Earlier this year, an important poll about climate education reached a surprising conclusion: 4 in 5 parents wish climate change would be taught in schools.
NPR summarized the polls results, saying:
More than 80% of parents in the U.S. support the teaching of climate change. And that support crosses political divides, according to the results of an exclusive new NPR/Ipsos poll: Whether they have children or not, two-thirds of Republicans and 9 in 10 Democrats agree that the subject needs to be taught in school.
A separate poll of teachers found that they are even more supportive, in theory — 86% agree that climate change should be taught.
This is really good news, in a world that needs not just awareness of climate breakdown but a deeper sense of how we can respond to it with our lives and our best creative solutions. Even so, NPR went on to note:
More than half — 55% — of teachers we surveyed said they do not cover climate change in their own classrooms or even talk to their students about it.
The most common reason given? Nearly two-thirds (65%) said it’s outside their subject area.
Through our project, Poetic Earth Month, we wanted to help creative teachers find a way to integrate climate into their subject areas in a seamless fashion.
Since writing across the curriculum is a central educational technique, that’s where we started: with writing. It’s also common for classrooms to use a cross-disciplinary approach, blending language arts with science, for instance. Putting these variables together, we designed a 30-days, 30-poems challenge that begins with people and what they care about.
The result? A poetic resource: Earth to Poetry: A 30-Days, 30-Poems Earth, Self, and Other Care Challenge. It’s for anyone who wants to reflect, explore, and act creatively.
If you try it out personally or in a teaching capacity, we’d love to hear how it impacts. (Feel free to share your thoughts with us on Twitter or Instagram!)
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Bethany R. says
Looking forward to receiving my copy and using it to explore poetry and Earth-appreciation with my kiddo. 🙂
L.L. Barkat says
Marvelous, Bethany. Let us know how it goes. (And please feel free to share any poetry that comes from the experience! 🙂
Bethany says
Thanks for the invite! 🙂