Journal
SUSTAINABILITY
Volume 14, Issue 22, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/su142215086
Keywords
environmental justice education; social justice education; climate change education; self-efficacy; leadership development; agents of change; higher education
Funding
- SEAS Themes Grant: Innovative Pedagogies for Cultivating Leadership Amidst the Climate Change Crisis
Ask authors/readers for more resources
As institutions of knowledge and innovation, colleges and universities have a responsibility to prepare students to lead in a world impacted by climate change. However, the typical climate change education that relies on fear appeals and crisis narratives tends to disempower and disengage students. Incorporating justice-oriented concepts and pedagogies can help students build the skills and confidence to engage in complex social concerns. Teaching from a justice perspective supports students' understanding of root causes, the need for collective action, and their empathy for others, enhancing their self-efficacy for climate change action.
As institutions of knowledge and innovation, colleges and universities have a responsibility to prepare students to lead in a world impacted by climate change. While sustainability and climate change have been increasingly addressed on campuses, several aspects of typical climate change education, such as the use of fear appeals, and crisis narratives, have served to disempower and disengage students from the issue. Evidence suggests that incorporating justice-oriented concepts and pedagogies may help students build the skills and confidence to engage in complex social concerns. This qualitative study sought to understand the ways in which an undergraduate environmental justice course at the University of Michigan might contribute to students' sense of self-efficacy for climate change action. Findings indicated that teaching from a justice perspective supported students' understanding of root causes, the need for collective action, and their empathy for others. Self-efficacy for climate action was most apparent when students were (1) confident in a particular skill set and (2) when the scale of the problem matched their ability to address it. This supported prior evidence that environmental justice can serve as a critical pedagogical approach for encouraging engagement and empowerment in climate action.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available