Journal article

This commentary focuses on philosophical underpinnings that could guide a sea change in approaches to sustainability within English-medium curricula in Aotearoa. Framed optimistically, it engages with the possibilities that exist for Pākehā to transform relationships with tangata whenua and this land through regenerative curriculum design. Three Treaty of Waitangi principles provide the framework for illustrating the ways in which a more consciously designed curriculum could address persistent inequities and challenges. A set of reflective questions are included for schools and teachers to use as a basis for discussion.

In this article, we discuss the importance of developing the skills of ecological citizenship for teachers and students. In particular we consider how we can support teaching practice to develop the skills of social agency and ecoliteracy. We argue that these skills are essential for building teacher and student capabilities to co-create regenerative futures on a warming planet. In this discussion we reflect on our experiences as educators and researchers invested in place-based education, sustainability, climate justice research, democracy, and citizenship education. We highlight some of the tools and approaches that we have used in supporting both preservice teachers, and children, to learn these skills of ecological citizenship.

Young people are worried about the impacts that climate change will have on their lives. Educators need learning programmes that can help students to manage these dark emotions and become more positive about their future. Including emotions in climate-change education is now considered a crucial element and hope, in particular, has been identified as a motivating force which can help young people to become more positive and take action to respond to the climate emergency. Drawing on recommendations from the environmentaleducation field, as well as peace and political studies education research, eight strategies and approaches are proposed. These approaches and strategies can nurture hope and develop knowledge and skills, so that students can take action to mitigate climate change effects and feel hopeful about their future.

This article provides a critical commentary on the recently released learning programme, Climate Change: Prepare Today, Live Well Tomorrow (Climate Change programme). The Climate Change programme is sorely needed in this time of climate emergency and we believe it to be a great start in guiding teachers in this important work. Here we comment on its science focus and its attention to wellbeing and participation, and we make some recommendations for how teacher practice can build on what the Climate Change programme has begun for climate-change education.

International climate agreements say education can play a key role in responding to the global challenge of climate change. My team and I are currently carrying out research to help build a national picture of educational responses to climate change. Our research suggests that New Zealand’s educational policies and strategies currently provide a diffuse framework for responding to climate change, and there is a lack of coherent messaging “from the top” about what could or should be expected of schools. Yet some innovative practices and approaches are visible across the school network. This article describes what we currently know about climate and sustainability thinking and practice across English-medium schools, and what further actions and supports may be needed across the system.

This study examined the role of a future-oriented scenario with secondary school students using diorama construction which included climate-change knowledge and envisioning alternative futures. To explore the potential role of futures-thinking modelling, students from one class participated in a 12-week cross-curricular inquiry with their teachers. Jensen’s (2002) dimensions of action-oriented knowledge are used to examine the climate-change knowledge developed by the students. Four common images of the future (Dator, 2014) are incorporated as models to forecast alternative futures. The findings suggest the value of future-oriented dioramas for developing climate-change understanding and futures thinking.

Climate change is described as the defining issue of our time. There are many climate-change teaching resources that cover the science of climate change and actions to make a difference. However, there is limited focus on envisioning the future we want to create together. Enviroschools’ key concepts of interrelatedness and whanaungatanga support students, schools and communities to explore how they are connected to each other and the world they live in. Using an example from one school, I suggest building understanding of how we are all interconnected is one way to create space to imagine the change we want.