Elephants pass by the carcass of a gnu, which has died by starvation due to drought.
Oloitoktok, Kenya, 12 November 2022. Photo credits: Carleen Chumba / shutterstock.com
Climate change education
by Bosibori Osusu • 2 November 2023
In a previous article, we talked about the basics of climate change; the definition, causes, possible short- and long-term mitigation measures. Climate change is a global problem and trying to sweep it under the carpet so that it is forgotten is in fact a crime against humanity. That is why it is also extremely important to make sure the younger generation is aware of its effects, which seem to be getting worse by the day.
In research conducted a few years ago1, it was found that about 96.3% of the 108 undergraduate students surveyed had knowledge of current changes in weather patterns, but had scarce knowledge of the more advanced areas such as global warming.
I decided to reach out to a few university students who were willing to have aconversation with me. First, I asked the obvious question, “Do you know what climate change is?”
“Climate change is basically the drastic changes in weather,” said Grace.
“Climate change is how the weather patterns change over the years,” said Irene.
These answers were almost identical to the answers I got from the rest of the students. So they all understood that weather patterns are changing, even if not all of them expressed the concept accurately. I wanted to know if they knew what the causes of the changes in weather patterns were. “Climate change is caused by the shift in temperature across the globe. I know that this shift in temperature is as a result of the smoke and harmful gases we produce,” said Karanja. He seemed to understand what he was talking about. “I have always thought that climate change was a natural phenomenon. Things like floods and drought to me were just nature taking its cause. I had no idea that some of our practices have been the cause of it all,” said Nelson, who seemed to have been oblivious.
As the conversation unfolded, I came to the realization that although most of the students knew what climate change is, they really didn’t know much about the consequences of our actions and how they have played a major role in the severity of climate change. “What are the consequences of climate change that you know of?” I asked.
Apart from the two Nelson had mentioned earlier; drought and floods, the others had few ideas. “I think that the fact that rainfall has become more unpredictable these days could be as a result of climate change but I am not sure,” said Jackie. “Extreme weathers such as too much heat and too much cold in different areas of the world could also be a result of climate change,” said Newton. They didn’t seem to know much about the direct effects such as food insecurity, high cost of living and even health hazards, or they simply didn’t see the connection of these effects to climate change.
I asked if they felt they were properly equipped through education on matters of climate change. The overall answer they gave was that growing up they were taught about types of weather such as rainy, sunny, cloudy and so on. They were also taught about taking care of the environment through subjects such as agriculture, science and social studies. Therefore, they feel like they knew the basics which they felt was good enough.
In the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC)2, subjects such as environmental studies have put a bit of focus on matters environment and weather. In tertiary institutions such as universities and colleges, there are courses available that address climate change.
I finally asked what they think should be done as a mitigation measure to curb climate change. “We should reduce production of harmful gases by changing our ways of living such as burning of charcoal for cooking, using harmful fuel in vehicles and factories,” said Karanja. “We should plant more trees to clean the atmosphere and also to attract rainfall so as to reduce food insecurities, said Jackie.
From this conversation, I concluded that climate change should be a more important factor in our education system, including in regard to the short- and long-term measures that need to be put in place to manage and control climate change.
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Notes:
1 Huho, Julius. (2015). Climate Change Knowledge Gap in Education System in Kenya. International Journal of Innovation and Research in Education Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 3. ISSN: 2349-5219. https://karuspace.karu.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/20.500.12092/1884/Climate%20Change%20Knowledge%20Gap%20in%20Education%20System.pdf back
2 Generally, a competency-based curriculum is defined as an education system where emphasis is put on what learners can do and not on what they know. In Kenya, major changes were made to the education system in December 2017, the new system being called “Competency Based Curriculum” (CBC). back
About the author:
Bosibori Osusu is a Kenyan Journalist. She lives and works in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.
About the image:
Photo by Carleen Chumba. Used under license from Shutterstock. shutterstock.com Stock Photo ID:
2228401925.
Suggested citation:
Bosibori Osusu: Climate change education. MissionField News (ISSN 2813-2270)
https://missionfield.news/2023/21_Climate-education
2023-11-02.