Learn to Lead: Developing Curricula that Foster Climate Change Leaders

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter, we identify the need for a curriculum that is intended to not only enable educators to teach about climate change, but to also foster leaders who can engage in policy analysis and civic action related to the issue of climate change. Unlike Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-57927-2_3, which details a whole-school approach, we have specifically focused our attention on developing a curriculum with an associated implementation plan since the ability of teachers to build transferable leadership skills in younger generations are integral to any larger reform initiative. Ultimately, the efficacy of the curriculum is enhanced by a more holistic approach to the prioritization of climate change action in the context of schools and broader education systems, so a synthesis of approaches is recommended.The Climate Change Leadership Curriculum was designed in collaboration with the Arava Institute (AI), an organization in Israel that brings together Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and international students from outside the region to engage in environmental and peace-building education. The work of AI is specific to tertiary education, so our initiative to build a climate change leadership curriculum constitutes an attempt to expand the reach of the mission and pedagogy of AI to encompass secondary education. The implementation plan also involves leveraging the network of AI to find partners for implementing the curriculum. The fact that there are AI alumni who work in secondary education opened possibilities for dissemination of the curriculum in collaboration with teachers who have a deep understanding of the pedagogy. As teachers integrate the curriculum into their particular contexts, our plan was to not only support them in the implementation, but to also solicit feedback to continually improve the resources and identify the most effective ways to provide support. This will enable us to make the curriculum accessible to teachers from diverse backgrounds in a wide variety of contexts, inside and outside of the target region.