Abstract
Governments and international support organizations have seen the teaching and learning of climate change and the environment as an important strategy for attaining sustainability in the next thirty years in Africa, a continent suffering the worst effect of climate change. In Nigeria, previous studies have reported divergent findings on the inclusion of climate change and environmental education into the curricula, while the effectiveness of this probable inclusion has been challenged by some other studies with recommendations for further investigation. This study builds on the issues, findings, and recommendations raised by probing the awareness of the dangers of climate change; the incorporation of environmental and climate education into schools’ curricula; provision of standard and adequate materials for the teaching and learning of the concepts; and how the knowledge or lack thereof is influencing the practice of climate and environment-friendly strategies among students and teachers in six secondary schools in Oyo town, Oyo State, Nigeria. Curricula of primary and secondary schools’ education designed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) were analyzed, students responded to an online questionnaire, and teachers were interviewed. Findings from quantitative and qualitative data analysis show policy and empirical gaps to be covered. Teachers need training; government and other stakeholders need to provide teaching and learning materials and work on implementation; and a continent-wide empirical examination of the successes, failures, and gaps of the global collaboration on improving environmental education is needed.
Presenters
Obasanjo Joseph OyedeleStudent, PhD, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Technical, Political, and Social Responses
KEYWORDS
CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, SUSTAINABILITY, TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, SECONDARY SCHOOLS
