Cultural cognition and climate change education in the U.S.: why consensus is not enough

Abstract

Integrating climate change into environmental education programs and formal science classrooms can be difficult, as the issue remains controversial and highly politicized among the American public. This study proposes that the same cultural values that shape worldview differences and divide public opinion on anthropogenic climate change will influence if and how science educators support education on the topic. An online survey with quantitative and qualitative measures was distributed among science educators in the southeastern United States to test what, if any, impact cultural cognition has on their opinions about climate change education. The results suggest that respondents’ cultural values have a significant influence on their intentions to support climate change education and preferences for curricula content. The findings also suggest potential avenues for the field of environmental education to develop climate change materials that may help decrease unintentional biases among science educators and more effectively engage their support in teaching its causes and potential solutions regardless of worldview differences.

Keywords:

• Cultural cognition
• climate change education
• worldview
• professional development

Notes

1. For more information and background, see: http://sfrc.ufl.edu/extension/ee/climate/.

2. Key variables included: attitudes about climate change education and intentions to support it, curricular preferences, and cultural values.

3. Please see Appendix A (pages 6–8) for examples of teaching concepts to which respondents reacted.