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TheConversationCanada
How classroom learning can help students shape new stories about climate change
By Susan Drake, Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Education, Brock UniversityChenkai Chi, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education, University of Windsor,
18 days ago
Coming to parts of a solution around climate change needs to involve the intersection of many disciplines. (Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency/EDUimages) , CC BY-NC
Ellen Field, who researches policy and practice of climate change education in Canadian schooling at Lakehead University, highlights the importance of transdisciplinary and holistic approaches to teaching climate change to students and people studying to become teachers .
Big questions to address complex problems
Educators can approach designing curriculum beginning with a big question like: “How can we address x problem and insure sustainable well-being for individuals, societies and our planet?”
The Story Model framework begins with a big question designed to help students consider stories of the present and past, and a future story they wish to participate in.
Designing interdisciplinary lessons
Teachers could use the Story Model to design a lesson drawing on transdisciplinary insights related to climate change.
1. Explore a topic, generate a big question.
Part of designing lessons for students begins with determining how to meet curricular accountability requirements. For example, in Ontario Grade 11 and Grade 12 Canadian and World Studies (Economics, Geography, History, Law, and Politics), groundwater is a topic. One requirement states: “ explain how human modification of the landscape ” (like urban expansion, paving, river damming or diversion, deforestation, draining of wetlands or mining) affects natural systems, for example, changes in groundwater.
2. Analyze different aspects of the present story.
Relying on the Story Model, consider personal narratives, cultural stories, global impacts and universal human values to understand a topic deeply. For example, students would have an opportunity to safely share personal narratives (where no one is put on the spot or asked to speak for a particular community), and this will yield different perspectives. Some students may have experiences with water contamination or conservation.
Considering cultural lenses could refer to educators finding ethical ways to represent perspectives that would otherwise be marginalized or absent from contemporary western public schooling. For example, Indigenous communities in Canada have traditional stories and practices that emphasize the sacredness of water and the need to protect it from pollution and overuse.
Examining global impact could mean considering over-extraction of groundwater in different countries that leads to significant drops in water tables, affecting millions of people and agricultural productivity.
A universal lens points to values and beliefs that connect people across cultures, like survival, love, health and social belonging. Students could examine the imperative of having access to clear water and stewardship.
3. Identify the dominant ‘old story’ and its values.
Students can analyze their topic by identifying interconnected categories like economy, politics and technology, to connecting strands in a web formation and understand connections and context.
With the big question “How does groundwater impact life below and above the surface?” students could consider how each interconnected respective category might address this question, as well as historical roots and persistent values.
Students could critically examine negative and positive dimensions of “old values” with regard to groundwater. For instance, the value of promoting industrial growth and economic development brought massive technological progress in the form of techniques for irrigation and water extraction that supported agricultural productivity and urban development, which has yielded economic development.
There is an urgent need to reconcile seeming opposites and to balance both development and environmental preservation.
4. Create a new story : Teachers and students envision future paths by projecting what could happen with a continuation of old stories or an idealized preferred story. They evaluate these stories, focusing on sustainable and just alternatives.
For example, students might explore traditional farming methods that contribute to over-extraction of groundwater and loss of biodiversity. They could also explore a new story that envisions a shift to sustainable farming practices. Such practices incorporate methods that reduce groundwater usage, maintain soil health and promote biodiversity.
5. Commit to “my” story : Students develop a personal action plan to actualize a new story they wish to participate in, promoting sustainable practices and advocacy. They might commit to actions such as supporting activities and events to protect groundwater sources or bringing more awareness to conserving water in their daily lives.
This model transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. It encourages students to analyze current and historical narratives, envision sustainable futures and develop actionable plans. This approach can be part of equipping students to address climate change as an urgent global challenge.
Chenkai Chi receives funding from SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and Mitacs Globalink funding.
Susan Drake does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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