Teachers are incorporating climate change education into their lessons

Third-grade teacher Jerry Ouellette talks to students about the plants in the woodland learning space next to his school in Millbrook, Ontario. A new initiative is supporting teachers interested in incorporating climate change education into their lessons. (Nazima Walji/CBC)

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Whether it's a horsetail plant found in a nearby forest or changing polar bear habitats, fourth-grader Nora Gomiti has enjoyed the climate-related lessons she's learned at school.

"You learn something new and then you know how to take care of this world in a better way," said the nine-year-old student in Millbrook, Ontario, east of Toronto.

"It helps me respect the earth more because when you learn about plants or animals that are close to extinction, you can learn how to change that or do different things to prevent it."

Elementary teacher Wilma Armstrong pioneered these new lessons for her school, inspired by a recent professional development course on climate education.

“There's just a lot of misunderstanding about climate change and kids have a lot of questions. It gave me the confidence to find a way." This twenty-year-old education teacher said.

An elementary school student shows plant material from a forest near his school. "There's just a lot of misunderstanding about climate change and kids have a lot of questions," said Ontario teacher Wilma Armstrong, who gained new knowledge and inspiration from an online climate education course. (Nazima Walji/CBC)

A new initiative led by Lakehead University and the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Educational Studies is supporting Canadian teachers interested in integrating climate education into their classrooms, weaving in Indigenous perspectives and inspiring current and future educators to explore the topic.

"We're really trying to help teachers find a path that they're comfortable with as educators in how they teach about water change," said Ellen Field, assistant professor of education at Lakehead University in Orillia, Ontario, and co-leader of the project. and integrate air into their current classroom."

Third-grade students in Millbrook, Ontario, sift through items collected from the woods next to their school for dissection as part of their unit of study on plants. (Nazima Walji/CBC)

Among the eight recipients of federal funding for environmental education, Field's multifaceted initiative specifically targets teachers.

Accelerating Climate Change Education in Canadian Teacher Education includes a webinar series, a grant program to stimulate schools of education to develop new courses, and a conference that will bring together dozens of academics and researchers to discuss climate change education in Canada. united

In her research on Canada's K-12 school system, Field found that what and how students learn about the subject is uneven across the country. Most students will likely encounter this topic at some point in their elementary or high school years, but where it lives varies: it may appear in a social studies unit or an elective science class. The focus is often on basic knowledge and climate science, with less time spent on solutions or action.

Field said the outlook in schools of education is also patchy, with few courses for future teachers focusing specifically on climate change.

Climate change education is still chatter in Canada and needs more work, researchers say Quebec students feel "betrayed" by lack of climate education The team also offers a free online course Armstrong took last spring. He was part of an initial group of 150 in-service and pre-service teachers who arrived from Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick (an equal number of educators were on a waiting list). Another batch of 150 people registered for fall and winter.

Elementary teacher Wilma Armstrong puts what she learned in the online course into practice, both with her kindergarten students and in collaboration with teaching colleagues at her school in Millbrook, Ontario. (Craig Cheevers/CBC)

According to Field, the strong interest — his team hasn't done much advertising — shows that teachers are eager for more guidance and development.

"They're interested, they're motivated, and they're on the front lines of having these conversations with young people every day."

This eight-week, self-paced online course covers topics such as climate science, social-emotional learning, climate justice, Indigenous ways of knowing, and the importance of truth and reconciliation in climate change education. Learning these things quickly spurred Armstrong into action.

For example, he took kindergartners for "jungle baths" in his school's outdoor learning space. There, young people immerse themselves in the sights, sounds and smells of the forest while reflecting on the nature around them.

Armstrong also collaborated with his third-grade teaching colleagues to revamp his usual unit on plants.

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