Abnormal weather phenomena are on an upward trend From historic floods to unseasonable heat waves to raging wildfires, damage has been done all over the world.
You don’t have to go far to find fuel for climate-related fears. anxiety.
Heidi Rose, an elementary school teacher in Denver, Colorado, knows this all too well. Starting around 2015, she experienced years of “pretty intense” climate anxiety as she watched natural disasters unfold on the news and in the press. Close-up.
she says, sitting in a too-small chair at a shared table in her first-grade classroom at Lincoln Elementary School.
She admits that disappointment seeped into her work.At the time, she was talking to her students about climate and sustainability, and she was talking about what was broken, such as how much garbage floating in Ocean.
Lately, Rose has changed her approach. Partly because she herself has developed a healthier perspective on climate change, but she also believes there are more effective ways to introduce climate education and sustainability practices to young people, especially early learners like her. It’s also because I thought there was. First grader.
“What I think is really important when talking about it, especially with young kids, is to try to talk about it in a way that’s centered around gratitude and love, rather than about fear and doom and gloom,” Rose says. “I don’t want that to be the first conversation they have.” [the climate] It’s about focusing on how bad a problem or situation is. ”
Rose, of her own will, or of her own will; directives from the state, introduces students to climate change and the forces behind it. For the most part, teachers avoid talking about the issue in ways that may incite fear in children or make the issue feel abstract.
Instead, educators emphasize the importance of instilling hope in classroom conversations. They also share a focus on the sustainability of their own communities, rooting these lessons in local realities and emphasizing the interconnectedness of people and places around the world. .
Breaking away from abstraction
Professor of Science Education at the University of Washington, Teaching climate change: Fostering understanding, resilience, and a commitment to justice..
“It’s too abstract,” he says. “It’s dark.”
However, teachers can still play an important role in helping young learners develop skills to think critically about this issue in the future. And they help build basic knowledge.
Vintschitl, a former science teacher, says sustainability is a good starting point, especially if it’s taught in a concrete way that children can understand.
Teaching kids to throw banana peels in the compost bin just because it helps the planet isn’t all that effective, he says. However, it is possible to explain the process that begins after the compost bin is collected and relate it to our role in it.
Rose’s first-grade classroom has a waste separation station, which she introduces to her students at the beginning of the school year. She explains what a landfill is, discusses what happens there, and shows videos so you can understand what a landfill is like. She does the same with the compostables in the classroom and her three types of recycling bins. (Rose personally has a subscription ridwell, a service that allows you to dispose of student trash that is difficult to recycle. )
She says the purpose of the waste sorting station is to encourage the 6- and 7-year-olds in her class to think independently when disposing of something. “Does this go in the trash, the recycling bin, or the trash?” Compost bin — and why? It also helps you connect the dots when it comes to waste. “You don’t just put plastic in the bin and it disappears,” Rose says. “It’s going somewhere.”
“We’re going to plant a seed, but we don’t want it to be associated with anything heavy or make us feel shame or guilt,” Rose added, noting that many children’s snacks come in plastic packaging. However, he said there was no problem with that. “It’s more of a sense of intentionality and connecting what we’re using to where it comes from. Just an awareness and connection to the earth.”
Grounding lessons from local examples
Another way teachers can make climate and sustainability more relevant to children is by basing their lessons on local examples. The scale of global climate change is enormous. Many educators point out that it’s easier for children if they can first understand how it affects their neighbors.
“We know that climate change is extremely complex, overwhelming and extremely difficult to understand,” said Executive Director Manuela Zamora. new york sun worksis a nonprofit organization that helps open hydroponic classes in more than 300 public schools in New York City and New Jersey, and also promotes science education about climate change and sustainability.
“We always go back to why and how this is relevant to me, then how it relates to my community, then my city, then my planet. ” she says of the group’s climate change curriculum.
Local and community-based examples can help students dispel the idea that climate change is a distant concern that only affects polar bears, Zamora added.
“Kids are so present in their day and where they are,” says Elaine Makarevich, who taught elementary school for 30 years before recently becoming New Jersey’s superintendent. affected by climatea hub that connects educators to standards-compliant resources for teaching climate change.
In rural areas like the area where Makarevich taught, public transportation is not available. She also says it doesn’t make sense to encourage kids to walk or bike if it takes her family 20 minutes to drive to the nearest grocery store.
“It depends on the location,” she added. “There’s another concern if you live in an area where your home flooded. It’s very location-based.”
Educators say that when children understand local issues, they can begin to make connections between the needs of their own community and the needs and experiences of communities around the world.
Leading with Hope
Even when teaching children since kindergarten, Makarevich tried to instill in his students a love of the earth, an appreciation for the connections between the people who live on it, and care and concern for the future of the planet.
As students get older, the conversations become “deeper and richer,” she says. They can learn not only to respect the Earth, but also to understand “how the Earth works, what the Earth gives us, and what we give to the Earth.” Masu.
In every class, Makarevich says, “there was always a foundation of hopeful solutions,” even the ones about climate change. “That’s really important.”
Five-year-olds can help with recycling in the classroom or cafeteria. They can plant flowers, she says. Ten-year-olds can take part in local clean-ups or join a ‘green team’ if their school has one.
In Rose’s Denver classroom, there are two boxes of children’s books about conservation and the earth. They help her speak “optimistically and honestly” about the planet, she says.
It’s still far from perfect. Every day, she admits, she uses 260 plastic utensils at her elementary school.
“There are limits to how much change you can make as a school or as a district,” Rose said. “Rather than getting lost in things that are outside of my control, I am more focused on what is within my control as a classroom teacher.”
That’s no different from what she tries to convey to her students, she says. Even though they are older, they may not be able to control the larger drivers of climate change, but they can increase their awareness of and foster a connection to the Earth. And that’s the beginning.
