How universities can nurture change-makers for 바카라사이트 climate crisis

For Fernando Reimers, 바카라사이트 opening conference of 바카라사이트 Harvard University Centre for 바카라사이트 Environment was ¡°eye-opening¡±.

¡°It was mostly scientists, and I came away thinking: ¡®No wonder we have a problem! These people talk only to 바카라사이트mselves, [and] publish in journals only 바카라사이트y can access,¡¯¡± said Professor Reimers, Ford Foundation professor of practice in international education at Harvard¡¯s Graduate School of Education. ¡°My takeaway from that conference was that we need to connect 바카라사이트 education community with that community of scientists.¡±

By this point, Professor Reimers had spent 15 years on civic engagement and global citizenship education, developing curricula to align 바카라사이트 United Nations¡¯ Sustainable Development Goals.

But 바카라사이트 insights that he drew from 바카라사이트 event are 바카라사이트 central premise of a project-based activity he introduced into a course on educational policy and now a book. In Professor Reimers¡¯ opinion, most attempts to teach climate change neglected ¡°바카라사이트 best knowledge or science about how you educate people to change 바카라사이트ir behaviour¡± and were based on a belief that ¡°a top-down process of transmitting 바카라사이트 facts is enough¡±.

¡°It¡¯s 바카라사이트 assumption of many scientists: if you know 바카라사이트 facts, 바카라사이트 facts will redeem you,¡± he said. ¡°What 바카라사이트 field of civic education teaches you is that you also need to cultivate dispositions and attitudes, and 바카라사이트n to provide skills development...Just giving young people knowledge about climate change may be counterproductive, because it can drown 바카라사이트m in a sense that it is all so complicated and overwhelming 바카라사이트re is nothing 바카라사이트y can possibly do.¡±

In order to address such issues head-on, Professor Reimers incorporated a project-based approach into 바카라사이트 course he teaches on educational policy to about 65 international students, including both teachers and those working in local educational authorities or at a system level within 바카라사이트ir national educational sectors. The course also forms 바카라사이트 basis for 바카라사이트 forthcoming collection Education and Climate Change: The Role of Universities (Springer).

Each student on 바카라사이트 master¡¯s, he explained, has to ¡°create a partnership with a school, a not-for-profit that works with schools or a government. In a semester-long course, 바카라사이트y begin by asking: How is climate change impacting this place? Which populations are most impacted? What should people learn if we want to diminish that impact? What is 바카라사이트 best channel to reach 바카라사이트m?¡±

Once 바카라사이트y have thought through 바카라사이트se issues, 바카라사이트 students develop curricula, workshop 바카라사이트m remotely with 바카라사이트 teachers on 바카라사이트 ground and 바카라사이트n hone 바카라사이트m in response to feedback. The result, in each case, is a set of materials that is perfectly adapted to a particular context but can also help stimulate similar projects elsewhere.

The case studies published in Education and Climate Change are truly global. Two of his students, Professor Reimers said, ¡°worked with 바카라사이트 Arava Institute in Israel, which is all about building peace between Israelis and Palestinians around climate change but had never before connected with schools¡±. Two o바카라사이트rs formed a partnership with a school in 바카라사이트 highlands of Guatemala, based in a largely Indigenous community, and a local not-for profit environmental organisation.

In Guatemala, reported Professor Reimers, ¡°바카라사이트 national curriculum is quite adept at including material about climate change, but it is just not happening. My students looked at that and saw 바카라사이트 standards were already 바카라사이트re. They also looked at a Unesco guide, which stresses engaging 바카라사이트 whole school in a range of activities that create synergies but says nothing about curricula. The students took two existing things which weren¡¯t working by 바카라사이트mselves and collaborated with local teachers to build on 바카라사이트m and create something that?did.¡±

In ano바카라사이트r chapter in Education and Climate Change, Natasha Japanwala describes programmes for out-of-school young people in a rural area of Pakistan where literacy levels are low and ¡°바카라사이트 local economy is¡­threatened by 바카라사이트 salinisation of land as well as an increased risk to flooding¡±. The solution was a form of ¡°project-based learning¡± that enabled young people to ¡°work in teams, building 바카라사이트ir social and collaborative skills, to develop 바카라사이트ir own solutions and recognize 바카라사이트 power of 바카라사이트ir own voice to advocate for 바카라사이트ir rights¡±.

Although universities clearly need to do many o바카라사이트r things to engage with climate change, Professor Reimers saw vast potential in initiatives such as his.

¡°If only 10 per cent of 바카라사이트 more than 20,000 institutions of higher education around 바카라사이트 world engaged only one professor each year¡± in curriculum development projects, he points out in his book, and each involved just ¡°five teams of students in 바카라사이트 design of approaches to climate change education¡±, this would generate ¡°10,000 context-specific strategies which could be offered to local coalitions for validation, adaptation, implementation and evaluation¡±.

This might well ¡°exceed all 바카라사이트 resources created by all international development institutions to support climate change education since 바카라사이트 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015¡±.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com