees (3) |
Carbon (22) | Carbon capture (1); carbon cycle (3); carbon footprint (13); carbon-neutral (2); carbon sink/store (3) |
Earth’s features/systems (121) | Atmosphere (7); climate (7); desert (2); Earth/the world (11); ecosystems (1); geography (2); habitats (5); natural hazards/disasters (12); oceans (4); ozone layer (13); polar regions (15); rainforests (3); seasons (3); sun (3); other (14); weather (10) |
Economics (26) | Economics (13); charity funding (3); other (13) |
Energy (60) | Fossil fuels (34); reduce the use of fossil fuels (3); renewable energy (15); radiation (2); other (6) |
Extreme/unpredictable weather (36) | |
Flooding/sea level rise (56) | Flooding (17); flooding and sea level rise (4); sea level rise (35) |
Food (14) | Farming (3); food waste (2); palm oil (3); vegan/vegetarian diet (2); other (4) |
Forest fires (17) | Forest fires/burning (13); wildfires (4) |
Global warming (181) | Global warming (85); greenhouse effect (14); greenhouse gases (68); human-caused climate change (9); human vs. natural causes of climate change (5) |
Leading figures (23) | David Attenborough (5); Donald Trump (2); Greta Thunberg (16) |
Climate change in the media (7) | Film (3); news media (4) |
Melting ice caps (40) | |
Politics (51) | General (11) and specific political bodies/groups: G7 (1); WHO (1); UN (1) Global summits and agreements in general (5); COP26 (5); Kyoto (1); net-zero by 2050 (3); Paris (6) Protests, marches and strikes (17) |
Pollution (64) | Air pollution (6); CFCs (2); litter (7); in general (25); plastic pollution (16); rubbish in the oceans (3); water pollution (2); waste (3) |
Reduce, reuse and recycle (15) | |
Social impacts (7) | Overpopulation (4); migration (3) |
Sustainability (10) | |
Transport (22) | Air travel (3); bikes (1); buses (3); cars (7); electric cars (4); in general (4) |
Emotions (126) | Indicative Responses |
---|---|
Negative Emotions (114) | |
Anger and frustration (5) | |
| Anger; hatred; I feel angry |
| Annoyed that we have let the planet get into this situation |
Apathy (4) | It is like homework because…I’ll do something about it this time and then that time passes and you’re like, oh well, I will do it at this time instead and it just continues; most don’t care; lack of action by some |
Fear (74) | |
| Getting to a point of no return; need to take action; biggest problem affecting our future; emergency; crisis; terrible for our planet; end of the world |
| Ignorance of the powerful; ignoring us; older generation failure; carelessness of some people; struggles children of tomorrow will face; young voices fighting to be heard |
| Climate anxiety; worry |
| Confusing; fear; what’s that? |
Grief & sadness (21) | |
| Dying; death; world dying |
| Sadness; sorrow; suffering, regret |
Guilt (10) | Affects those less fortunate although it is not them causing it; all our fault |
Positive emotions (12) | |
Care for the planet (5) | Helping the planet; being eco-friendly is caring |
Hope (7) | Hope; building hope with nature reserves; change we can make if we try |
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Rushton, E.A.C.; Sharp, S.; Kitson, A.; Walshe, N. Reflecting on Climate Change Education Priorities in Secondary Schools in England: Moving beyond Learning about Climate Change to the Emotions of Living with Climate Change. Sustainability 2023, 15, 6497. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086497
Rushton EAC, Sharp S, Kitson A, Walshe N. Reflecting on Climate Change Education Priorities in Secondary Schools in England: Moving beyond Learning about Climate Change to the Emotions of Living with Climate Change. Sustainability. 2023; 15(8):6497. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086497
Chicago/Turabian StyleRushton, Elizabeth A. C., Sarah Sharp, Alison Kitson, and Nicola Walshe. 2023. "Reflecting on Climate Change Education Priorities in Secondary Schools in England: Moving beyond Learning about Climate Change to the Emotions of Living with Climate Change" Sustainability 15, no. 8: 6497. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086497