The talk of the tuckshop is the Climate Change curriculum making its way across South African schools. In the heart of Earth Month, let’s talk about it.
South Africa (14 April, 2023) — The African Climate Reality Project (ACRP) and it’s host organisation Food & Tree for Africa (FTFA) created a powerful programme recently to address climate literacy in high school, and it’s easily the talk of the tuckshop. But what is the Climate Change Curriculum all about?
Naturally, education and addressing the planet’s climate crisis go hand-in-hand. The Climate Change Curriculum then, is on a mission to provide young people with the knowledge and skills they need to make better and informed decisions about how to adapt to climate change, and lead future discussions calling for climate justice.
Plan of Action
The Climate Change Curriculum’s plan is to enhance the content of various subjects in secondary schools. It is based on ACRP’s ‘Not on Our Soil’ docuseries which features five short films on community, youth, gender, civil society and journalism, and their important links to climate change and climate justice.
Through the curriculum, grade 10 and 11 learners will explore the stories of local South African citizens advocating for climate justice. The content can be implemented in the Life Orientation, English, or Geography syllabuses.
“Climate education is absolutely essential if we want to build a bigger youth movement, where young people are equipped with the knowledge and skills to participate in, and lead the decisions, policies, and solutions related to climate change,” —Aurélie Kalenga, Communications Manager, African Climate Reality Project.
Where SA is at with the Climate Change Curriculum
The Western Cape Education Department hosted the inaugural training of teachers for the Curriculum. This engaging workshop helped teachers unpack the content that will, in turn, help their learners understand and address the impact of climate change while empowering their learners with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes needed to act as agents of change. 17 schools attended the workshop in February already.
The second workshop went down in KZN with teachers affiliated with the NAPTOSA teacher union. The South African Council of Educators has endorsed the CCC training program with 10 Continuous Professional Training and Development Points.
During both training sessions, teachers expressed the need for more understanding and knowledge of Climate Change. In addition to training in-service teachers, the plan is to share the resources and offer training to pre-service teachers. Discussions are also in the works for the UKZN School of Education to complement its existing curriculum and upskill students.
The result? 82% of the teachers who attended felt more confident teaching Climate Change content.
How is the Future Looking?
A lot greener, and one with future leaders far more equipt to tackle the big issues.
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