Abstract
Recent civil action in England, and internationally, has called for more climate change education. Such calls for ‘more’ might well be met with the retort ‘of what?’, for as scholars have recognised, there is little consensus on what climate change education entails. Meanwhile, research gaps exist when it comes to understanding nation-level policy responses to climate change education. Responding to such gaps and appeals, this thesis presents an examination of the climate change education policy landscape in England and offers new insight into how the current situation has come to be, such that progress might be made.The research, which is theoretically framed by Foucault’s concept of governmentalities and his analytical instruments of policy historiography and policy archaeology, sets out to examine the rules that govern climate change education in England. It submits a history of the present of climate change education in England, exploring political events and transformations since the emergence of environmental education in the 1960s; a period coinciding with a ‘climate as catastrophe’ discourse. As the climate crisis has intensified, climate change education has been left floundering. It then examines the present-day perspectives on climate change education evident in policy texts and shared by ‘position-holders’. Using qualitative, interpretive research methods, specifically, exploratory interviews and thematic analysis, the research explores why some perspectives have come to shape climate change education policy in England, and why some influential people and stakeholders have not seen their role as one of doing so.
At a time when public interest in climate change education is high and it is apparent that the efforts of society and its institutions are failing to ameliorate climate change, the thesis provides valuable new insight. It has found that climate change education has a low profile throughout England’s policy landscape within policy texts and amongst individuals in positions of potential influence in relation to it. It has unpacked the complexity associated with defining what climate change education is and developed proposals for how that complexity could be embraced in designing and evaluating climate change education policy. It has also elicited that, whilst there is widespread agreement amongst position-holders that education has a meaningful role to play in response to climate change, there is limited evidence that key stakeholders are ‘stepping up’ in relation to it and, instead they are ‘standing back’ from influence. Whilst the stances adopted by individuals and the priorities of policy texts could be justifiable when viewed individually, when considered collectively, the situation is more troubling. Not only is climate change education marginalised, but there is also little within the policy landscape to suggest that this is likely to change. Hence, the thesis is concluded by proposing several pathways for action such that education would be positioned to play a more meaningful role in society’s efforts to avert a climate catastrophe. In particular, it is suggested that more policy influence could be realised by viewing ‘influence’ through an ‘activism’ lens.
| Date of Award | 1 Jan 2021 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Heather King (Supervisor) & Melissa Glackin (Supervisor) |