By: Giorgia F.
Photo from: NZ Curriculum Online-TKI
Although anthropogenic climate change is becoming an increasingly urgent phenomenon with each passing day, education systems globally have largely struggled to adequately meet the challenge of providing students with substantial pedagogy regarding the crisis. On the other hand, countries like Italy are notable exceptions to this statement, having implemented nationwide climate mandates. Another country that is breaking outmoded academic boundaries to provide extensive environmental education is New Zealand.
In early 2020, New Zealand announced new plans to implement a climate-based curriculum for students ages 11-15. While, unlike in Italy, the program is optional, it includes important considerations for educating students on the complex issue of climate change. One of the unique aspects of this teaching model is that it includes resources to cope with eco-anxiety, an increasingly common form of apprehension that stems from increased awareness of anthropogenic climate change’s potential of ecological dystopia. As eco-anxiety is surging, especially among the age range that this new curriculum is designed for, it is extremely important to consider how to help students healthily manage their climate-related anxiety.
Another crucial aspect of New Zealand’s new climate education model is that its classroom materials were designed by climate scientists. This may seem like a no brainer. Of course climate scientists would develop a climate-related curriculum right? Well in many countries, notably the United States, there are large populations of people who do not trust nor believe the urgent messages about climate change coming from trained scientists. Therefore, New Zealand’s choice to back science, which may seem like the bare minimum, is an important step necessary to combat misinformation on this ecological crisis. Ensuring that students, especially at a formative age, are accurately informed about climate change is vital to creating an effective and engaging curriculum that will advance efforts to quell the climate crisis.
However, some controversy surrounds New Zealand’s new curriculum and it comes from the country’s large farming community. They are upset that certain lessons in the curriculum place blame for the current crisis on the agricultural industry and encourage students to eat less meat and dairy. Even though the agricultural industry, factory farming especially, has contributed greatly to the climate crisis, this grievance by New Zealand farmers illustrates, above all, the complexity of tackling climate change. Addressing climate change will mean big changes to the agriculture industry but it is essential to ensure this change is not detrimental to certain populations like farmers. There need to be resources, such as government financial assistance, so farmers can adapt their practices, making them more environmentally friendly, without worrying about their own livelihoods. Unfortunately, change like this cannot happen overnight and needs to be done sustainably to make sure that these types of safety nets are in place.
In order to adequately mitigate the climate crisis, industries, such as agriculture, are going to have to adapt. Decreasing factory farming is a top priority as well as creating more organic farms. As humans are historically not conducive to change, these adaptations will likely be challenging. However, from this year of lockdown, we have learned that people can indeed be adaptable when life or death circumstances impose them to be. The conflict between New Zealand farmers and the country’s new climate curriculum displays the future of environmental education advancement
Despite the concerns raised by farmers about bias against farming in the curriculum, it is still moving forward. It will begin to be taught voluntarily in all schools with 11 to 15 year olds signaling hope for the climate movement.
Other countries should take note of Italy and New Zealand's efforts to educate arguably one of the most important and influential age groups when it comes to tackling climate change. It is these children who will be left to face a ravaged climate in years to come.
While New Zealand’s curriculum is certainly a step in the right direction, there is still a lengthened journey to go to ensure all school-aged children are educated equally regarding interdisciplinary environmental studies. Actions like making this innovative curriculum mandatory, so that all students have the chance to learn the environmental interconnections of a myriad of societal aspects would help expand their visibility of the climate crisis.
Discussion Questions:
How can countries learn from each other to design the most effective climate curriculums?
What are substantive methods governments can implement to ensure people accept climate curriculums in schools? What types of community outreach would be most effective?
Works Cited
Graham-McLay, Charlotte. (2020, Jan 12). New Zealand Schools to Teach Students
about Climate Crisis, Activism, and ‘Eco Anxiety’. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/13/new-zealand-schools-to-teach-students-about-climate-crisis-activism-and-eco-anxiety.
Kuebler, Martin & Russell, Ruby. (2019, Dec 17). Five Answers for Kids Concerned
about Climate Change. DW. https://www.dw.com/en/five-answers-for-kids-concerned-about-climate-change/a-51561183.
Reuters Staff. (2020, May 6). New Zealand's School Climate-Change Curriculum Vexes
Farmers. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-newzealand/new-zealands-school-climate-change-curriculum-vexes-farmers-idUSKBN22I0KE.