0:00

>> Paul: Hello, welcome to our latest episode

0:02

of the Brighter Thinking Pod from the International

0:05

Education group of Cambridge University Press and

0:08

Assessment. I'm your host for this episode.

0:11

My name is Paul Ellis and I'm head of thought

0:13

leadership at Cambridge. We created our

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brighter thinking pod to support teachers and

0:19

school leaders around the world. Each episode

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brings you helpful advice and interesting

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conversation from authors, teachers and

0:28

academics. Today we're going to be talking

0:31

about climate change education and

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moreover, the key role that education

0:36

plays in tackling the climate crisis.

0:39

Before we begin, remember, all the links

0:42

and info that we discussed today are available in

0:45

the show notes. And if you want to get your

0:48

voice heard on the show, you can get in touch on

0:51

x, formerly known as Twitter, or Instagram, at,

0:54

Cambridge Int. At the end of January 2024,

1:13

we, at Cambridge published an introduction paper

1:16

to outline our approach to climate change

1:18

education. In the paper, we have set out our

1:21

plan to build a community that

1:24

empowers learners to address the challenges

1:27

of the climate crisis. Here to talk

1:29

about the key points, I am joined by our special

1:32

guest for this episode, Christine Ozden.

1:35

Christine is the Global Director, for Climate

1:38

Education at Cambridge University Press and

1:40

Assessment and is focused on the climate related

1:43

contexts, challenges and opportunities for

1:46

all. Of us working and studying within the world of

1:49

education. She believes in the importance of

1:51

international collaboration, building great

1:54

partnerships and the need for sustainability

1:57

in all our actions and interactions.

1:59

Welcome, Christine. >> Christine: Hi Paul.

2:02

>> Paul: Great. Well, let's get into today's topic straight away.

2:04

>> Paul: So, first question for you, Christine, is. Why

2:07

is education a key part of tackling

2:10

climate change? >> Christine: I think there are a number of things to highlight here

2:14

about the importance of education. First of all,

2:17

knowledge to make sense of the root causes

2:20

of climate change is really, really important.

2:23

We also need to be able to address

2:25

the issues of climate change and

2:28

the consequences and think about how we can

2:31

find solutions. I think education

2:34

shifts attitudes. It absolutely does. And it changes

2:37

behaviors towards more sustainable lifestyles

2:40

potentially. I think it's also really important when

2:43

we think that we need to build a workforce that is ready and

2:46

able to work in a low carbon or

2:49

a no carbon world going forward.

2:51

plus we need to also help our learners

2:54

understand the unequal nature of the

2:57

climate crisis, that the climate

3:00

crisis doesn't affect all of us the same

3:03

that more vulnerable communities and groups are

3:05

disproportionately affected. So

3:08

there really is something here around protecting

3:11

livelihoods and ultimately in

3:13

disaster related contexts, the

3:16

ability for education to save lives, and

3:19

then looking at it very differently, that

3:22

education also helps us distinguish

3:25

information and truth from

3:27

misinformation. >> Paul: Absolutely. Thank you.

3:30

>> Paul: When we're talking about education here, can have quite a wide

3:33

scope. So are we talking about all levels of

3:36

education, all the way from, say, early years education

3:38

through to higher education? >> Christine: Yeah, absolutely. I, think we can consider

3:42

education in this context right from the

3:45

start of, formal and indeed informal schooling,

3:48

right the way through our education stages.

3:51

>> Paul: M great. So it's to do with the curriculum, it's

3:54

to do with the support that we give to teachers and school

3:57

leaders. It's to do with the assessment as well.

4:00

And so I'm just wondering here, how do we measure the

4:02

impact of using education as in a

4:05

sense, a tool to help tackle climate change?

4:08

>> Christine: So I think the ultimate measure of

4:10

impact is actually action,

4:13

whether we can take that knowledge and

4:15

understanding and skills and then

4:18

turn that into action, into

4:21

agency and empower that action.

4:23

>> Paul: Great. This leads us into this introduction

4:26

paper to climate change education emphasizes that high

4:29

quality education matters. And high quality, of course, can

4:31

they lead into great high quality action as well. So can you expand

4:34

a bit more on what we mean by high quality education and why it

4:37

matters? >> Christine: Yeah, so I think we can think about,

4:41

the high quality words and what it

4:44

means from at least a couple of, angles. I

4:47

think for a start, it refers to the

4:49

integrity of knowledge. and

4:52

often that is rooted, and the science

4:55

is rooted in subjects such as science and

4:58

geography. so there's the integrity of the science, but we've also

5:01

got to understand that while a lot of science is

5:04

uncontested, we absolutely know for

5:07

a fact what is true. Science is

5:10

also emerging. It's also dynamic.

5:12

So how do we enable students and our learners

5:15

to really engage with that? and also

5:18

it's about not being overly

5:20

simplistic. For example, we can't say, well,

5:23

carbon is bad. so there are more nuances.

5:26

I think also that high quality refers to our

5:28

approach. so we are really in, in the paper

5:31

that we published, we are really talking about a multidisciplinary approach. We're talking about

5:36

a holistic approach, and we're really talking about

5:39

the importance of pedagogy, how we

5:41

deliver, that education. And really important

5:44

in that high quality context, is the critical

5:47

nature of evaluative skills, and also

5:50

that the global and the local aspect of this, and

5:53

maybe we'll come back to that later, Paul. >> Paul: Would you agree that it's not just the knowledge, it's also the skills that schools need to think about

5:58

here? So it's not just the facts of climate change education, it's

6:01

trying to help people. Again, to use that word, action, how they take

6:04

action and what they do in terms of high quality education,

6:07

how can we make sure that high quality education

6:09

includes not just the knowledge but also the skills?

6:12

>> Christine: Yeah, I think the skills is an absolutely crucial part

6:15

of this in terms of the action that will deliver the

6:18

solutions to the climate crisis. We're looking for

6:20

creative problem solving, we're looking for really great

6:23

collaboration, really great communication.

6:26

And those evaluative skills, as well, are

6:29

fundamental. >> Paul: Excellent. >> Paul: So, I mean, you mentioned in your previous answer there to do with

6:33

science and geography. Some people might consider

6:36

there's a tendency that this will rest on the shoulders of

6:39

science and geography teachers. So how can we

6:42

make sure that climate change education isn't just about

6:44

the science department and geography department in a school?

6:47

>> Christine: Yeah, well, absolutely, we should acknowledge the importance of

6:50

science and geography at the same time. This

6:53

is a multidisciplinary endeavor.

6:56

so really acknowledging the opportunities that we

6:59

have in other parts of the curriculum and

7:02

the school, to work on or to consider

7:05

climate change, what are the different lenses we can

7:08

apply? And if I think about subjects,

7:10

let's think about mathematics, data

7:13

literacy. There's a wonderful opportunity

7:16

to bring in climate change context, maybe

7:19

thinking about ocean temperatures and ocean

7:21

flows. What about business and responsible

7:24

business? we can consider supply chains,

7:26

greenwashing, is a fascinating topic,

7:29

for young people, responsible consumption,

7:32

economics, economic models, the

7:34

circular economy, psychology, social

7:37

norms and behavior. Music, I think music and art

7:40

are fascinating because if we consider how

7:43

nature has inspired great artists,

7:46

and great musicians, and the works that we

7:49

study, media and art, I think are fantastic in terms

7:52

of representation and communication.

7:55

And also if we think about context, we

7:57

have so many opportunities, to consider context

8:00

through case studies and texts,

8:03

potentially. and then that was really an emphasis on

8:06

subjects. But Paul, you talked about skills

8:08

earlier. again, skills work gives us an

8:11

opportunity to really be creative, look at

8:14

collaboration, communication and that problem

8:16

solving. and maybe one other thing that I'd mention here is

8:19

cocurricular activity as well. The opportunities

8:22

that we have through, clubs, project

8:25

based activity, whole school activity

8:28

to consider climate change as well.

8:30

>> Paul: That all sounds very good. The multidisciplinary approach allows

8:33

everybody to have a stake in the game, as it

8:36

were, to want to be part of this and to

8:39

use that knowledge they have in their individual areas and

8:42

the skills that they try to encourage their individuals as well. So

8:44

you imagine science, there might be experiments going

8:47

on in, languages, which is our own

8:50

subject. There'll be other ways of thinking how do you communicate about these

8:52

things? I'm just thinking as well, there might be ways you can get

8:55

different perspectives from different people in certain subject

8:58

areas too. >> Christine: Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think this really

9:02

is a whole school endeavor right

9:05

across the curriculum and right across all

9:07

stages of the school as well as

9:10

you've really illustrated there.

9:12

>> Paul: I was wondering, there's a danger for teachers

9:15

to think, oh, this is just yet another thing that we've got to

9:18

cover in our busy curriculum. So what would you say in response to

9:21

that? >> Christine: Yeah, I think it is a risk. I think there's a risk

9:24

that it is, bolted on. It's an

9:27

additional thing, for teachers to do.

9:29

teachers are incredibly busy already. and

9:32

if we're asking teachers just to add this in,

9:35

well, what do you leave out? and there's a

9:38

risk that then is this a fad? Is this something, is this this

9:41

year's thing? and I think that's why at

9:43

Cambridge we are very committed to building on

9:46

our existing work to make sure that we integrate

9:49

this throughout our curriculum and

9:52

our activities, so that we're supporting teachers as

9:55

much as possible with the implementation of

9:57

climate change education in their particular, ah,

10:00

settings. >> Paul: Absolutely. So climate change affects us all, but. Is

10:04

there a dangerous way of taking a global approach and ignoring

10:07

local issues? I suppose here also, I'm taking you back to

10:10

that word action again, that students want to

10:13

take action. They want to have what we might call agency in

10:16

this area. So what can we do to

10:19

make sure that people feel they can do something, that they

10:22

can look locally and not just globally?

10:25

>> Christine: Well, personally, I think that local action is

10:28

the key. I mean, of course this is a global

10:30

issue and it does need global

10:33

consensus, in terms of driving that action.

10:36

But every locality will experience

10:39

the impacts and the consequences

10:42

of climate change differently. Every

10:45

locality will potentially have

10:47

different or slightly different solutions and whatever we

10:52

do in terms of action, we need to consider our

10:55

locality. And that might be within our school

10:58

or within our wider school community or our town

11:01

or city, and then ultimately country. So I

11:04

think that local issues and action

11:07

are the real drivers of change and the measure of

11:10

success on a global level. >> Paul: It's much easier then for students to think, oh, I did that,

11:15

I made that change locally. >> Christine: Absolutely. And I think also you asked

11:19

about high, quality education a little bit

11:22

earlier. And again, I think that focus

11:25

on the local action and

11:27

solution and situation. Again, I think that's all

11:30

very much part of what high quality education means in

11:33

this context and making this as relevant as

11:36

possible to learners. >> Paul: Okay, now, we talk in the paper

11:41

about trying to get a community to take an

11:43

interest in this and to try to help with the action that we'd like

11:46

people to take as well. So what type of community

11:49

does Cambridge have access to already? And who else would

11:52

we want to join the climate change education?

11:55

>> Christine: So I think we can think about the Cambridge

11:58

community, from different angles. I mean, certainly, at

12:01

Cambridge we have access to the or we are part

12:03

of the university community, and have access

12:06

to the research and the expertise

12:09

there. In terms of Cambridge schools around the

12:11

world, we've got access, to

12:14

tens of thousands of schools right around the

12:17

world, and also governments, and national agencies that we

12:20

work together with in terms of education

12:23

policy and practice. But I

12:25

think there's something really important about the community

12:28

here in terms of learning from each other,

12:31

and it not being sort of a one way

12:34

broadcast of ideas and experience

12:37

and expertise. We really can learn from each

12:40

other and we really need to recognise the

12:43

work that's going on right across our

12:45

communities. >> Paul: So we've talked there about the communities that

12:48

Cambridge already has access to. I'm wondering who else we would want

12:52

to join the climate change education community?

12:54

>> Christine: Well, who wouldn't we want to join? I

12:57

mean, this is really about building an inclusive

13:00

and an accessible community and

13:03

we want all schools to feel that

13:06

they have something to give and something to gain from

13:09

being part of the Cambridge climate community. And if

13:12

listeners and their school want to join our community

13:14

and let us know what they're doing around climate change

13:17

education, you can find a link at the end of that

13:20

introductory paper which takes you through

13:23

to a survey and access to the community.

13:25

>> Paul: Wonderful. Well, thank you, Christine. That's all

13:28

we have time for today in this climate change education

13:30

episode. Thank you for being our guest and for sharing your thoughts.

13:33

In our show notes, you can find the links that we've discussed

13:36

in this episode, and you can discover more about Cambridge's

13:39

approach to climate change education on our

13:42

website, which is www.

13:44

cambridgeinternational.org. >> Paul: Don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues about us

13:49

and rate our show wherever you are listening. And as a

13:52

reminder, you can follow us on x and instagram at

13:55

CambridgeINT. So thank you for listening and we. Hope