Melbourne Teacher Education Group Research Seminar Series
Date: Thursday 12 December
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Venue: Level 5 Arts Studio KLD
“These are not easy times, but despair is not a strategy, and it’s not warranted. Our process is strong, and it will endure. After all, international cooperation is the only way humanity survives global warming. The time for hand-wringing is over; let’s get on with the job”.
Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Simon Stiell said at the opening of the World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit at COP29 in Baku.
SWISP lab (Coleman & Healy) were observers at COP29. Our second COP. And we have stuff to say and share with teachers and teacher educators about what we have learned about climate change and global complexity – because we have “just 2 years to save the planet” (Simon Stiell). We will also include what we presented at our side event: Youth Voices for Climate Action and what we think we should do from here, post-COP.
Why? As educators, bear the responsibility to address the intergenerational injustice of the climate crisis, and empower young people to navigate and shape a world in flux. Yet future teachers are still not being equipped with the knowledge to educate in the Anthropocene or the skills to learn with Land in ways that resonate with young people. Calls to action in teacher education, like those made by us, remain largely unanswered. Kate began teaching in 1994, just four years after the IPCC released its first report in 1990. And yet, here we are, over three decades later, and climate change—the ‘biggest story in the world,’ as Greta Thunberg called it—is still largely absent from our classrooms. Predictions about regional and global climate changes were well-documented in those early IPCC assessments, with models indicating a potential rise in global temperatures between 1.5° and 4.5°C.
So why hasn’t teacher education adapted to address these realities? SWISP Lab has data that reveals young people’s desire to share their anxieties, grief, and hopes amidst global crises. They feel the urgency and want space to connect and find courage.
Come and find out how we work in partnership with Science Gallery International network to create the conditions for young people to do just that.