Empowering Learners in a Warming World: A Climate Change Inquiry Guide for Secondary Educators

The purpose of this guide is to present opportunities to evolve students’ understanding of the climate and climate change, assess the risks and opportunities to mitigate and adapt to the changing climate, unpack ethical dimensions, and honour emotions that are part of the process of coming to understand the complexity and urgency of the issue.

Transformative teaching strategies used throughout this guide are important to tackling complex problems like climate change. These strategies often begin with the understanding and experiences that students bring with them. Educators, who themselves are grappling with climate change issues, take the role of facilitators and co-learners as the class works together to learn, critically reflect, and take action.

Most importantly, this guide aims to engage students in contributing to solutions in their schools, communities and homes. It aims to connect educators to instructional strategies that allow for students’ perspectives and voice, currently available climate change science and research, teacher resources and activities, datasets, and action solutions.