Using evaluation data to inform climate education practice

Abstract

A challenge for using evaluation data to improve climate change education in schools is access to an instrument for teachers to measure behavioral changes and their antecedents. We report on teachers’ implementation of a brief survey measuring climate-related beliefs, self-efficacy, intention to act, action, and anxiety before and after their program of climate change education for students (aged 11-14 years, N = 62). Results indicated improvement in self-efficacy but not in students’ intention to act. This prompted teaching staff to generate modifications aimed at fostering greater behavioral change, with staff discussion focused on students’ emotions and revisions characterized by creative, affect-driven approaches. Our paper demonstrates how data from a reproducible evaluation tool can inform teachers’ efforts to improve their practice.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Notes

1 The UK’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 requires specified authorities, including schools, to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This is known as the ‘Prevent duty'.