Abstract
Traditional environmental education efforts tend to focus on teaching students about climate change– a passive approach that fails to capitalize on students’ capacity to make a meaningful impact in their communities both now and in their future. That’s why many are now calling for “transformative” approaches to environmental education. Amid such calls, project-based learning– or PBL– has emerged as a way to allow students to explore and confront climate-related questions within their communities. To help teachers get started, the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Center for Professional Learning launched the PBL for Global Climate Justice program, which brings together educators from around the world to design project-based learning curricula focused on the problems and questions of global climate change. The program is divided into three parts: During Part I, “Explore,” educators deepen their own understanding of global climate justice issues and learn about how Penn scholars and practitioners, along with local community experts, working in different disciplines authentically engage with such issues by exploring resources on our online learning platform. In Part II, “Envision,” educators learn about the principles of project-based learning and sketch out project ideas that are relevant and authentic to their local context. During Part III, “Enact,” educators implement their projects with their students, as they participate in monthly live meetings with small teams of colleagues.
Presenters
Zachary HerrmannExecutive Director, Penn GSE Center for Professional Learning, University of Pennsylvania, United States Taylor Hausburg
Teaching & Learning Program Lead, Center for Professional Learning, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Pennsylvania, United States