Strong influences from the petroleum industry lessens pre-service teachers' willingness to teach about climate change

There is a vast amount of evidence supporting the claim that climate change is driven primarily by anthropogenic sources. Despite this evidence, human-induced climate change (HICC) is still a controversial topic in western societies. Research shows that many individuals in western societies either do not believe in climate change (CC), or believe CC is occurring but not due to anthropogenic sources. Conflicting opinions about the science of CC can directly impact science education, specifically educators' beliefs in HICC and their own comfort level teaching such a controversial topic. To mitigate this issue, science educators must receive adequate education and training on HICC to feel comfortable and confident in discussing HICC issues with their students. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which Norwegian pre-service teachers associate with the petroleum industry, and whether that relationship impacts their attitudes towards and willingness to teach about HICC.

Norway is considered a green country by many, but it also relies predominantly on the petroleum industry for its economy. This unique position has resulted in conflicting viewpoints towards HICC among Norwegians. Certain geographical regions of the country have strong ties with the petroleum industry, an industry that historically is one of the leadings causes of CC. In areas where these strong ties are prevalent many individuals do not recognize HICC as valid. Most Norwegians acknowledge CC, but considering the role that petroleum plays in the country's economy and job market, it is difficult for some to fully embrace the concept of HICC. This study focused on pre-service teachers, many of whom were former employees of the petroleum industry but lost their jobs due to the petroleum crisis in 2014. The pre-service teachers all attended a one-year education program geared towards individuals who had already attended university and received a degree in natural science but planned to change careers and become science teachers in Norway.

This study was conducted at six teacher education institutions across Norway. The researcher divided the country into four regions: Western, Eastern, Northern, and Middle. The researcher determined the petroleum industry's degree of influence on the pre-service teachers based on the teachers' geographical proximity to the regions where the petroleum industry operates. For example, participants living in the Western region of Norway were considered most influenced by the industry because petroleum factories were prevalent in this region. The researcher created a 24-question online survey to determine participants' degree of association with the petroleum industry, attitude toward environmental issues (specifically CC), and their intentions to integrate these issues into their teaching. Five of the questions were used specifically to score the pre-service teachers' petroleum-association factor (PA-factor), which gauged their relationship with the petroleum industry. Overall, 164 pre-service teachers volunteered to participate and complete the survey. The researcher analyzed the surveys for common themes.

Overall, the researcher observed that pre-service teachers with a higher degree of association with the petroleum industry were more likely to have skepticism towards HICC as well as have less of an intent to teach about it. Pre-service teachers with a higher PA-factor were more skeptical about HICC and less willing to integrate HICC into their future classroom.

The researcher found that pre-service teachers in the Western region of Norway had a higher degree relationship with the petroleum industry when compared to other regions. Pre-service teachers in this region were more likely to have contrasting CC views from other regions. For example, pre-service teachers in the western region would rate CC as a less important environmental issue then those in the other regions, thus exemplifying that pre-service teachers of different regions had distinct teaching priorities in the classroom.

There were limitations to this study. The location of the research limits the generalizability to other countries that may not rely as heavily on the fossil fuel industry for their economy. Additionally, the pre-service teachers' background in natural sciences may have impacted the results. Lastly, the small sample size limits the generalizability of the results.

The author recommended strategies to approach HICC education and education for pre-service teachers, particularly in the context of oil-dependent economies. Teacher education programs should emphasize to pre-service teachers their role as a science educator. When in the classroom, pre-service teachers should be encouraged to not opine their personal beliefs stemming from their prior petroleum. Teacher education programs should also emphasize to educators that they must consider the geographical and cultural factors of their students' communities when teaching environmental topics. Educators need to be able to thoughtfully implement controversial topics into their curriculum, to avoid skepticism or disagreement from students.