Implementing Climate Change Education in the United States: A Meso-Level Analysis of School Systems

Overview & Synopsis

The field of climate change education is growing, with most research efforts focused on what represents effective teaching while having little to say about the structural obstacles to enacting the curriculum. This essay examines what we know about climate change education implementation from a meso-level structural perspective, accounting for the levels of school organization and permission structures that must be in place to effectively enact climate change education at scale. Using cautionary lessons from the history of creationism and evolution education, we examine what is known and not known about (a) the teaching of climate change science in K-12 schools, (b) the levels of administrative support among principals and superintendents, and (c) the community and cultural factors such as school boards that affect decisions to teach about the changing climate. We conclude by developing productive lines of research to better understand the blank spots of climate change education in the American educational structure.