Eleventh International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to share the results of a series of pilot studies that aimed at evaluating the theoretical and applied principles of combining climate change education with career guidance and education in secondary schools. A series of interviews with school administrators, educators, and NGO representatives were conducted over the course of several months in 2016-17. In February of 2017, 30 high school students (ages 15-17) from one Ottawa (Canada) school, participated in a 3-hours workshop offered at Carleton University; and in May of 2017 a selected group of 22 high school students (ages 14 to 17) attended one-week (5 days), full-day course as part of a Mini-Enrichment Course Program organized by various Ontario public school districts and Carleton University. Results from these exploratory studies revealed that: the idea of combining climate change education with career guidance and education offers school administrators and educators with a feasible, innovative approach to career guidance and education, an area in the Canadian curriculum that is known to require improvements; when climate change education is combined with career guidance and education students develop an appreciation for their potential life-long contribution to the fight against climate change and become motivated to entertain career paths that can either directly or indirectly lead to the mitigation or adaptation to climate change.