Understanding of natural sciences teachers on addressing climate change concepts in the curriculum: Evidence from Fundisa for Change Keep It Cool Climate Change Project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.38140/ijer-2025.vol7.1.11Keywords:
Climate change, collaboration, curriculum, mitigation, natural sciencesAbstract
Climate change is one of the most pressing international concerns of the twenty-first century. Globally, it affects economies, societies, and the environment. It is imperative that all sectors, including the education sector, embrace climate change mitigation measures. A qualitative case study was conducted to investigate teachers' experiences with integrating climate change concepts into the teaching of natural sciences at the Senior Phase in the Amathole West Education District. Permission to conduct the study was sought from the Department of Education and the institution for ethical considerations. Empirical data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews with five natural sciences teachers from five selected secondary schools in the Amathole West Education District. One participant withdrew after data collection, and her data had to be discarded. The second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was used as the theoretical framework. The thematic data analysis technique was employed to analyse the collected data. Key issues highlighted included teachers' content knowledge regarding climate change in natural sciences, a lack of training, and insufficient clear guidelines on integrating climate change topics. The study recommends regular teacher capacitation workshops on integrating climate change into their natural sciences teaching. Furthermore, it suggests the organisation of webinars to discuss issues related to climate change integration into the teaching of natural sciences, as well as encouraging teachers to collaborate with climate scientists to improve their pedagogical content knowledge.
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