Materials won’t teach children sustainability

Materials won’t teach children sustainability

A change in teaching curriculum is needed to effectively educate the youth of today about climate change said experts during a global panel discussion hosted by Qatar Foundation on how the potential of today’s youth can be harnessed to drive action on climate change. The panel discussion was the first virtual event organized by Qatar Foundation (QF) as part of its contribution to the 2021 Global Goals Week, and was titled How Can We Build More Progressive Education Systems Capable of Empowering Us to Become More Involved in Climate Action? During her opening remarks, Buthaina Ali Al Nuaimi President of QF’s Pre-University Education, said “Progressive education that is action-oriented and based on transformative pedagogy is needed to develop competencies for sustainable development.” Dr. Carol O’Donnell, Executive Director, Smithsonian Science Education Center pointed out that, in schools today, many teachers do not have the background knowledge to teach climate change education, and so that is the starting point. “We need to develop curriculum materials or instructional materials to support teachers which will enable them to effectively educate students on this very serious topic of climate change, she said. According to Dr. O’Donnell, the ultimate goal is to build sustainability mindsets among