Our most recent focus in this module has been Climate Change, how this affects us and our impact on it. We thought about what we associate with the words “Climate Change” such as: global warming; carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases. Personally, sometimes I could be guilty of bundling these terms into one and thinking of […]
Our most recent focus in this module has been Climate Change, how this affects us and our impact on it. We thought about what we associate with the words “Climate Change” such as: global warming; carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases. Personally, sometimes I could be guilty of bundling these terms into one and thinking of them as meaning the same thing. However, I am realising that I can’t do this and that it is important to fully understand the definitions of terms such as these, so that I am fully aware of what is going on in my environment. We learned that climate is the average weather at a given point and time of year, over a long period of time. Despite weather changing each day, it is expected that it will stay relatively constant over time, and if it does not remain constant, it is referred to as climate change. To come to this conclusion, evidence has to be collected in several ways such as: weather recordings, ice cores, rocks and fossils and analysis of pollen and trees. It is widely known that the effects of climate change are vast, some of these include crops being wiped out in low-lying areas that suffer from flooding and coastal land being at risk. This impacts greatly on our day-to-day living, but also goes beyond what we experience in daily life: ice caps melting, pollution affecting sea-life and carbon dioxide slowly warming Earth. Learning about the effects of climate change ignites a passion in me to really make a difference to help our planet. I feel motivated to encourage children in the future to take pride in helping our environment and experimenting with different ways to do this.
Due to the detrimental effects of Climate Change, it is necessary for the government to take action. We learned that policies are set, and these are informed by research. However, the research provided can be twisted and manipulated to show certain conclusions, and may have a bias to them. We can’t always be sure that they are 100% reliable, and should be wary of this before we simply believe what the media and government are telling us. Finding out about this information has helped me to develop my critical thinking skills. This will allow me to put a GTCS Professional Standard into action: read, analyse and critically evaluate a range of appropriate educational and research literature. This skill helps me to determine which sources are reliable and relevant, and this will help me greatly when I become a primary teacher as I will be able to use appropriate information to educate my class. I can also pass these critical thinking skills onto the children, which will help them massively in their future studies. It is also important to encourage the children to have a passion for helping the environment and doing what they can to help. This links with the Curriculum for Excellence, as there are many Experiences & Outcomes that outline different ways in which the children should experience the environment and learn about the changes that are happening, why they are happening and what we can do to help, such as: “I can consider ways of looking after my school or community and can encourage others to care for their environment” – SOC 1-08a . Some initiatives that have been introduced into Primary Schools to help promote being eco-friendly include the Clean up Scotland Campaign and the Eco-Schools Green Flag, which I remember taking part in while I was at primary school. I remember taking part in tasks such as litter picking, being a light monitor (making sure all lights were switched off when they were not in use) and encouraging teachers and students to recycle appropriately, and in particular take to do with paper recycling in the school. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this when I was a child, as it gave us an opportunity to work towards a goal as a whole school, and working together to help our planet was a very rewarding activity, even at a young age. From my own experience, I believe that children would enjoy being a part of something that is truly making a difference and they would be proud of what they are achieving. Other ways to include eco-friendly initiatives would be through social studies topics such as ‘The Environment” or “Global Citizenship” in which the children can learn lots more.
Children proudly showing their Eco-Schools Green Flag
Photo credit: https://www.eco-schools.org.uk
A fantastic resource for helping children to see the consequences of their actions in the WWF Carbon Footprint Calculator. I completed the questionnaire it provides, which resulted in the calculator telling me I use over 100% of my share. This’ll obviously, worried me and I then continued to browse the website and came across a list of tips on how to lower your carbon footprint such as buying more seasonal fruit and veg and consuming less meat and dairy. I think this is a brilliant resource for children as it gives them a visual representation of your carbon footprint and shows you this in relation to the 2020 target, which will therefore show children the consequences of their actions, and then show them the small changes they can make to lower their footprint. The link to the resource is as follows: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk.
A quote which stood out for me from Kemp (2004, p.399) was: “Success has come about where science and education have been backed up by appropriate levels of funding and coupled with the political will to make decisions that are nor popular with all sections of society”. This quote shows that there is an equal importance on research, education, policies and funding and that when used all together, it is more likely to be successful. Furthermore, Kemp tells us that it is important to do what is right, despite not everyone agreeing with the outcomes. I am passionate about making sure I continue to do what I believe is right, no matter if other people doubt it or disagree with it. If no one made a change, we would continue to damage our planet for years to come. Some people may not like change, but I truly believe that it doesn’t matter, and that our planet can’t wait any longer for us to help it.
To try and tackle Climate Change in Scotland, the government produced the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 which outlines targets and policies put in place. The main focus of the document is to outline the 205o target, in which the net Scottish emissions must be at least 80% lower in 2050 than the baseline (1990). There are also interim targets set such as by the year 2020, Scottish emissions should be 42% lower than the baseline. The Act also states that there must be regular reports and recording to keep up-to-date with progress made. There are also many different strategies outlines such as the carrier bag charge to discourage people from using disposable plastic bags in shops and supermarkets; penalties and fines for people who do not co-operate with waste reduction and recycling; ensuring that our land us used in the most effective ways and promoting energy efficiency by offering discount schemes. In my own life, I have made adaptations to accommodate these new policies: for example, I now make sure I always carry a folded up carrier bag in my handbag for when I go shopping. Just this small effort that I have made has saved me from buying lots of plastic carrier bags, and therefore making a small difference to our environment. I work in a supermarket as a part-time job, and therefore witness how many people remember to bring their own bags when they do a ‘weekly shop’. I have definitely seen an increase in the amount of people that bring bags, but am still amazed at the amount of people who seem to not worry about using ten new plastic bags every time they go to the supermarket. I can’t help but think about what impact that has on our environment – if every person remembered to re-use plastic bags, it would make such a difference to our planet. I really think it is important for everybody to encourage their family and friends to make small eco-friendly changes to their lives, as together, it can make a massive difference. Throughout the document, it is clear that public engagement is essential in achieving the target in the time stated. It is the responsibility of the government to inform people about climate change and encourage them to help in any way they can. It can be hard for adults to grow accustom to the changes that we have to make, such as paying for plastic bags or re-using old ones, however, for young children, this is what they have always known. I think that because young children are growing up in a world that is very aware of climate change, they will be less likely to struggle with eco-friendly concepts. I think this is an amazing thing, because, if we can educate children at a young age about the environment and climate change, they will be aware of it for the rest of their life.
Part of our task for this topic was to watch a documentary called Antarctica On The Edge which showed a team of scientists and researchers spending a month in Antarctica to learn more about what was happening there in terms of climate change. A misconception I had was that although Antartica’s ice was melting, it didn’t directly relate our lives in Scotland. However, I learned that Antarctica influences our whole weather system, so even though it is very far away from where we live, changes that happen there affect us every day. I was amazed to learn that the melting of the Antarctic will result in a one metre rise in sea levels by the end of the century, and thirteen metres in 500 years. The dramatic evidence of climate change in Antarctica goes on: the arctic sea ice levels are at the lowest level ever recorded, the sea is warming and glaciers are retreating. Antarctica is warming faster than any other place on the planet, and penguins are having to abandon their resting areas. All of this information has truly made me feel worried and scared about what we, as humans, are doing to damage our planet. It gives me a sense of responsibility and shows that our actions have consequences. As a researcher in the film said: “We should have acted yesterday”. The GTCS standard: “have an understanding of the legal and professional aspects of a teacher’s position of trust in relation to learners and how these affect his/her daily responsibilities” shows that teachers should be responsible and pass this on to their learners. This skill is essential in becoming a teacher as we must show the children that they have the power to make a difference.
An initiative that a Primary 4 or 5 class might undertake to help them develop the skills required to adapt to changing weather patterns such as flooding could be that the class have to develop an Emergency Plan and take responsibility to inform all other pupils and teachers in the school of exactly what to do if extreme weather occurs. The first thing to do would be for the class to research and investigate what type of extreme weather is the most likely to happen in our area. If this was, for example, flooding, the children could then take on the role of being “Flood Guards”. They would be in charge (with teacher supervision) of finding out what the real risks and how to help or prevent them. The children could learn about amber and red warnings and then be in charge of issuing these out to the school if necessary. The children could make posters to have in each classroom outlining what to do in the case of an emergency. In taking part in an initiative such as this, children experience the responsibility of taking the issue seriously, and also learn more about the real-life implications of disasters such as these.
Learning about Climate Change has been very interesting, but also somewhat scary. It hasn’t been particularly enjoyable to learn information about how much our planet is damaged and what the horrible effects of this are. However, it has been so worthwhile, as I feel like I am much more equipped to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle and show family and friends how just little changes that don’t affect our lives much at all, can really help to make the planet a better place. I feel that it is important for us to be willing to hear information or watch documentaries that worry or scare us, as it is this that gives us a sense of urgency. I am looking forward to passing on this sense of responsibility to children that I may teach, so that they can adopt small changes as well, and hopefully they can pass it on too.
References:
Antarctica On The Edge [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTPY8Q0raU4&app=desktop [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018].
Eco Schools [online] Available at: https://www.eco-schools.org.uk [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018].
Education.gov.scot. [online] Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/social-studies-eo.pdf [Accessed 26 Sep. 2018].
General Teaching Council for Scotland. (2018) Professional Standards [online] Available at: http://www.gtcs.org.uk/professional-standards/professional-standards.aspx [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018].
Kemp, D. (2004) Exploring Environmental Issues: An Integrated Approach. London: Routledge
Scottish Government. (2009) Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Edinburgh: Crown Copyright
WWF [online] Available at: https://www.wwf.org.uk/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018].
affecting one in fifteen people in the UK (Mental Health Foundations, 2018). With severe weather come severe problems, like flooding, droughts, forest fires, tornadoes and storms. These bring massive human consequence as food cannot grow in these conditions; essentials cannot be transported to areas that need them most and lives of both humans and live stock may be lost. Arguably Scottish weather is becoming more extreme with flooding, heavy storms and the summer of 2018 being the hottest on record (The World News, 2018).