The last few months have seen many of us at Teach the Future return to school and university, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been slacking off in our activism. Since October we’ve spoken with major exam boards, supported fellow activists at COP26, dealt with some difficult topics in the campaign, and taken the fight to Westminster.
The last few months have seen many of us at Teach the Future return to school and university, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been slacking off in our activism. Since October we’ve spoken with major exam boards, supported fellow activists at COP26, dealt with some difficult topics in the campaign, and taken the fight to Westminster.
We started off the season with serious climate-justice education around the history of colonialism and climate capital. As a Climate Justice campaign, it’s vital that we understand exactly how the roots of the Climate Crisis are intertwined with oppression and that all our actions fight to bring an end to this.
Next up, October!
October was full of important moments including a roundtable with all the Westminster party leaders! Here, we were able to have serious conversations about formal climate education and climate apprenticeships and vocational courses for current and future students, as well as retraining for those already in work. Other key themes were decarbonising education buildings and how the UK can support other countries.
The 23rd of October saw many members of Teach the Future attend the Westminster debate led by Nadia Whittome MP on Sustainability and Climate Change in the National Curriculum. MPs from around the country and across the parties, including Philip Dunne, Kerry McCarthy and Caroline Lucas listened and debated alongside Nadia. The idea of Climate Education and Teach the Future’s asks received resounding support from almost everyone!
November, the month of COP26.
Many of our Teach the Future volunteers and staff had the privilege of attending COP26 and what an experience it was! Getting together with activists from other campaigns and countries really boosted the morale of some of us by reminding us that we’re part of a huge and incredibly strong community. Phoebe Hanson of Teach the Future and MockCOP, our sister campaign, even spoke at the Joint Event of Education and Environment Ministers Summit, sharing a stage with UK Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi.
Following the COP event, the Department for Education released a draft Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy. This is a great start, but here at Teach the Future, we want them to go further and faster so we wrote and sent an official response to this.
Undoubtedly one of the most important and exciting moments of 2021 was the 23rd of November - our Bill’s first reading. This is the first official step for Teach the Future’s asks towards becoming law, and if it completes its journey, Teach the Future England’s official goals will be completed! Don’t get us wrong, there’s still A LOT of work to do, but this is a huge win!
December. The holidays may be coming but we aren’t letting up.
In the wake of our Bill’s first reading, we’ve taken on three new staff members to ensure everything gets done over Christmas and ahead of our Bill’s second reading on January 28th. Alongside them, our volunteers will be meeting with more MPs and stakeholders to gain more support for the Bill. Our Welsh and Scottish branches are carrying on with the development and promotion of their Climate Education Bills too.
So, that’s what we’ve been up to at Teach the Future. It’s a lot of work, but we know why we’re doing it and we won’t stop until it’s done!