Supporting K-12 Educators Through the COVID Pandemic, Racial Injustice, and the Climate Crisis

Abstract:

Over the last six months three global crises have collided: The COVID-19 pandemic, a global reckoning for racial justice, and the global climate crisis. 2020 is on pace to be the second hottest year on record, and the repercussions all disproportionately impact Black, indigenous and People of Color. Educators are at the center of these crises and are being asked to become distance learning experts, to create anti-racists classrooms in a racist educational system, and to prepare their students to live in a changing climate, and work to implement transformational climate solutions.

Climate change and its solutions have historically been tied to the STEM disciplines, but it is an issue that impacts political, social, and economic dimensions and is an integrating context for all subjects. There is a critical need to teach climate change through an anti-racism lens; highlighting the disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized communities, providing examples of People Of Color who are doing research and contributing to solutions, and making the connections between systems of oppression and the systems that exacerbate and contribute to climate change.

The Stay-In-stitute for Climate Change Education, a three-day virtual teacher institute planned and implemented by partners from Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy, NOAA’s Climate Program, and The Wild Center, developed a model of engagement that brought together 250 teachers from 30 states, and 3 countries. Leading virtually with an anti-racist lens, teachers showed an increase in their content knowledge, commitment to climate change education, and felt part of a sustained community of educators and mentors. Methods of engagement included pre-work and discussion forums through a Moodle, and zoom office hours; a virtual conference program that included coffee hours, keynotes, interactive presentations and workshops, geographic cohort sessions, and used social media to share experiences and work products.