Climate change – classroom competencies

Across the generations – and for young people, in particular – climate change is recognised as the most important challenge that our world faces. Education is a critical agent in addressing this urgent issue.

Education can encourage people to change their attitudes and behaviour; it also helps them to make informed decisions. Education empowers all people, but especially motivates the young to take action.

United Nations Climate Action

Teaching in the Anthropocene – the era of human impacts

Since the 1950s, humans have fundamentally altered the Earth’s physical, chemical and biological systems at an unprecedented rate and scale. The Anthropocene is a new geological era that recognises the substantial impacts human activities are having on te taiao.

Indicators of climate change in Aotearoa New Zealand

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Climate change is becoming increasingly evident. Average and extreme temperatures have increased since pre-industrial times. The growing season has lengthened, and the number of frost days has decreased in most parts of the country. Annual rainfall is changing in most places, and medium-term droughts are becoming more frequent.

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Source: Ministry for the Environment, Stats NZ, and data providers, and licensed by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Rights: Crown copyright ©, CC BY 4.0

Educational research and thinking about science education in the Anthropocene identifies some key points to consider when helping to prepare ākonga for the complexities of climate change:

• Humans are inextricably linked to and part of the natural world – place-based, local curriculum is important.

• There is a need to consider and value multiple perspectives – science and mātauranga Māori are ways of making sense of the world and its complex interactions.

• There is a need for ethical considerations – social and climate justice recognise the unequal disadvantages of clima te change for some peoples.

• Scientific literacy is needed to understand the complexities of interacting systems and to discern/counter misinformation and disinformation.

• There is a need to build students’ sense of agency so they are aware they have influence and can change things at local and higher levels.

• Educators need support to effectively address student understanding and engage them in positive action

Mō tātou te taiao ko te atawhai, mō tātou te taiao ko te oranga.

It is for us to care for and look after the environment to ensure its wellbeing, in doing so we ensure our own wellbeing and that of our future generations.

Te Mātaiaho and climate change education

Te Mātaiaho – the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum – aims to help ākonga build and navigate knowledge in ways that support their positive contribution to the world. It notes that learning has both participatory value and planetary value. The concept of mātaiaho – weaving within and across learning areas – affirms the holistic, interdisciplinary aspect of clima te change education. Although the topic is firmly based within the sciences and putaiao, it draws on knowledge from the other curriculum areas and mātauranga Māori . The complexities of clim ate change require ākonga and educators to engage in systems thinking and develop capabilities and competencies across a wide range of disciplines and contexts.

Taking action for climate justice

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Students across Aotearoa New Zealand organised a series of school strikes and protest marches. These Wellington students hold a banner that reads “We demand climate justice”.

Rights: David Tong, CC BY-SA 4.0

Competencies for building agency

Agency in the Anthropocene (a supporting document to the PISA 2025 Science Framework) identifies and explains competencies ākonga require to address local and global challenges associated with complex environmental issues. The document notes that agency in the Anthropocene requires understanding that human impacts significantly alter Earth’s systems and that young people believe their actions will be appreciated, approved and effective as they work to mitigate these impacts.

Caring for Lake Tūtira

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Intergenerational kaitiaki from the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Trust work together to replant the edges of Lake Tūtira as part of their ongoing work to restore the health of their lake. 

Lake Tūtira is one of the few places in Hawke’s Bay with a banded kōkopu population.

Rights: Maungaharuru-Tangitū Trust

People with agency in the Anthropocene:

• acknowledge social injustices

• demonstrate hope, resilience and efficacy

• respect and evaluate multiple perspectives and diverse knowledge systems

• demonstrate an ability to engage with others across generations

• work across a range of scales, from local to global, to understand and address complex challenges

• are action-competent.

The document has identified three key competencies for agency. A 15-year-old student who demonstrates agency in the Anthropocene can:

• explain the impact of human interactions with Earth’s systems

• make informed decisions to act based on evaluation of diverse sources of evidence and application of creative and systems thinking to regenerate and sustain the environment

• demonstrate hope and respect for diverse perspectives in seeking solutions to socio-ecological crises.

What actions can I take?

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A concept cartoon exploring possible actions that can be taken to mitigate climate change impacts.

Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Resources to support learning and build agency

Of course, building these competencies can and should begin earlier! The following resources will help you get started. They are suitable for use with younger and older learners and include action and cultural competencies.

Background information:

• Our atmosphere and climate – introduction curates resources about human influences on the climate, how it affects the things we care about and how we know (the evidence).

• Environment Aotearoa 2022 – introduction curates resources about human impacts on environmental domains – using the whetū of Matariki as the context.

• Earth systems and climate change looks at our impacts on Earth systems from multiple perspectives.

• Climate change and impacts on biodiversity looks at threats to our unique ecosystems, including changes to species’ physiology, distribution and population dynamics.

• Utilising Our climate, our biodiversity, our future uses an interactive storymap that hosts a collection of stories arranged to show the interconnection of ki uta ki tai – mountains to the sea. The stories illustrate how the climate is changing, how it impacts our indigenous biodiversity, and what is being done to help.

• MethaneSAT – turning data into action tells about a joint American-New Zealand collaboration to detect methane emissions. The satellite is helping to slow emissions – right now – offering hope, agency and advocacy.

Pedagogical support:

• Climate change resources – planning pathways groups clima te change resources into key science and teaching concepts.

• Climate change – a wicked problem for classroom inquiry has suggestions for bite-size inquiries – along with pedagogical support.

• Climate data analysis – this activity uses Google Data Studio to enable students to visualise and filter datasets of interest.

• Consider building agency via inquiry and action learning with other environmental issues: water quality and stream monitoring, wetland (repo) restoration and smart water use.