eeINSPIRE Webinar: Mapping the Landscape of K–12 Climate Change Education Policy in the United States
Tuesday, August 30, 2022, 3:00–4:00 PM ET - Recorded
NAAEE and Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education Project (MECCE), in this eeINSPIRE webinar, share the findings of a comprehensive analysis of K–12 Climate Change Education Policy in the United States, including the next steps for supporting these recommendations.
NAAEE and Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education Project (MECCE) are excited to release the findings of a comprehensive analysis of K–12 Climate Change Education Policy in the United States. This study explored the status of climate change education policy in the United States by analyzing the extent and type of climate change inclusion in 802 publicly available education policies from state departments or boards of education.
Report findings led to five key recommendations:
1. Increase the quality and quantity of climate change content across all education policies, including addressing all institutional domains and holistic learning dimensions and in all subjects.
2. Update and increase the number of statewide environmental literacy plans.
3. Include a stronger focus on climate justice, climate action, and Indigenous knowledge in all education policies.
4. Include a focus on both climate change mitigation and adaptation in all education policies.
5. Provide policy support, such as funding, professional development, and staffing to help advance enactment of climate change education policy.
Speakers
Kristen Hargis, Research Associate with the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) Project
Kristen Hargis is a Research Associate with the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) Project, coordinating work on the US Landscape Policy Analysis in collaboration with the North American Association for Environmental Education. This policy analysis is exploring state-level uptake of climate change education in policy across primary, secondary, and higher education. Kristen is also a PhD candidate in the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research uses practice theory to explore how climate change education could and should be conceptualized at K-12 schools, including in relation to psycho-social, cognitive, and action-oriented learning dimensions. She also utilizes a whole institution approach to climate change education in her research, which includes climate change education within teaching and learning, school governance, facilities and operations, and community partnerships. She has provided research assistance on a range of research projects conducted by the Sustainability and Education Policy Network (SEPN) since 2013, including several UNESCO consultancies and SEPN’s Canadian Landscape Policy Analysis. She received her Master of Education in Educational Foundations from the University of Saskatchewan.
Sarah Bodor, NAAEE’s Director of Policy & Affiliate Relations
NAAEE’s Director of Policy & Affiliate Relations, Sarah Bodor comes from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, where she held a number of program management and leadership positions throughout the organization. She worked closely with state education agencies in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to develop and pilot standards-based curricula and provide teacher professional development. From 2008-2012, Sarah coordinated the national No Child Left Inside grassroots coalition of more than 2,200 organizations focused on generating public and private support for the development and implementation of state-wide environmental literacy plans. She monitors local, state, regional, and national advances in the integration of environmental education into K-12 public school curricula, and develops funding and programmatic strategy for the implementation of state and local environmental literacy plans.
Judy Braus, NAAEE Executive Director
Judy Braus brings to her role as NAAEE Executive Director a wealth of experience in the environmental education profession, with a focus on conservation education, diversity and inclusion, and using the power of education to help create healthier communities that empower local communities, stakeholders, and individuals to help restore and protect the environment. She comes to NAAEE from the National Audubon Society, where she was the Senior Vice President of Education and Centers, overseeing an extensive nationwide network of nature centers and educators. Prior to that, she led the education programs at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the U.S. Peace Corps, and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). Judy also has extensive experience with NAAEE, having served in a number of capacities in the past two decades, including past president, conference chair, head of the elementary and secondary commission, and editor of a number of NAAEE monographs. “I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to lead an organization that promotes the power of environmental education at a time when it is so needed and in so much demand.”
eeINSPIRE: Sparking Innovation in Environmental Education
We are pleased to continue eeINSPIRE, NAAEE's webinar series presented in partnership with the US Forest Service. This series is designed to bring new ideas and thinking to USFS conservation educators, but is open to all who want to sign up!
Upcoming eeINSPIRE Webinars
Future topics will include: increasing civic engagement through education and service-learning, becoming a natural and effective storyteller, citizen science in education, building a diverse and inclusive field, and more.
We look forward to seeing you online, and stay tuned for updates on upcoming webinars in the series!