Climate change ignorance: an unacceptable legacy

Abstract

Climate change effects will be most acutely felt by future generations. Recent prior research has shown that school students’ knowledge of climate change science is very limited in rural Australia. The purpose of this study was to assess the capacity of preservice teachers and parents to transmit climate change information and understanding to school students in a rural tropical part of Australia using Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory as a guiding theoretical framework. Samples consisted of parents of school-age children in northern Queensland (n = 267) and first year pre-service teachers (n = 199) attending a local university serving the same geographic region of Australia. Survey results gathered in the aftermath of cyclone Yasi highlighted gaps in pre-service teachers’ knowledge of climate change science and parental concerns about climate change impacts and a mistrust of climate change communication. Findings suggested that home and school influences upon school aged students were unlikely to support students’ understanding of climate change or to be able to empower them to adapt to and mitigate climate change impacts. Implications of these findings, which are potentially applicable to other rural and remote parts of the world, are discussed within the context of teacher training and climate science communication.