Spatial and temporal dynamics in climate change education discourse: An ecolinguistic perspective
Published: 2022
Publication Name: Critical Thinking in Biology and Environmental Education. Contributions from Biology Education Research
Publication URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92006-7_11
Abstract:
This chapter focuses on how students develop critical thinking skills about climate change evidence, impacts, and solutions to make local and individual meaning. As critical thinking is the ability to judge the beliefs, assumptions, and propositions while considering the role of evidence in the (re)construction of scientific knowledge, we argue that the looking at evidence in climate change heavily relies on understanding spatial and temporal reasoning. Therefore, our study aims to respond to the following overarching research question: How do students locate themselves across space and time relative to climate change phenomena? Using discourse analysis, we examined interviews from 13 students that were conducted before climate change educational experiences in middle school classrooms. We found that most students dissociated themselves from past climate causality while simultaneously expressing responsibility for individualistic future solutions, such as recycling and consuming greener products. They also expressed emotional stress at the distant and overwhelming global nature of climate phenomena, and coped via the scalar downshifting of solutions. This current positioning of students in making sense of climate change limits their ability to improve the necessary critical thinking skills to be active agents for taking part in solving the climate change problem.
Sezen-Barrie, A., Henderson, J.A., & Drewes, A.L. (2022). Spatial and temporal dynamics in climate change education discourse: An ecolinguistic perspective. In B. Puig & M. P. Jiménez-Aleixandre (Eds.) Critical Thinking in Biology and Environmental Education. Contributions from Biology Education Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92006-7_11