Emotions and perceptions surrounding teaching climate change in the United States: results from a teacher survey

Abstract

Children are worried about climate change. Educational settings provide an opportunity to help children cope with their worries, but teachers do not always feel comfortable doing so. One reason for hesitancy may be their own negative emotions. This paper describes findings from a survey of climate-aware teachers, looking at their perceptions and emotions about climate change, as well as their experiences in teaching climate-related topics. Teachers had both positive and negative responses to climate change; motivation and compassion along with frustration and sadness were the four most common emotional responses. They also generally felt supported in their teaching. Both positive and negative emotions inspired teachers to talk with their students about climate change, but feeling climate anxiety was associated with hesitancy. There was evidence that increased understanding of climate change was associated with lower climate anxiety. Teachers reported that they would value more support for teaching climate change.

Keywords:

• Climate change
• climate anxiety
• emotions
• support
• teachers
• SDG4: quality education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.