Science Teacher Professional Development in Climate Change Education Informed by the Next Generation Science Standards

ABSTRACT

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are the first set of U.S. national science standards to explicitly include the topic of global climate change. With this new emphasis in K–12 science education, geoscience educators will likely play a central role in shaping a nation of citizens capable of understanding and making informed decisions about global climate change. In charting a path forward, it is timely to consider the ways in which geoscience educators can be effectively prepared and supported as climate change education leaders. In this article, we analyze the inclusion of climate change in the Next Generation Science Standards and review existing literature on professional development related to climate change education. Literature in this domain underscores the complex nature of climate change, curriculum and instruction challenges related to teaching the topic, recommended practices for teacher education and professional development, and the emerging role of technology integration for addressing climate change in the science classroom. Finally, we present one approach to teacher professional development around climate change education, emphasizing: (1) the need for quality standards-aligned curricular resources to support climate change instruction, especially those that integrate technology; (2) the potential of regional observations-focused learning progressions for making climate change personally relevant to learners; and (3) the value of research-based professional development and teacher education for advancing climate change education.

Key words: :

• climate change education
• science teacher education
• Next Generation Science Standards
• learning progressions

Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1043262. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Notes

³ For a comprehensive listing of performance standards related to the topic of climate change, see http://www.climateedresearch.org/publications/2013/Climate-Change-NGSS.pdf.