Climate change in the classroom: from nonexistent, to inconsistent, to gaining momentum

Written by Communitopia Blogger, Erin Bell

If the purpose of education is to help shape us into moral, creative, productive, and conscious human beings, then it stands to reason that climate change should be a topic of discussion in the classroom. After all, climate change is a reality that impacts each of us every day, and it will only become more urgent and consequential throughout the lifetimes of our children. 

Unfortunately, climate change education in the K-12 environment is inconsistent, abbreviated, or even lacking entirely--though this is slowly beginning change. While some states have begun offering climate education resources to teachers and updating their education standards to include climate science, other states haven’t done much at all. This is particularly true in Pennsylvania, where science education standards have not been updated in nearly two decades. Governor Tom Wolf has previously vocalized his support of including climate science in newly proposed education standards, but the process of formally updating standards will likely be slow, and may even face political resistance. Effectively, climate change education in the Keystone State will continue to be left up to individual school districts and individual teachers for a while longer.

There is promising data, however. According to a poll conducted by NPR, more than 80% of parents and teachers support bringing climate change education to schools. And this support crosses political lines.

But this doesn’t necessarily translate into action. Even in states that have adopted a more climate-forward curriculum, teachers are still struggling to introduce the topic in their classrooms. Why? According to the same NPR poll, the obstacles most frequently cited by teachers were that it is “unrelated to their subject matter”, that they didn’t know enough about it to bring it up in their classrooms, or that students were too young to learn about it. Other polls suggest that teachers may be hesitant to discuss climate change for fear of being “controversial” or divisive. And sometimes, teachers were just lacking the necessary resources and materials. 

Source: NPR/Ipsos polls of 1,007 U.S. adults conducted March 21-22 and 505 teachers conducted March 21-29. The credibility interval for the overall sample is 3.5 percentage points; parents, 7.3 percentage points; and teachers, 5.0 percentage points. Totals may not add up to 100 percent because of rounding.

Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR

At Communitopia, one of our goals is to help the parents, teachers and youth in our communities overcome these barriers. We want teachers of all disciplines to feel confident and prepared in creating a climate-inclusive classroom. In addition to our Climate Champion Workshops designed for students, we’ve also developed and expanded a toolbox of resources for educators. In partnership with Remake Learning, we produce a monthly educator newsletter that connects teachers with climate-focused professional development opportunities; we co-host a Climate Educator Happy Hour with Green Building Alliance and Remake Learning to connect like-minded educators and discuss all things related to climate education; and Communitopia has recently rolled out a teacher fellowship program to facilitate climate-related lesson planning and unit development. More information on these programs can be found on our website, or by contacting katie@communitopia.org. 

Above all, Communitopia believes that students need and deserve to learn about climate science and its far-reaching impacts. The students of today will become the thinkers, problem-solvers and leaders of tomorrow, so these discussions are not only relevant, but will also become increasingly essential to their lives. As awareness among educators, parents, policy-makers--and most importantly, students--grows, we can be hopeful in our expectation that climate education becomes standard in K-12 classrooms over the coming years.