Dr Meryl Batchelder is a science teacher at Corbridge Middle School, Northumberland, a UN accredited climate change teacher and a wonderful supporter of our campaign! She has kindly shared with us her piece, 'From COP to Classroom: Teaching in a Climate Crisis' which gives an insight into navigating the world today from the perspective of a teacher. Teachers are our keys to education and are the ones who it falls upon to 'Teach the Future'. We are extremely grateful for all the work they do. Read Dr Meryl Batchelders blog below.
Teaching through the pandemic has been grim for many teachers and, with online work still needing to be set for pupils studying at home, it feels like the workload has doubled compared to pre-Covid levels. Despite this, over the next couple of years, changes are due to happen following the announcement by the Department for Education that schools will also need to address climate change and sustainability.
A Teach the Future survey last year reported 70% of teachers feel they have not been properly trained to teach about climate change, and a small poll by Hopes Sustainability on Twitter suggested 73% of us do not believe we have the time to include it in detail in our lessons. The last thing any teacher wants is an increased workload or more stress, but we are in a climate crisis so we do need to rapidly change and we also need to ensure any changes go far enough. The role of a teacher in addressing the crisis is pivotal; according to a recent article in Scientific American magazine, climate literate children will go home and educate their parents. Teachers could therefore be some of the most influential and instrumental facilitators both in the mitigation of climate change and in informing young people on how to hold those in power or politics to account.
I am a science teacher but trained as an academic scientist with skills in robust research, critical analysis and reporting. In 1995, just as the UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change number 1 (COP1) was underway I gained a PhD in environmental geochemistry. In 2010, the year of COP16, I became a teacher. Between those dates the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose from 358 to 389 parts per million. Fast forward to COP26 this year and the carbon dioxide concentration has risen further to 419ppm with global temperatures now 1.2oC higher than preindustrial levels.
We are already seeing the effects of the compositional changes in our atmosphere, the five hottest years in human history have been the past five years according to a report by the World Meteorological Organisation. Since 2020 we have witnessed unprecedented storms, droughts, famines, plagues of insects and wildfires. These are not just affecting countries far away, the consequences of human-caused climate change, such as the recent Storm Arwen with ‘unprecedented’ wind speeds of 100mph, are occurring here in Britain too, and it’s only going to get worse as carbon emissions are still on the rise. This makes me increasingly concerned about the safety of young people both in the UK and around the world.
When Michael Gove updated the national curriculum in 2013 he removed any focus on sustainability just as carbon dioxide concentrations reached 400ppm. Personally, I became acutely aware of the climate crisis in 2015 with the release of the Paris Agreement at COP21. The scientists working with the UN announced that, unless we internationally addressed and resolved the unrelenting burning of fossil fuels and poor agricultural practices, we were going to exceed 1.5oC of warming. They stated radical and urgent action was needed to be taken. As a result of these warnings, I started making changes to my classroom practice and began to link the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) throughout the science curriculum. I was honoured to speak at COP25 in Madrid with eduCCate Global on the critical importance of climate education.
In early November, two years after Madrid, I visited Glasgow for COP26. This time I was not speaking about the importance of education in addressing climate change, I was on the streets with over 100,000 other activists calling for climate justice for young people, for people in less developed countries and indigenous populations. After the march I did briefly visit the Green Zone to meet some of the inspiring students who were there to represent the UK Sustainable Schools Network (UKSSN). These young people spoke with maturity and had been in discussions with some of the biggest names at the conference. They were enthusiastic about the response to their calls for increased climate education and delighted to hear the announcement by DfE on the Sustainability & Climate Change draft strategy for education & children’s services systems. Alongside this, the Education (Environment and Sustainability) Bill sponsored by Lord Jim Knight has been going through the House of Lords and has just had its first reading in the House of Commons. It seems change in schools is finally going to happen.
One concern is whether any proposed changes to the curriculum, school estates or the launch of an awards scheme will go far enough. After so many years of dither and delay, cynics might think these announcements are only happening now because the UK was hosting COP and that the climate crises, alongside the cries on the activists on the streets, have become impossible to ignore. It seems that COP26 negotiators and politicians kicked the climate can further down the road, emissions are still rising and globally not enough action is being done to remove reliance on fossil fuels. There is lots of talk about Net Zero by 2050 but there seems little impetus to really achieve that goal and meanwhile many global citizens are already feeling the brutal effects of climate breakdown. At 1.2oC global heating we have seen horrendous flooding and wildfires, so what on earth will our beautiful blue-green planet be like for children at 1.5oC which has been deemed ‘safe’ or 2oC which is the upper target, or 2.4oC which would cover existing government pledges or even 3.6oC the actual global temperature rises predicted based on existing emissions. To stay anywhere near 1.5oC we need all global citizens and especially those in developed countries, such as the UK, to reduce carbon use by 45% before 2030.
Initiated by the UK during the Industrial Revolution, the US, China, India and Australia have a love affair with cheap, dirty energy that they are unwilling to walk away from. Even politicians in the UK still have a sordid relationship with the oil industry, with one of the big names in education at COP26, doing a great job of talking about the climate crisis with students whilst avoiding the fact that he earned well over £1 million in recent years from working for an oil company. In Glasgow there were more delegates representing the fossil fuel industry than there were from any individual country. Do politicians in the Global North have the interests of global citizens, or those of the oil industry, closest to their hearts?
The UK Government might not be solely to blame for these issues but they are complicit and have definitely not been leading by example. It was not the Government that have just put a probable halt to the Cambo oil field but Shell themselves who stated the project was not economic and the Prime Minister has not yet ruled out the Whitehaven coal mine despite pleas from climate scientists. In addition, there must have been a better example to set than to cut the tax on domestic flights days before COP26 was due to start or to fly in private jet to and from the event. Leaders need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. No wonder many are suggesting COP26 was more like COPOUT26. However, the brightest outcome for me was that the Youth Voice was powerfully loud in Glasgow and could actually be one of the most significant tools in persuading politicians to stand by what they say as we move forward from Glasgow.
So, how does a teacher, who is exceedingly concerned by climate breakdown, cope in the classroom whilst waiting to see the results of the consultation on climate change and sustainability education, from a Government that is still in close contact with the fossil fuel industry and is lethargic about embracing the changes we need to ensure resiliency?
What teachers are not allowed to do is talk about the problems of capitalism and we are unable to promote the results of activism by Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion or Insulate Britain. We could also get into trouble if we enthuse about particular political stances or tell pupils that school strikes are an excellent way to cause disruption that can lead to climate action. No irony is lost on me that we are unable to share the merits of degrowth but that resources from polluting companies can be touted around in schools. Should teachers boycott any resources from an organisation that is not being run sustainably, such as the BP Ultimate STEM challenge, which seem to be pure green washing and therefore have no place in schools? Teachers apparently need to remain impartial in an increasingly volatile world.
However, there are plenty of things we can do. Young people find learning about environmental issues relevant and engaging. In addition, taking action helps reduce climate anxiety. There are many examples of how climate education can be embraced in schools; from ensuring pupils understand their role in the world by bringing in global citizenship to outdoor learning which promotes a love of nature, from developing the oracy skills they need for persuasive arguments to get them thinking critically and solving problems. There are a plethora of organisations with excellent environmental education resources but Transform Our World is a great place to start for classroom resources and, if you want to understand more about climate education then the CPD by LEDC is highly recommended.
For ideas and support on making school more sustainable join UKSSN or check out the excellent school carbon reduction plans on Let’s Go Zero. Giving young people an environmental education and placing schools at the heart of the community is the basis for the recently published BERA Manifesto on Education for Environmental Sustainability. Running whole school activities, involving parents or working with members of the local community can be hugely successful. One of the most important ways to precipitate change is still for pupils to contact their MPs, local government representatives and unsustainable businesses – and then hold them to account so they act on any promises. Finally, promote anything you do in school in the media to lift the voices of young people and raise them high.
In the classroom I teach the truth, but rather than just talking the talk, I make sure I walk the walk. I’ve stopped flying or buying anything I don’t really need (no apologies to capitalism), and my family grows much of our own fruit and vegetables. Painting a picture of how fun and rewarding a decarbonised life can be to young people is essential. Limiting the extraction of fossil fuels will lead to cleaner air, more biodiversity and less plastic pollution; win, win, win.
I am tired of waiting for real action as I see the natural systems of the world breakdown around me and am increasingly angry at the lack of climate action, the blah blah blah coming from governments. I’m listening to the climate scientists and they are scared that if we do not decarbonise and restore nature as quickly as possible then the prospects are looking increasingly bleak. I look into the eyes of my Year 5s who will be 88 years old in 2100 and I fear for their futures. There may be a COP105 by then, there may not be, if we do let our governments lead us to 3.6oC of warming it is highly likely that the stability of the social systems we hold dear will be as tenuous as the environmental systems we depend on.
School sustainability and individual actions are to be celebrated but we need more than this. We need governments to not only pledge to decarbonise in the future but to actually proactively lead by example by ceasing the subsidy, investment or approval for any new fossil fuel projects. Unless our political leaders stop kicking the climate can down the road there are some who are suggesting that we’ll be teaching survival skills rather than subordinate clauses. We really can’t even afford to wait until 2023 for any official scheme from DfE as the climate clock is ticking and the climate alarm bell is ringing.
As teachers, our role is pivotal in raising awareness of the climate crisis; if we educate children then parents and whole communities will also become more responsive and proactive. Collectively we have the clout to rival those in power and politics with the Youth Voice as our (not so) secret weapon. Just as we are exhausted from the pandemic and the ever-present scrutiny in schools we need to ensure that we and our pupils understand the really big issues, help facilitate any action they wish to take and shout the results from the rooftops. If we do, it might just help ensure a bright future for us all.
Cover Image: Kimberly Farmer
