#5 Another Brain Map! Climate Education in Schools
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What's the Story? The Vermont Young People Social Action Team is sponsored by Middlebury College, Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English, and the Bread Loaf Teacher Network.
Dear Mary,
I’m a school principal. Teachers and I have created classes in the past because students have asked for them. In terms of making climate change education a requirement, I think you’d be inspired (and perhaps your district’s leaders would as well) by the work of the Portland School Board and the teachers and students in Portland Oregon. Here are some links to information about what’s happening there: https://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/portland-public-schools-first-to-put-global-climate-justice-in-classroom-20170406 and https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2017/01/teaching-climate-change-in-portland-oregon/ . – Elijah
Mary,
At Harwood Union, where I teach, we have a very active environmental club, and – as Elijah mentioned – this is now spreading into the classroom because of teachers and students who believe this important issue should be part of our curriculum. If enough students sign up for it during January registration, it will be added to our schedule as an elective course next fall. I’ll keep you posted on whether that happens.
I am drawn to your point: “How not to be depressing yet still get facts out.” That is so insightful! Climate change is such an overwhelming issue that many people just turn away in despair. In my previous career, I wrote natural history documentaries for National Geographic and PBS among others. Because many of those films were examining rapidly declining wildlife populations and environments, it was always a delicate balance to keep the information accurate without turning the viewer off. Similarly, this issue is urgent, but it has to reach people where they are, not where we wish they were and that can take time. Fortunately, stories are the very best way to worm information into people’s brains. Find the right story, and you can change minds!