Fractured and uneven. Those are the words that researcher Ellen Field uses to describe how climate change is included in the various K–12 curriculums of Canada’s provinces and territories.
An assistant professor in climate change education at Lakehead University, Field led a research team that conducted a 2022 Canadawide analysis of K–12 curriculum, documenting the number of climate change references, the grade and subject, and whether the references occurred in mandatory or elective courses. The study revealed a wide disparity in approaches between the various provinces and territories.
“The review shows uneven inclusion of climate change topics, themes and units within grade 7–12 curricula, with most expectations occurring in elective senior secondary courses,” Field’s team wrote. “A second level of analysis with a ranking tool indicates shallow inclusion.”
The researchers found 25 references to climate change in Alberta’s K–12 curriculum, all taking place within science courses, with 20 per cent of those taking place in mandatory courses. This placed Alberta at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of number of references. However, an analysis of curriculum depth put Alberta in the middle of the pack.
Manitoba’s approach is vastly different from the others, with almost 170 references in its curriculum. However, all of these occur in elective courses. From the perspective of a climate change advocate, it’s preferable to have the subject addressed in mandatory courses.
“A mandatory course ensures that students going through their educational experience will have exposure and learn about it,” Field said in an interview.
The report singles out British Columbia, the Yukon and Nova Scotia for having more than 50 per cent of their climate change expectations occurring in mandatory courses. Nova Scotia was the highest, at 98 per cent.
British Columbia, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also earned praise for promoting a more competency-based, active learning approach.
“The shift to concept-based and competency-driven curriculum first initiated by British Columbia and then in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick was an important step for promoting active learning strategies across K–12 schooling,” the researchers wrote. “However, this shift necessitated increased funding in professional development for teachers to shift teaching practices to competency-driven approaches and to link issues like climate change to big idea concepts within the curriculum.”
Getting past the science
Overall, Field’s paper points out that climate change education has generally been focused on teaching the science of climate change and addressing misinformation, with the underlying assumption being that increased knowledge will lead to changes in attitude and behaviour. However, research has shown that assumption to be erroneous. Field argues that a more holistic and interdisciplinary approach is needed, that focusing just on science misses opportunities to adopt a more transdisciplinary approach that includes the exploration of solutions and actions to mitigate climate change.
The paper concludes by advocating for leadership from the very top.
“If the Canadian K–12 education system intends to be an actor in the global move to meet 1.5 degrees of warming by 2030, there is a critical need for educational leadership within ministries of education to ensure that curriculum is improved when it comes to climate change content.”
Reference
Field, E., Spiropoulos, G., Nguyen, A.T., Grewal, R.K. 2023. “Climate Change Education within Canada’s Regional Curricula: A Systematic Review of Gaps and Opportunities.” Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy 202: 155–184.
Without clear policy, climate change education often relies on the competence, dedication, commitment and enthusiasm of devoted teachers.
Ellen Field, Lakehead University
Preservice success
Climate education professor Ellen Field is involved in a project called Accelerating Climate Change Education in Teacher Education, which disperses grants to faculties of education to create courses to teach preservice teachers about climate change education so they feel more confident and able to teach about climate change.
Since its inception in 2023, the project has dispersed 17 grants worth a total of $85,000, resulting in 10 new courses being developed in faculties of education across Canada.
Field was also part of a group of researchers who presented their findings to the Ontario College of Teachers. The result was that environmental sustainability and climate action are now required topics in all teacher preservice programs in Ontario, the first Canadian jurisdiction to adopt such measures.
“I think that’s a really powerful policy lever that, if other provinces adopted, we could actually move the needle pretty quickly,” Field says.
“It came about through some committed deans and getting the right people in the room, presenting some research,” she said. “So you know, sometimes policy work takes forever, and then sometimes you get the right people in the room and things can happen.”
Expert calls for board action supported by government funding
Climate education professor Ellen Field believes that school boards can play an active role in climate leadership through climate action plans, climate emergency declarations, and mentions of climate change or greenhouse gas emissions in their strategic plans.
“We often look at the ministries at the provincial level for policy change, but we can actually think a lot around driving change at that school or district level,” Field says.
A national research study she led found that only four school districts in Canada have explicit climate action plans, and between eight and eleven have a commitment to climate change or greenhouse gas reductions in their strategic plans.
The study provided two key recommendations:
School boards need to develop policy that supports a whole-institution approach to climate action.
Ministries of education need to provide funding to school boards to develop and implement whole-institution climate change policies.
Guiding framework
In April 2024, Alberta Education published a guiding framework for the design and development of K–12 curriculum. The 31-page document touched on Alberta’s oil and gas industry and climate change and received criticism, including from the Alberta Teachers’ Association, for being developed without teacher involvement and for being overly prescriptive.
Curricular references
An ATA analysis of Alberta curriculum identified climate change and climate-science connections in
- 25 science grades/courses,
- 13 social studies grades/courses and
- at least 9 CTS courses.
These connections range from indirect to direct references to climate, climate change and climate-science related concepts.
Review the most direct references to climate change in Alberta’s K–12 curriculum
