Climate Competencies of Finnish Gifted and Average-Ability High School Students

Abstract

In the face of global issues such as climate change, the world needs action competent, transformationally gifted citizens, who are willing to step up and take responsibility for a better future. However, empirical evidence on what supports the development of transformational giftedness is limited. Furthermore, the relationship between academic giftedness and transformational giftedness has not been clearly pronounced. The purpose of this study is to address this research gap by examining students’ climate competencies. A total of 1703 students from five Finnish high schools (grades 10–12) participated in this study. Using a questionnaire, students’ climate change knowledge, values, willingness to take action, sense of responsibility, environmental concern, and perceptions on how climate change issues are dealt with in school were examined. Four of the schools were general education high schools, while one was for students formally identified as gifted students. The findings indicate that academically gifted students in both general education schools and the gifted school show more climate competencies than average-ability students. Furthermore, gifted students that attended the school for gifted students show more climate competencies than the gifted students from general education schools. Based on the findings, the paper discusses how the development of transformational giftedness can be better supported in education.