Undervisning om klimatförändringar. Att möta missförstånd, oro och engagemang

Abstract

Climate change is a current, multidimensional, and complex issue included in the Swedish upper secondary school biology curriculum. Considering that this issue holds many inherent aspects beyond the scientific concepts, and causes anxiety among young people, questions of how to successfully teach about climate change arise. This literature review aims to explore this complex issue by examining three different domains: misconceptions about climate change that exist among students, teaching methods that have been proven efficient in teaching about climate change, and ways to navigate the value-laden, emotional aspect of this issue. Results show that there are indeed misconceptions about climate change, among which the belief that depletion of the ozone layer leads to global warming seems to be most prevalent. Furthermore, making the content feel personally relevant and meaningful to students and using teaching methods that make students active in gaining knowledge, e.g. discussions, debates and projects, leads to better learning outcomes. The emotions that arise among students should be addressed, e.g. by debating ethical dilemmas, and talking about climate change in a way that entails hope seems to be beneficial for student well-being and engagement in climate issues. In summary, a strong case can be made for teaching methods that engage students in acquiring knowledge, and the inclusion of emotional responses to climate change in the classroom.