Teaching climate hope, not despair
Bianca Woyak’s job involves walking schoolkids through one of the most frightening issues humanity has ever faced, climate change. ‘‘I try to do it in a positive way, because – let’s face it – no-one wants me to scare their child,’’ she says.
In a decade, today’s new entrants will be teens and the action grown-ups have taken over this critical period will shape the kind of world they’ll inherit. With this in mind, teachers across the country are attempting to educate students on the causes of and solutions to this problem, plus the role each young person can play.
Luckily for the Burnside Primary School students, Woyak is a dedicated environmental science teacher and one of the best in the business: awarded this year’s Prime Minister’s Science Prize. The O¯ tautahi Christchurchbased teacher says by the time they start school, her students often know the basics about climate and environmental issues – ‘‘that we’ve cut down a lot of trees, and we therefore need to plant some back’’, for example.
‘‘I see my job as guiding them over the years I’ve got them.’’
Teaching Room 4 at Rotorua’s Kaitao Intermediate, Dasha Emery has found climate change can seem remote for some students. ‘‘They don’t see it with their own eyes right now,’’ she says. ‘‘Last year, I had a student whose wha¯ nau was from Kiribati. We watched this very interesting documentary that showed the students that, because of climate change, the islands were slowly disappearing.’’ This real-life connection brought the issue home for the class, she says.
At the same time, the lead environment teacher has seen her tamariki, aged 11 to 13, discover a passion for the environment. Kaitao is an Enviroschool, with recycling programmes, composting and worm farming systems, a food garden and even a forest. Getting kids out of the classroom and into nature helps, Emery says. ‘‘Students who may not excel at maths or literacy excel in the garden.’’
History and culture are important parts of the lesson. ‘‘We make those connections, like this is what our tupuna [ancestors] used to feed the village.’’
Emery’s class entered 10 projects into the Te Tu¯ kohu Nga¯ wha¯ Science and Design Fair last week, which explores environmental sustainability through a te ao Ma¯ ori lens. The students created projects on ma¯ tauranga Ma¯ ori, the maramataka (the Ma¯ ori lunar calendar) and Matariki. Other pairs of students conducted research into biodiversity, pest control and water quality.
‘‘It has definitely amped up the passion in our students.’’
A new leaf
Understanding the warming crisis requires more than knowledge of climate science and technology. It is also caused by the world’s economic, social and political systems. These wider causes are on Woyak’s students’ minds. One asked: ‘‘On our new school building, why don’t we have solar panels across the whole roof?’’
That begins the conversation: ‘‘I say, unfortunately the Government and the ministry don’t see that as something we need right now, even though we do. If you feel like we need this, then let’s go and get the funding and get the money for it.’’ Focusing on solutions is critical, Woyak says. As well as planning to campaign for solar panels, the students have planted 1500 native trees on school grounds, restored habitat for a local species of butterfly, held stream restoration days, nurtured indigenous seedlings and slashed the school waste sent to landfill by 70%.
‘‘If you can inspire children and get them feeling like they can do something, then they have a better mentality, and they’re more likely to do really cool stuff and lead some change.’’ As children get older, they’ll require a more comprehensive understanding of barriers to change. When students are taught about solutions, they’re typically told about individual actions with a limited impact, says University of Canterbury political researcher Bronwyn Hayward. Building a website is one example.
Hayward says students need to understand the economic, social and political forces at play and how to take collective, rather than individual, action. ‘‘If we just have students that understand the science or just have students that understand the social change, we reduce our ability to effectively deal with the problem.’’
At the moment, the New Zealand curriculum is being reviewed. It’s an opportunity to improve climate change education, Hayward says.
Teachers can be less comfortable discussing collective action, she says. As a lecturer, she sympathises. ‘‘I’m clear with students . . . I’m not here to tell them what to think, but to teach them how to think.’’
Young people passionate about climate action need the skills to work with others with different views – families in the farming or mining sectors, for example – and to gather diverse views, including indigenous perspectives, Hayward says. Experience in negotiating just, fair, democratic decisions will also be valuable.
But when political systems and politicised issues are on the lesson plan, educators can start to feel the heat. Education specialist Sian Carvell developed and piloted a climate change resource for 11-14-year-old students, originally working with the Ministry of Education.
The programme uses history lessons, videos, diagrams, maps, experiments and science-based solutions. In one session, students receive information about the greenhouse gas produced by meat and dairy farming, plus details on electricity production, transport and waste.
That’s backed by reputable sources, including leading science body the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). On meat and dairy, the IPCC recently concluded that switching to plant-based diets would reduce global emissions.
But when the programme was being audited in 2020, agricultural lobby group Federated Farmers launched a petition against it, saying the meat and dairy emissions information had mistakes and required more context. The petition was signed by 2000 people. (A counter-petition in support of the resource received 1300 signatures.)
‘‘It was difficult,’’ Carvell says. ‘‘I align myself with the children . . . [They] say that climate change is overwhelming enough, but when we see the reaction to climate change and this inaction to do something about it, the inability to discuss – that’s the more distressing thing.’’
The Ministry of Education is now preparing its own climate change education resources, as
‘‘Students who may not excel at maths or literacy excel in the garden.’’ Dasha Emery, Room 4 teacher at Rotorua’s Kaitao Intermediate.
part of social science lessons. Asked whether science-based info on red meat and dairy would be included, the ministry said the resources haven’t been finalised.
Carvell’s eight-module resource has been updated following feedback, and will become available through a private education body. Comprehensive, integrated climate change education best equips young people for the challenges ahead, she stresses. ‘‘Climate change is a big, wicked, complex problem, so you need everything you can to support your learning.
‘‘You need the social science behind it, then giving young people opportunities to connect with nature, to express how they’re feeling through the arts, and critical thinking to understand mis- and malinformation, understanding different knowledge systems such as ma¯ tauranga Ma¯ ori. That needs to be talked about in an integrated way . . .’’
Carvell believes teachers are already capable of integrated teaching, but professional development on climate change could boost their confidence. Sometimes these lessons would benefit from a specialist teacher – like Woyak. ‘‘Every school should have an environmental science person,’’ the Burnside teacher adds. ‘‘Often, people do it as a tag-on activity at lunchtime, out of the kindness of their heart.’’
Keeping the commitment
Boosting education on climate change is one of the commitments the Government made when it signed up to landmark global climate accord the Paris Agreement in 2016, says Conor Twyford of NZEI Te Riu Roa (the largest education union).
Teachers – particularly in urban areas – back the idea, she says, though having the time and resources to develop climate lessons is a challenge.
Education should go beyond the traditional classroom, Twyford adds. Adults would often benefit from a deeper understanding. ‘‘People still don’t know about 1.5C . . . We can educate the children, but what about the adults?’’
‘‘There’s a stereotype that you have to be a super science-y expert to be active on climate. I don’t think that’s true.’’
NZ Council for Educational Research’s Rachel Bolstad says children often take what they learn at school and share it with their families and communities. Creative projects on solutions using science, technology, indigenous and local knowledge can drive empowerment rather than anxiety, she says. ‘‘Part of that is helping young people to see there are viable futures for them, including pathways into new kinds of work that come with this transition.’’
Climate change and sustainability can be woven into wider lessons, she says. For example, one school calculated the carbon footprints of school blocks – a chance to boost maths, science and tech skills – then brainstormed ways to save energy and reduce emissions.
In Christchurch, intermediate-aged students discussed and gave feedback on the city council’s draft adaptation plan, as part of the ongoing public consultation. With their new understanding of how political engagement works, five members of the group then submitted their views on the national adaptation plan, which was released as a draft in April.
At the moment, this type of climate change education often depends on the interest, knowledge and passion of individual teachers, Bolstad says. The curriculum review is an opportunity to make this type of lesson more common. But that requires the sector and Government to seize it, she says. ‘‘Opportunities can be lost if these things get pushed to the periphery.’’