ACT Conference 2023: Climate Empowerment - the Role of Citizenship and Personal Development Teachers

ACT Conference 2023: Climate Empowerment – the Role of Citizenship and Personal Development Teachers

The 2023 ACT Teaching Citizenship conference provided an opportunity to engage with research, curriculum development, and how we as practitioners can develop our students’ enthusiasm for these issues through active citizenship campaigns. This supports the curriculum, while engaging and inspiring students to become advocates on matters that affect not only their generation, but those to come.

Watch: Keynote speaker: Hugh Starkey
Professor of Citizenship and Human Rights Education, IOE, UCL’s Faculty of  Education and Society

Hugh’s research interests are education for democratic citizenship and human rights education (EDC / HRE) developed in an intercultural perspective. He has a background in distance education and has master’s level and doctoral students spread across the world. His group of  doctoral students engage in research into citizenship and intercultural education in contexts including East Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Europe. Hugh has acted as a consultant on human rights education and intercultural education for the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the British Council. From 2012 – 2014, he led a major research and development project to reform Citizenship education in the Lebanon  funded by the European Commission.

Watch: Panel discussion: Can the current democratic process solve the climate crisis?

Panel facilitator: Dr Alison Kitson, Associate Professor in History Education, IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society

Alison joined the IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, in 2008 as a lecturer in education and has worked across a number of roles including Subject Leader for History, Deputy Programme Leader for the secondary PGCE and Faculty Director of Initial Teacher Education. Following an increasing interest in environmental and sustainability education, she has been closely involved in the development of UCL’s new Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education and is now its programme director.

Panelist: Yasmin Cook, Geography and Citizenship Teacher

Yasmin is a first year ECT at Carshalton High School for Girls, teaching Citizenship and Geography. She completed the Citizenship PGCE at the IOE, and a degree in Politics at Liverpool. Yasmin currently runs the Global Citizens club at school, combining activism and the  Global Goals.

Panelist: Rebecca Deegan, Founder & Director, I Have a Voice

Rebecca is the founder of I Have a Voice (IHAV), an organisation that equips young people with the tools and confidence to speak up and  take action on the issues that matter to them and their community. This academic year IHAV joined forces with a number of social enterprises to deliver the Young Green Britain Challenge which is supporting over 2,700 Key Stage 3 students to design and deliver local
climate action projects.

Panelist: Henry Greenwood, Green Schools Project

Henry Greenwood is a secondary maths teacher who developed the role of sustainability coordinator at his school before using the  experience to set up Green Schools Project in 2015. The organisation has worked with over 240 schools, supporting pupils to run environmental projects, and delivering teacher training on climate education. He now oversees the Zero Carbon Schools programme, for which he won the London Schools Changemaker of the Year award in 2022, and runs workshops in schools around the country. In 2023,  he was featured on ITV London News in a Zero Carbon Schools session.

Panelist: Django Perks Student activist

Django has been passionately representing the voice of young people for many years. He is committed to ensuring that people are educated about climate change, its effects and how we can reduce our impact on the planet. He is particularly dedicated to ensuring
decision-makers listen to young people. Currently, Django is working on the Teach the Teacher Campaign as a campaign coordinator amongst other projects. He is also a member of Sheffield Youth Cabinet.

Workshops

Workshop 1A: Developing the National Education Nature Park’s Biodiversity and Climate Change Curriculum, Dr Laura Soul and Dr Amy Strachan, The National History Museum

As part of their work leading on the National Education Nature Park, the Natural History Museum is providing evidence-informed climate and nature curriculum support to teachers. The programme aims to make sure every young person in England has opportunities to develop a meaningful connection to nature, understand the concepts of climate change and biodiversity loss and feels able to take action. In this workshop participants will work together to understand the relationship between active citizenship and Nature Park activity as a route to climate empowerment for young people. The aim is to help Citizenship educators confidently engage with this area of work in their lessons and support pupils with relevant activities, with the possibility of ongoing  collaboration with the programme.

Workshop 1B: Using Select Committees to Support Citizenship Learning in GCSE Citizenship, Sera Shortland, Co-Editor of Teaching Citizenship Journal & ACT Teaching Ambassador

A useful workshop for anyone who does not know much about select committees and how they operate. In this session you will learn how two teaching  mbassadors have adapted their curriculum model to include aspects of the work of select committees. With practical examples and some discussion, you will  come away with ideas and resources that will support you to:

• Understand what select committees are and how they can inspire active Citizenship
• Update Key Stage three units of learning
• Include meaningful assessments and practise of 12- and 15-mark GCSE exam questions.

Workshop 1C: How Citizenship Teachers Can Help Their School Go Zero Carbon, Barney Green, Green Schools Project and Jane Haynes, ACT Ambassador

Participants will gain an insight into how to improve climate education in their school and how to reduce their school’s carbon footprint with practical ideas  f how to link this with Citizenship teaching. Attendees will explore how their schools are responding to the climate and nature crisis. They will look into how  to improve climate education and how their school can reduce its carbon footprint. They will also learn about the Zero Carbon Schools programme and how it supports the active citizenship cycle.

Workshop 1D: Successful Civic Participation – Inspiring Students to Take Action for Change, Helen Griffin, DECSY

Drawing on the Non-Violent Action: A Force for Change materials, developed and widely used by teachers, this workshop will highlight examples of people successfully taking action for change across the world and locally in relation to sustainability and climate change. In the workshop participants will:

1. Sample activities from four of the sets of lesson plans:
   • The Chipko Movement, India, 1974
   • The Green Belt Movement, Kenya
   • UK Right to Roam
   • Sheffield Street Trees
2. Apply criteria based on research about successful civic participation to historical and contemporary movements for change
3. Reflect on the value of using inspiring examples in citizenship teaching to enable students’ active participation.

Workshop 2A: Educating for Public Good: cultivating Eco-Citizenship Dr Alison Body, University Of Kent

In this research based knowledge enhancement seminar, Dr Alison Body will present findings from the University of Kent’s ongoing ESRC (Economic &  Social Research Council) project Educating for Public Good. Reflecting on quantitative survey data from over 2,000 primary schools in England and 100  interviews with primary school teachers, Alison will examine how social action, climate change and environmental justice is represented within narratives of  the ‘good citizen’, and the pedagogical and practical approaches adopted across different school types when accounting for variations such as school type,  size,  alue orientations, socio- economic and demographic factors. The findings highlight significant disparity in the priority assigned too and approaches adopted in climate change action and education across schools in England.

Workshop 2B: How Can We Get Climate and Sustainability Included in our Exam Specifications? Jen Osler, AQA

This workshop will discuss the different stakeholders involved in the creation of the Citizenship Studies qualification. Attendees will be offered the  pportunity to evaluate the Citizenship Studies qualification and consider how they would like to see it develop.

Workshop 2C: A Beginner’s Guide to How to Teach Climate Change and Sustainability – what you need to know and managing the risks, Idil Samankar, Teacher of Science, New College Leicester & Zoe Baker, ACT

The first half of this interactive session will be led by Idil. It will focus on helping you to gain the knowledge needed to teach the topic of climate change and sustainability confidently, and aim to leave you feeling prepared when answering student questions. In the second half of the workshop, Zoe will provide reassurance around the topic of political impartiality when dealing with the topic of climate change and sustainability. The session will also look at how to keep children’s action risk-free when they are impassioned, and looking to develop their agency and advocacy on this topic.

Workshop 2D: Teach the Future: Youth-led Interactive Workshop to Support GCSE Active Citizenship Projects, Django Perks, Student activist, SOS UK

The purpose of this session is to highlight, from a young person’s perspective, the importance of integrated climate education in the national curriculum, and to show how the Teach the Teacher campaign can support students and teachers to do this. Participants will explore the background of climate education; how do young people feel about climate change, what barriers are there for teachers in teaching about climate, and what work has already been done in this  space to help bridge that gap. Participants will then look more at the Teach the Teacher campaign itself, before opening for a larger discussion on how climate can be easily integrated into teaching across a range of subjects.

Workshop 3A: Climate Action Through Fast Fashion Zoe Dixon, Geography Teacher, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, Pete Watkins & Joey Coombs, Speak Carbon Collective

The purpose of this session is to provide an overview of projects, including Carbon Literacy, which have been successfully delivered in school to give students a sense of agency around climate change. Participants will develop their understanding of the impacts of fast fashion, including its relevance to climate justice, environmental sustainability, and practical action to promote sustainable consumer choices. By the end of the session, participants will have gained an understanding of how to use a relatable topic, such as fast fashion, to integrate climate science knowledge and to empower students to take action, make responsible fashion choices, and advocate for climate justice in their school community.

Workshop 3B: A Worldviews Approach to Sustainability Teaching Terri Barry, ACT Council Member & Teaching Ambassador & Claire Clinton, Newham Religious Education

This workshop brings together a worldviews approach to teaching sustainability. Claire Clinton, from RE Matters, and Terri Barry, an experienced  Citizenship teacher and ACT Teaching Ambassador, have collaborated to bring together resources from religious education and Citizenship education to  bring to life how sustainability can be taught whilst addressing the desired outcomes across these disciplines. Through the use of case studies, outcomes are met for both subject areas considering the wider beliefs of students in our classrooms as well as links to active citizenship and our role as global citizens. This workshop includes theory, pedagogy and practical elements with plenty of takeaways for use in the classroom.

Workshop 3C: Consider the Research, Practice and Policy Base for Teaching about Climate Change Education Dr Kate Greer and Hans Svennevig, IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society

This session will help teachers to build their understanding of climate change education and how they might incorporate it into their teaching. The first part  of the session will introduce & confirm with teachers the international and national policy context for climate change-related education, then explore a range of terms and educational approaches that are used by policymakers, researchers and practitioners. In the second part of the session, teachers will draw on  these research insights to create their own climate change education teaching resources suitable for use in citizenship education classes.