The influence of teacher variables on climate change science literacy of Geography teachers in the Western Cape, South Africa

ABSTRACT

Teachers play an important role in promoting climate change literacy in schools, but not much is known about which teacher characteristics significantly influence Geography teachers’ climate change science literacy. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of teachers’ characteristics such as gender, age, qualification, specialisation, experience, and teaching grade on Geography teachers’ literacy about climate change science. The study uses a quantitative research approach on questionnaire application. Statistical analysis of data gathered from 194 high school Geography teachers from the Western Cape Province using a 15-item Climate Change Science Literacy Questionnaire (CCSLQ) revealed that gender, age, teaching experience, and teaching grade significantly influenced Geography teachers’ literacy about climate change science, while qualification and specialisation did not.

KEYWORDS:

• Geography teachers
• climate change
• climate change science
• survey research
• science literacy

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the teachers for their participation in the study. The anonymous reviewers are thanked for offering helpful comments on an earlier draft.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.