Emily Walker | Classrooms will save the planet

Climate change dominates news headlines globally – we see endless weather-related catastrophes, geo-political upheavals, and increasing environmental injustices. The Caribbean is not immune to the deadly impacts of climate change and is facing its own set of unique challenges, from rising sea levels to longer dry seasons, to shorter rain seasons and stronger hurricanes.

It can fill many of us with despair, anger, and even a sense of guilt. However, it is time to address the other side of climate change. The solutionary side because this is what is actually going to help us get out of the mess we have got ourselves into. The solution, drum roll please, is education, specifically, climate education. It is the flexing of green muscle memory in every student, so that they instinctively do right by the planet, that we need to trigger. It is the teaching of sustainable behaviour over time so that it becomes second nature. The longer we work those green brain muscles, the more success we will have.

Students who learn comprehensive climate education, from kindergarten through twelfth grade (ages 5-18 years old), have intrinsic green muscle memory. They learn habitual, sustainable behaviours that are good for the environment, such as do not waste energy, do not use single-use plastics as they use up a ton of energy to make them and their production creates greenhouse gasses. Don’t waste water, use public transport where possible, eat foods that are in season and don’t buy into fast fashion.

We know it works too because the latest, albeit nascent research, has seen students who are exposed to climate education earlier, lower their carbon footprint. And 30 per cent of Swiss students reported more sustainable behaviour after attending just one climate rally. These tangible changes are after just a one-off event or a few classes in climate education. Think what 12 plus years of comprehensive climate literacy could achieve.

EVERY SUBJECT

We want climate education taught in every subject – not just science – maths should be incorporating greenhouse gas emission equations, art should be inspiring students to create posters capturing what they love about their country’s environment, literature can include poetry about climate disasters and science can challenge students to look for energy efficiencies that might one day become a reality. This list goes on and we have written a report Climate Education Vs. The Climate Crisis, outlining how climate education can be introduced into all classrooms and across all subjects and we even outline where in the world schools are already doing it.

As a former educator, teaching six and seven-year-olds, my students were eager learners and always asked questions. It was in those moments of inquiry learning that students shined. Their brains become sponges for information, their mouths volcanoes of questions, and their hearts filled with wonder and imagination. This is a happy place for students. Education needs to more purposefully adopt this model of learning and build skills for thinking thoughtfully. If we teach students through a climate lens, we automatically set them up for success. We need to teach the opposite of self-destruction; we need to change our value system. It’s not just what I think either – the majority of voters see the value in teaching climate education and believe students need it too. We always want something better for our kids and on this there is real alignment between students, teachers and parents.Currently 84 per cent of parents in the US support climate education in schools while 86 per cent of educators support climate education in schools too.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

The other huge benefit, aside from building a green muscle memory, is that comprehensive climate education provides students with the knowledge and skills they will need to work in increasingly sustainable facing economies and fill those green collar jobs. Green skills build resilience, adaptability, and arm students with an emotional intelligence that is about mitigating the climate crisis and innovating practical solutions. . We are beyond just identifying the problem. We need to actually prepare students to solve problems caused by climate change in real time and to do it we need to prioritise authentic learning over standardieed testing and action over complacency. The next steps should be legislation and infrastructure globally to support climate education and at Earthday.org, we are pushing for that actively and with vigour. As well as sharing online, free resources for teachers everywhere, including the Caribbean to use.

Last, there is one more thing that I saw firsthand teaching climate education to young children – albeit it only casually, not within a defined curriculum, it eases their climate anxiety. Children are not immune to those headlines that frighten us – they see them too and it helps them to have their fears acknowledged in class, by the adults outside their own family’s, that they probably trust the most, their teachers.

We need to continue to have hard conversations about how to protect the planet at government level, we need to advocate for the planet, whenever we can as adults too and all of us need to take action that makes our lives less damaging to the climate and more ‘green’. But we also need to insist on the accessibility of climate education to every shield, no matter where they live. Our legacy as teachers should be wanting our kids to feel equipped to face the world we have given them. The planet is both our mother and our child. It is time for climate education to teach that in schools – so the next generation can do what we didn’t – care for Planet Earth properly. As a former teacher now working in advocacy I am dedicating my life to that cause. Proudly.

Emily Walker, is education coordinator at EARTHDAY.ORG. Send feedback to walker@earthday.org and columns@gleanerjm.com