New survey to uncover teachers’ views on climate change and sustainability education

UCL’s Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education (CCCSE) is conducting a nation-wide survey of teachers to investigate their views and experiences in this area of education. Through the survey, the Centre's research team aim to deepen understanding of what teachers across England are already doing to incorporate climate change and sustainability into their teaching, and what support they need to do more.  

Entitled “What do climate change and sustainability have to do with me?”, the survey seeks to understand the views of teachers working across all Key Stages and all subject areas, including teachers who have not previously engaged with these topics through their teaching, as well as those who have. 

The data from the survey will help researchers gauge how confident, prepared and supported teachers in England currently feel about teaching these topics. 

By engaging in the survey, teachers across England will help to highlight areas where more support is needed, to enable them to confidently incorporate climate change and sustainability in their teaching. The data from the survey will also provide evidence of teacher’s professional development experiences, which the researchers hope will inform and shape future provision of teacher development. 

Professor Nicola Walshe, Executive Director of CCCSE, said: “Education has a vital role to play in society’s response to the environmental and climate crisis, and teachers are central to that work. Recent studies have identified a strong appetite amongst students and teachers for enhancing the provision of education related to climate change and sustainability in schools (e.g. Oxfam/SoS UK, Teach the Future and BERA). We need to respond to these calls and help teachers to fulfill their important roles.” 

“The research will provide invaluable insight about what is needed to implement the Department of Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, so that it results in meaningful action within schools across England. Furthermore, as the attention of policymakers turns once again to the annual climate negotiations at COP27 in Egypt, we hope that this survey provides teachers with an avenue for expressing their views about what they need to enhance the provision of sustainability and climate change as part of their teaching.”

On completing the survey, teachers will automatically enter their schools into a draw to win one of two £100 prizes to purchase climate change and sustainability teaching resources.

Update: the survey has now closed. Visit the survey below to keep in touch with outputs and results.

Contact

Contact the research team at climateeducation@ucl.ac.uk

Links

• About the survey: "What does climate change and sustainability have to do with me?” A survey of teachers in England 
• UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education (CCCSE) 
• Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment

Image

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