Below is the starting outline of the main points we seek to cover for the Education/Curriculum section. This outline is based on the work of contributor Mark Stewart, who wrote a well-thought out article on how to educate kids in preparation to fight, and to adapt to/survive, climate change, called A Greenish Curriculum: Desperate Need vs a Stacked Deck. His main points, including a few new ones, are below. We’ll flesh these out as we can with our researchers to provide more details, but already, these give thoughts to consider and actions to take:
- We must prepare our children
- Children need to know
- What climate change is
- What causes climate change
- What changes to expect
- How to adapt
- Children can be powerful agents for change
- CO2 reduction
- Change parents’ minds
- Ripple effect with friends, and more
- A 25% tipping point is needed to create change
- Instruction is needed, though, first.
- We will focus on U.S. education
- The U.S. causes the most climate harm over time
- We have passed previous worst industrial offender U.K.
- China catching up, U.S. still worst
- U.S. owes the world educated citizens
- U.S. has huge effect on global policy
- Still has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol
- Oil and gas subsidies
- Has power to create change
- If change is created in the U.S., can save the world
- The U.S. causes the most climate harm over time
- K-12 Instruction needed in the following topics
- Climate science
- Research skills
- Philosophical adjustment/Re-emphasis on different topics
- Economic expansion not always good
- Humans are part of nature
- Individualism vs. common goals
- Changes caused by or possible as a result of climate change
- Climate refugees
- Natural disasters
- Droughts
- Floods
- Wet-bulb temperatures and heat
- Lower agricultural productivity & famine
- Violent reactions
- Strained resources
- Water
- Food
- War
- Doughnut Economics
- Outside – physical global conditions
- Inside – human needs
- Differences: haves vs. have nots
- Access to medicine
- Access to safe living conditions
- Exposure to unhealthy environments
- What is “enough” for…?
- Food
- Water
- Shelter
- Energy
- Rationing?
- Other species
- Our dependency
- Flora
- Fauna
- Protecting other species
- Our dependency
- How to increase the likelihood of better outcomes
- Stop burning fossil fuels
- Personal consumption
- Urgency
- Changes to emissions take a long time to change climate
- Need 50% cut by 2030
- Presently no green curriculum
- Short time to use new knowledge to create necessary change
- What is climate denialism?
- Climate change not real, not caused by burning fossil fuels, and ot serious
- Denialists, won’t stop obfuscating the truth for profit.
- How to fight it?
- Current national government power
- Citizens can mobilize change in government policy
- Effectiveness of various approaches
- Realize shortcomings of representational government
- Logic
- Systems ecology
- Planning & prioritizing
- Critical thinking
- Recognize fallacies
- Psychology of labor organizing
- Agitate
- Educate
- Organize
- Hope in face of frightening predictions
- Facts, anxiety, and depression
- Change is possible
- Balance between seriousness and hope
- Getting curricula into schools
- University teacher training
- Post-secondary
- Graduate
- Introducing new curricula and materials to schools
- Barriers to getting curricula into schools
- Standards developed, not adopted
- School board denialists block reform
- Poor textbook coverage
- Not serious
- Mixed messages
- Is climate change real?
- What’s causing it?
- How to respond?
- University climate courses not required to graduate
- New curricula undermined
- Individual faculty denialists
- Individual school level
- Administrators conflicted
- May create need to change school district policy
- Negative effect on assessment
- Results of new curricula limited
- Regional school district level
- Scale too small
- Impact too small
- Nationwide curricula to other large institutions
- Watered down
- Unrealistic
- Regional school district level
- How to proceed
- Challenges
- Universities must prepare teachers
- States must change education standards
- Local administrators and teachers must be involved
- Actions
- Research local universities
- Offering appropriate green curricula training?
- Yes? Good, check it off
- No?
- Write letters/emails requesting reform
- State reps
- Local papers
- Communicate with education deans
- Organize protests
- Write letters/emails requesting reform
- Offering appropriate green curricula training?
- Write to state representatives about state education standards
- Write referendums, get them on ballots
- Research local school districts
- Offering appropriate green curricula training?
- Yes? Good, check it off
- No?
- Write letters/emails requesting reform
- County and municipal reps
- Local papers
- Protest at board meetings
- Write letters/emails requesting reform
- Offering appropriate green curricula training?
- Attempt to reform U.S. policy directly
- Communicate with representatives
- Vote for representatives who support green curricula
- Protest
- Research local universities
- Challenges
- University teacher training
- Children need to know
Contributor: Mark Stewart