Journal article 144 views 8 downloads
Empowering teachers and fostering pupil climate action in Welsh primary schools
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Shannon O'Connor O'Connor,
Geraldine Lublin
The Curriculum Journal
Swansea University Authors:
Jennifer Rudd , Shannon O'Connor O'Connor, Geraldine Lublin
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© 2025 The Author(s). The Curriculum Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Educational Research Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/curj.70025
Abstract
The Curriculum for Wales intends to help students understand and address climate change, but relies on teachers' knowledge and implementation thereof. This article focuses on “The Lifecycle of My Clothes”, a unit of work (UoW) developed by academics and practitioners. The UoW aimed to increase...
| Published in: | The Curriculum Journal |
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| ISSN: | 0958-5176 1469-3704 |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71101 |
| Abstract: |
The Curriculum for Wales intends to help students understand and address climate change, but relies on teachers' knowledge and implementation thereof. This article focuses on “The Lifecycle of My Clothes”, a unit of work (UoW) developed by academics and practitioners. The UoW aimed to increase students' awareness of the environmental impact of clothes and facilitate informed climate change action, delivered through cross-curricular pedagogy methods. Through post-intervention semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 17 teachers across four primary schools in South Wales, this article examines how pupils' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards clothing and the climate have changed since running the UoW, and whether it has empowered primary school teachers to deliver climate change education (CCE) within the framework of the Curriculum for Wales. Teacher responses were analysed within an interpretivist qualitative framework to identify emergent themes, with a reflexive stance maintained throughout the analysis. After the delivery of the UoW, teachers reported that pupils' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards clothing and the climate had improved significantly. Teachers felt more empowered to teach CCE through an increase in awareness and knowledge of how their actions can mitigate climate change, as well as reduced anxiety. The UoW was also cited by teachers as the driver for changes in their personal and professional lives, including their contributions to whole-school changes. We propose that engaging teachers in CCE can help them feel more confident in their teaching and proactive in climate mitigation. |
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| Keywords: |
climate change education, climate justice, curriculum for Wales, fast fashion |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
This project was supported by the Swansea University AHRC Impact Accelerator Account. |