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Chapter 17 - Perspectives on Addressing Young People’s Climate Distress in Education

from Part II - Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Youth Climate Distress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2024

By
Matt Carmichael
Edited by
Elizabeth Haase  and
Kelsey Hudson
Elizabeth Haase
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Kelsey Hudson
Affiliation:
Climate Psychology Alliance North America
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Summary

Supportive educators can aid young people in channelling negative emotions about climate change in healthy, adaptive ways. However, globally only a small minority (13 percent) of young people in school have been asked to consider their feelings about climate change and most teachers lack training and confidence to deliver climate change education. The first portion of this chapter provides an overview of climate change education and explores young people’s climate distress in educational settings, with an emphasis on institutional betrayal. The second portion presents case studies and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews conducted with four leading practitioners whose approaches to climate change education acknowledge and support the mental health implications for young people. Finally, themes identified from thematic analysis of the interviews are presented, and key insights for good practice in climate change education are provided.

Keywords

agencyclimate change educationclimate distresscurriculuminstitutional betrayalschoolstudentseducators
Type
Chapter
Information
Climate Change and Youth Mental Health
Multidisciplinary Perspectives
 , pp. 329 - 346
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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