A framework for climate change education in critical geography

ABSTRACT

Unlocking the potential of climate change education to achieve a more just, democratic and sustainable future is a goal of critical geography education. This article presents a compelling argument for using Sjöström et al.’s (2017) Vision III Scientific Literacy Heuristic (3-VSL) in critical geography and climate change education. Through classroom examples, the article shows how the 3-VSL framework can help explore two broad aims. First, the scientific, societal and justice-focused aspects of climate change education can all be captured within the 3-VSL. Second, the plurality of goals inside critical geography can also be considered, ranging from recognising climate change-related harms to engaging in socio-political action. The 3-VSL is argued to be a flexible and robust framework, aiding teachers and students in working for a more sustainable future.

Acknowledgments

I thank Tom Harding, Sue Roppel, the Kimberley Foundation and all teachers involved in the FOCUS! Teacher’s Climate Change Collaborative for inspiration and feedback on this work. Thank you to NJ for her helpful comments on the manuscript.

Notes

1 What Huckle (2020a) calls ‘critical and powerful ways of thinking’ in critical geography education.

2 In sustainability, action competence relates to a knowledge of action possibilities, confidence in one’s influence, and a willingness to act (Olsson et al., 2020).

3 Roser-Renouf et al. (2020) describe ‘five key beliefs’ individuals who support climate change mitigation policies and activism are likely to hold. They include ‘it’s warming’, ‘we’re sure’, ‘it’s us’, ‘it’s bad’, and ‘we can address it’. The first three beliefs are rooted in scientific studies, understanding and knowledge production.

4 The use of issues draws inspiration from Dana Zeidler, Troy Sadler and others scholarship around socioscientific issues (see e.g. Sadler, 2011; Zeidler, 2014; Zeidler and Newton, 2017).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Notes on contributors

Travis T. Fuchs

Travis T. Fuchs is a former Environmental Systems and Societies teacher. He is a PhD Candidate at the University of British Columbia and a Visiting Doctoral Scholar at the University of Oxford (Twitter: @tthfuchs).