Knowledge, urgency and agency: reflections on climate change education course outcomes

Abstract

This research arose out of conversations among climate change education instructors teaching at Lakehead University and our shared interest to better understand student experiences in our courses, with the intention of informing pedagogical decisions around course design and content. Data were collected from students at the end of seven courses through a mixed methods approach consisting of an online questionnaire (n = 55), which allowed participant segmentation using the Six Americas Framework, and follow-up semi-structured interviews (n = 22). The questionnaire collected students’ self-reported levels of knowledge and understanding, sense of urgency, and sense of agency related to climate change, which are shared learning goals across our courses, as well as responses to open-ended questions on student experiences within the courses. In the interviews, participants were asked to elaborate on these themes. Participants reported increased knowledge, a heightened sense of urgency and strengthened sense of agency—including describing individual and collective changes they made following the course. We engage with the empirical data and present our critical reflections as instructors on course elements and design, encouraging others to teach climate change education in initial teacher education.