Students hold banner at 2019 school climate strike
Demanding reform to the education system? That’s quite an ambition. We might ask, who is demanding such a thing and why?
Teach the Future are demanding this. They are an active, young UK based climate crisis campaign group, led by over 40 students from England, Scotland and Wales. They are advised by a small, multi-professional adult advisory board who offer expert advice to support the students’ decision making.
Teach the Future explains the need for reform and the inclusion of climate education as follows:-
Because they, plus current and future generations of students, are the ones growing up in a world which will be affected by climate change - and they need to be taught about it. They therefore need to be able to understand the impacts they will face and be equipped with skills to live sustainably and limit the progression of climate breakdown.
Teach the Future’s website shows that only 4% of students feel they know a lot about climate change. 68% want to learn more about the environment and 75% of teachers feel they haven’t received adequate training to educate students about climate change. They are therefore asking for/demanding reform from governments to:-
• Commission a re
view into how the formal Education System is preparing students for the Climate Emergency and Ecological Crisis
• Include the Climate Emergency and Ecological Crisis in teacher training, with a new professional teaching qualification
• Introduce a Climate Emergency Education Act
• Increase priority for sustainability in school inspections that publicly influence educational rankings (Scotland)
Our MCA Youth Engagement group is well aware of the situation regarding inadequate UK wide training or resources for teachers about climate change. We have been in contact with schools and researched the growing number of online climate crisis/environmental awareness materials, teaching schemes, toolkits and courses. These are produced by numerous suppliers including those from industry, business, private and voluntary sectors. As a one off resource, many of these can be worthwhile in the short term, although others not. Also, some are too expensive for cash and time starved schools to access, particularly at the moment when teachers are stretched to the limit trying to negotiate Covid 19 procedures. There appears little direction or consistency of approach to climate emergency education from UK Government; leaving hard pressed teaching staff to trawl through ad hoc resources, resulting in patchy provision both locally and UK wide. A consistent integrated approach across the UK and curriculum would be most welcome. This is where the Teach the Future demands (or Asks) could make a real difference.
We have been in touch with Teach the Future for this newsletter article. In one reply to us, representative campaigner Lily told us “We are currently trying to set up a teacher network to enable teachers to share resources and have conversations around climate education”. She asks if we (MCA) would be able to send this around the schools in our area when it is set up. This we could do, as we are already in touch with most schools in the Staffordshire Moorlands area and feel certain it could provide a useful support network for local schools who engage with it.
As a campaigning group Teach the Future has, despite Covid restrictions, worked hard over the past 18 months or more with demonstrations, letter writing campaigns, representation at parliament, and dialogue with government ministers in both England and Scotland.
Despite being such a new organisation Teach the Future has long term aims, hoping to form an international network of climate education campaigns. It has already formed close links with many youth climate action groups across the Globe. We hope they succeed in their UK demands and long term aims, hoping also that the promised teacher climate resource support network becomes a reality. We wish them well.
Teach the Future acts as a separate umbrella organisation for the UK nations and is run by the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) and Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK) in England. Scottish campaigns are run by Fridays for Future (FFF Scotland) and National Union of Students (NUS Scotland). If you would like to find out more about them, their work and campaigns, go to:- Teach the Future Teach the Future UK is a youth led voluntary organisation.
NB -Not to be confused with www.teach the future.org which is neither a climate nor environmental organisation but exists to help teachers support students learn to think critically/creatively about the future in general and develop the agency to influence it.
Picture credits:
Students hold banner at 2019 school climate strike.
Photo Mark Edwards / Hard Rain Project
http://www.hardrainproject.com/book
Scarlett Westbrook, 15, speaking at Teach the Future’s parliamentary reception, February 2020
Teach the Future campaigners hold a banner outside Scottish Parliament