A National Overview of Climate Change Education Policy: Policy Coherence between Subnational Climate and Education Policies in Canada (K-12)

This article analyses the depth of engagement with climate change education policy across all 13 provinces and territories in Canada. A comparative content analysis of 13 climate action plans (CAP) and 90 K-12 education policy documents shows a major gap existing between Canada’s climate and educati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of education for sustainable development Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 63 - 85
Main Authors Bieler, Andrew, Haluza-Delay, Randolph, Dale, Ann, Mckenzie, Marcia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New Delhi, India SAGE Publications 01.09.2017
Subjects
Case Studies
Change
Climate
Comparative Analysis
Content Analysis
Educational Objectives
Educational Policy
Educational Trends
Efficiency
Elementary Secondary Education
Energy
Environmental Education
Foreign Countries
Leadership Role
Canada
Climate change education
schooling
education for sustainable development
education policy
technological and vocational education and training
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Summary:This article analyses the depth of engagement with climate change education policy across all 13 provinces and territories in Canada. A comparative content analysis of 13 climate action plans (CAP) and 90 K-12 education policy documents shows a major gap existing between Canada’s climate and education policies. While subnational climate policy calls for education to contribute substantially to addressing climate change, education policy is not aligned towards this call. Three themes emerged within the overview of the provinces and territories: shallow engagement with climate change within education policies; the predominance of energy efficiency upgrades for schools as a foremost education sector objective; and policy gaps that show a lack of attention to many areas of climate education. Further detailing the climate change education objectives in four provinces identified as playing a leadership role in climate policy, this research suggests that even among these climate leaders, K-12 education policy minimally attends to climate change. Alignment between Canadian and international trends in climate change education is also assessed.
ISSN:0973-4082
0973-4074
DOI:10.1177/0973408218754625