The importance of education in preparing our children and grandchildren for their future cannot be overstated. Young people—under 18 years of age—make up almost 30% of the world’s population. Never before has a generation of youth been confronted with such an uncertain future. Their education takes on added seriousness for four reasons:
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- they need to know the truth about the climate crisis so they can prepare for the climate impacts they will face;
- they need the knowledge and the skills that will enable them to thrive in the future green economy;
- they are the generation that will solve the climate crisis, and
- they represent the last hope for the survival of humanity.
Climate Education in Schools
I have personally witnessed the hunger of young people for learning about climate change—its perils and challenges—in the latest Climate Reality leadership training in which I was the mentor for 12 secondary school and university level students from Canada and the U.S. Thousands of students from around the world participated in this first Climate Reality Global Training online program led by Al Gore. (Editor’s note)
The following post was first published in the Climate Reality Blog.
Climate education is key to turning the tide on this crisis and creating a safe, sustainable world for generations to come.
[In June] new state learning standards were announced that will make New Jersey the first state in the nation to require that climate education be taught in all grades, K-12.
First Lady of New Jersey and Climate Reality Leader Tammy Murphy long has been a champion of the importance of climate education in schools, and worked hard to ensure that these new rules were adopted in New Jersey. A few short months ago, this announcement would have been, in all probability, national (if not international) news.
But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and with protests, unrest, and turmoil boiling over all across our country, this announcement didn’t get the attention, nor the headlines, it deserved. Not only will climate education be required in science classes in New Jersey, but it will be taught in seven subject areas, beginning in 2021, with final implementation of these new standards by 2022. These subjects include: twenty-first century life and careers, comprehensive health and physical education, science, social studies, technology, visual and performing arts, and world languages.
Living with COVID-19
As we move through this unprecedented time in our collective history, how we keep lessons from COVID-19 and the importance of doing the hard work of understanding and addressing racial and social injustice – codifying these into law and developing formal and informal educational tools – will be vital. Connecting the dots between our climate crisis, poverty, race, access to affordable health care, and health outcomes of adults and children across the US remains critical to keeping the nation focused on the hard work that needs to be done, each step of the way. The New Jersey climate education requirements in cross-curricular subject areas are important opportunities to teach children how we can change the crash course we are on with our natural world, at the same time as we begin to heal our cities, towns, states and our nation. They can serve as a model for other states around the country.
Imagine for a moment in visual and preforming arts, a play, a story, or a poem written to include these connections and acted out by our children. How powerful and empowering this will be – not only for our children but for us as parents.
Pollution and your health
At the same time, the connections between pollution, negative health impacts, and the zip code you are born into are clear – and are now even clearer for all to see. If these connections seemed hidden before, COVID-19’s direct and disproportionate impacts on communities of color and low-income communities in close proximity to sources of pollution like power plants, incinerators, and industrial centers are being proven through peer-reviewed studies. Teaching these connections, in social studies, in technology, and in twenty-first century life and careers opens up incredible learning opportunities.
Developing this new curriculum for New Jersey schools, and the ways school districts use and adapt existing and proven resources will be important to the success of this endeavor. According to the June 3 New Jersey Department of Education announcement, these new standards are “the foundation which districts will build coherent curriculum and instruction.”
BIG NEWS: @GovMurphy and I are proud to announce that New Jersey is the FIRST STATE IN THE NATION to incorporate climate change education across our K-12 learning standards – preparing our students for the future green economy.🌎 pic.twitter.com/SJ2NS8DtWh
— Tammy Murphy (@FirstLadyNJ) June 3, 2020
However, we do not want to see added teaching requirements being put on already stretched educators, without added or redirected financial and staff resources to implement them. Real dollar allocations will be needed in state and local budgets to ensure a successful implementation of these new standards.
Washington State can serve as an example. Over the past few years, Washington has committed, as part of its state budget, millions of dollars for teacher training on climate science. New Jersey will need to train and retrain teachers across multiple subject areas on the new curriculum requirements. A recent nine-part in-depth reporting project by the Hechinger Report looked at how climate change is currently being taught around the county. The report showed how most textbooks are coming up short, and that a lot of schools rely on individual teachers to create, find, and implement curriculum that they may not have the background or training to teach.
How New Jersey implements these exciting new standards, including providing teacher training, curriculum development, and accessibility, will be important to watch as a model for the nation. As we talk to our kids about the importance of democracy and being involved in our democratic systems, New Jersey parents will need to stay on top of local school board decisions and recommendations regarding these new climate education requirements.
Get involved
Schools for Climate Action is an organization that helps parents, youth, and educators and school boards create resolutions that demand climate action. According to an April 2020 article by the National Center for Science Education, “no fewer than 18 measures to support climate change education in public schools were active in the statehouses of ten states so far in 2020.”
As concerned citizens, parents should consider running for school board, in whatever state they live in, all across the country.
By showing our children how important this is to us, we also let them know we care about their health, our state, and the relationships and interconnectedness between global issues like climate change, democracy, equity, and racial and social justice.
Related articles…
Helping Kids Prepare For A Climate Constrained Future
I Want You To Listen To The Scientists – Greta Thunberg
Oil Sector Propaganda Invades The Classroom
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
