We've been sharing the stories about the lack of climate and nature education experienced by our community - but it's not all doom and gloom. Paige, from New Jersey, tells us about her positive experience with integrated, solutions-focused climate education.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been sharing on social media the personal stories of our community, detailing their experiences of a lack of meaningful climate and nature education, and the dire consequences it can lead to.
We’ve seen how poor provision for climate and nature in the curriculum has put young people off studying science subjects further, or even led them to drop the subject without even finishing the course. We’ve heard from those who feel underprepared to deal with climate change, those who feel the education system has led to apathy for the natural world amongst their peers, and those who have seen first hand the dramatic differences in climate education in the national curriculum as opposed to a more flexible style of home-education. For one of our volunteers, their disappointment in the school curriculum even led them to take their climate education into their own hands and start up a club for students to learn about and discuss environmental issues.
Throughout everyone’s individual stories in this project, a common theme has emerged loud and clear - climate and nature education in the UK is far from adequate, leaving young people feeling too often let down by their education system. And yet despite the failings, it is clear that the overwhelming majority of our young people still have hope. And that’s a vital, and a powerful thing, because in fact, it is not all doom and gloom - far from it. We know that integrated, solutions-centred climate education is possible. It’s not even a far-off dream for the future, because here’s the thing - we’ve heard about it happening right now, under our very noses.
We recently came across an article revealing that the state of New Jersey in the USA has provision for comprehensive and integrated climate education across the curriculum, thanks to the backing of a generous millionaire. We spoke to a contact in New Jersey, Paige Flynn, to find out if the rumours were true, and she was more than happy to share her story with us. Here’s what she had to say:
TTF: Hi Paige - thanks for agreeing to share your experiences with us! To start off, since the changes that were made to your curriculum in 2020, do you think you’ve seen climate and nature education being effectively implemented in more of your school subjects?
Paige: I definitely have seen an increase in climate education outside of science classes since 2020, but really, we have been learning about environmental issues since I was in middle school. Our science classes in middle school always covered environmental topics, and I even remember knowing about climate change before then. After 2020 however, we talked about climate change in Spanish class a lot, and history as well.
TTF: Could you give some examples of how climate change has been integrated into some of your non-scientific school subjects?
Paige: In Spanish, we would do a unit every year on the environment, in the context of ecotourism, natural disasters, and social issues caused by climate change. We would learn vocabulary, watch videos, read articles, and present solutions to these problems (all in Spanish).
TTF: Do you feel that receiving education about environmental issues across all your subjects has better prepared you to deal with and adapt to the effects of climate change in the future?
Paige: I definitely believe my climate education has better prepared me to tackle it in the future. With all of the information out there, I think it’s imperative that kids are taught the facts of environmental issues in school, rather than finding out about them online. I am now attending SUNY (State University of New York) College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and I am taking a class about global environmental issues. I am finding that it's mainly a review from my many years of climate education in a New Jersey school. I feel very prepared for my career in conservation biology, thanks to my teachers.
TTF: Is there anything else you’d like to add about your experiences of climate education?
Paige: Yes, I was surprised and concerned to learn that the thorough education I received is not ubiquitous across the nation. I believe education is the first step towards change! If people know and care about climate issues, we are in a much better place to start creating real change in the world.
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Paige’s story is an incredibly powerful case study, showing that climate education is not only a possibility, but also tangible and actionable. It is an essential component of preparing young people to deal with and face the challenges of their futures, and as Paige’s experiences show, it can be integrated easily and meaningfully across all school subjects - we just need the support to do so.
This blog was part of the second phase of our Storytelling for Climate and Nature Education project, the first being our social media videos of UK climate education stories. It showcases a positive story from abroad, demonstrating how feasible climate education would be here in the UK. Keep an eye out for the third part of the series soon, focusing on imagined stories from a future with climate and nature at the heart of the curriculum.