Teaching Climate Change in Primary Schools An Interdisciplinary Approach

This important and timely book provides an overview of climate change and highlights the importance of including climate change education in primary schools. It emphasises the importance of cross-curricular pedagogical approaches with a focus on climate justice, providing in-depth assistance for teaching children aged 3?13 years.

Informed by up to date research, the book helps teachers to remain faithful to climate change science whilst not overwhelming children. Accompanied by online resources, this book includes practical and easy to follow ideas and lesson plans that will help teachers to include climate change education in their classrooms in a holistic, cross-curricular manner. Specific chapters address the following topics:

? Inter-disciplinary approaches to climate change

? Early childhood education

? Pedagogies of hope

? The importance of reflective practice

? Ideas for including climate change education in curricular areas such as literacy, geography, science, history and the arts

Designed to promote climate change education in primary schools, this resource will help primary teachers, student teachers, geography specialists and all those interested in climate change education develop their own conceptual knowledge and that of the children in their class.

Introduction

Anne Dolan

Section1: Theory and Philosophical Approaches

1. Teaching climate change: setting the context

Anne Dolan

2. A Thematic Approach to Teaching Climate Change

Fionnuala Tynan

3. The World’s Religious Traditions and Global Climate Disruption

Patricia Kieran

4. A Reflective Approach to Climate Change Education

Kathleen Horgan

5. Early Beginnings: Fostering Positive Dispositions towards Climate Education in Early Years Classrooms

Deirdre Breatnach, Mary Moloney and Jennifer Pope

Section 2: Climate Change Education: Literacy based approaches

6. Climate Change, Picturebooks and Primary School Children

Mary Roche

7. Listening, re-acting and acting: Stories from plants and animals to elicit empathy and dialogue about climate change, in the classroom and beyond

Miriam Hamilton

8. Using climate change as the context for a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach in the primary classroom

Siobhán Ní Mhurchú

Section 3: Climate Change Education: STEAM

9. Bringing Climate Change Alive in the Science Classroom through Science Communication and Engineering STEM Challenges

Maeve Liston

10. Exploring Climate Change Education Outside the Classroom

Anne O Dwyer

11. Do you see what I see? A Visual Lens for Exploring Climate Change

Anne Marie Morrin

12. The Grow Room: An artistic exploration of Climate Change

Tanya Power

13. Is Plastic Really Fantastic or is it Something More Drastic?

Anne Dolan

Section 4: Climate Change Education: Pedagogies of hope and action

14. Geography, Global Learning and Climate Justice: Geographical Aspects of Teaching Climate Change

Anne Dolan

15. Exploring Climate Change through an Historical Lens

Anne Dolan and Eileen O’Sullivan

16. Climate Change Education through Active Citizenship

Margaret Nohilly

17. Ecological Awareness: A Cornerstone to Developing a Healthy Christian Spirituality

Maurice Harmon

18. Creating Teaching Resources in Response to the Rapidly Changing Nature of Climate Change

Brighid Golden

19. Negotiating Environmental Protection Through Drama

Margaret O Keeffe and Joanna Parkes

20. Moving towards Change: The Contribution of Physically Educated Communities

Richard Bowles

21. Pedagogy of Hope: Futures Teaching for Climate Change

Anne Dolan

Anne M. Dolan is a lecturer in primary geography with the Department of Learning, Society and Religious Education in Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland.