The Shadow curriculum and assessment review panel's interim report shows that concerns around climate education is a prevalent issue for young people.
Since last autumn, I’ve been representing Teach the Future on the Shadow curriculum and assessment review panel and in December, we opened a ‘call for evidence’. This was open to all students in England aged 5-19, to share their views on the current education system. We’ve collated all the responses to create our interim report, a short document detailing the general themes raised and key recommendations made in response to these. It wasn’t a surprise to me to see that concerns around climate education were a prevalent issue raised.
Across the board, respondents called for further development of climate education, with some young people sharing feelings of eco-anxiety and that they felt that the climate crisis was being taught in an “unengaging way”. Students said how they felt teachers didn’t discuss the issue due to fears it’d seem ‘political’ but how they wanted more opportunities to interact with nature and learn about the climate crisis more in depth. Some young people responded saying that they had been taught about climate change, but they’d be interested in hearing more “non-western” perspectives.
One KS4 respondent said “I often lead discussions [in our school environment club] with the younger kids. I’ve seen my own fear and anxiety mirrored in every one of them, and it breaks my heart to know that they too stay up at night because they’re scared about their future.” Students from KS1-KS5 asked to spend more time outdoors and in nature to help reduce stress and increase understanding about climate change.
When asked about assessments, most students talked about the overwhelming stress and anxiety exams caused, with students feeling burnt out and not able to perform to their highest ability.
Other views raised by respondents included: having a lack of ‘real life’ skills; wanting to be ‘changemakers’ but not feeling as if education is preparing them for this; and wanting more collaborative learning, like hands-on work and group discussions.
The climate and sustainability focused recommendations in our interim report calls for:
Read the report to find out more about all findings and the recommendations which we have shared with the Government Curriculum and Assessment Review Panel.
I'll also be at the youth shadow panel's roadshow events in March. Come and join me! These events will bring together children and young people to share experiences and views on education, and engage in discussions around this. The events will focus on the key themes which were presented in our interim report.
The events will be interactive, fun and free, and we'd love you to join us, along with your friends and/or siblings. There are in-person and online events. Find out more on the Shadow panel website.