Teaching climate controversy : US teachers’ views, feelings, and preparedness towards teaching climate change

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most troubling realities of our time, yet it is still considered to be a decisive issue to some in the United States. For this reason, climate change education is not always comprehensive in US classrooms and included in curricular standards. The present study explores teachers’ views, feelings, and preparedness towards teaching climate change and the controversial aspects of it. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (N=7) revealed that teachers in the study did not view climate change as controversial and instead viewed discourse on the subject as way enhance students’ critical thinking and active citizenship. Furthermore, teachers revealed obstacles related to parental infringement and overt pressure from stakeholders pose challenges towards teaching climate change. Finally, because of missing or altered curriculum standards and a shortage of explicit formal training on climate science and pedagogies, teachers disclosed their lack of feeling of preparedness to teach climate change. These findings reinforce existing literature by providing insight into how teachers’ experiences influence the teaching of climate education is and suggest measures to improve the approach to teaching climate change in US classrooms through curricular reform and pedagogical practices.