UCL survey highlights need for better teacher professional development in climate change and sustain

A survey of teachers in England has highlighted the need to help them incorporate climate change and sustainability into their practice and to empower young people to act on these societal issues.

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In England, climate change and sustainability are most commonly incorporated into secondary school geography and science lessons. The curriculum emphasises facts about the science and impacts of climate change but does little to encourage students to think about how they might themselves respond to the urgent need for action.

A recent survey of 870 teachers in England, led by a team of researchers at UCL’s Centre for Climate Change & Sustainability Education (CCCSE), in the UCL Institute of Education, found that only 13% of respondents reported that climate change and sustainability had been included in their Initial Teacher Education. ‘Teaching climate change and sustainability: A survey of teachers in England’ found that teachers from all subjects and at all stages need more support to help them embed climate change and sustainability across the curriculum.

““Teachers across all subjects and years of study can play a part in climate change education, but they need support to do so"

“Teachers across all subjects and years of study can play a part in climate change education, but they need support to do so,” explains the centre’s Programme Director Dr Alison Kitson. “The support needs to include and also go beyond science and geography teachers, because this is a holistic issue that affects all aspects of our lives.”

Building teachers’ confidence and capabilities through formal professional development will help them to embed climate change into their teaching and should ensure more young people will be motivated and able to act in response to climate change, now and in their future careers.

“We need to point the way to a more sustainable future for young people. There are opportunities across the whole curriculum where teachers can help students to build understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change, and for learning how they can help society to address the environmental crisis,” says Dr Kate Greer, Senior Research Fellow in the CCCSE.

The CCCSE recommends that all teachers should be provided with high-quality professional development, tailored to their subject and the age of children they teach, starting with Initial Teacher Education.

Drawing from the survey findings, in July 2023, the UCL team launched a programme of free professional development for teachers, the first of its kind in England. The programme, Teaching for Sustainable Futures, includes History and Geography modules for both primary and secondary teachers. Further modules in English, mathematics, science and citizenship will be added later in 2024.

“Teachers need formal support – not just in geography and science, but history, mathematics, art, English and others – so they can support young people to take real action against climate change," says Dr Kitson.