The results of the first nationally representative survey on climate education in U.S. schools are in, and reveal, according to one noted scientist, that “we are failing students.”
The survey of 1,500 middle and high school science teachers in 50 states was conducted by the Penn State Survey Research Center (SRC) and the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), and the paper on the findings was published in the Feb. 12 issue of the journal Science.
It shows that little time was devoted to teaching climate science; while nearly three-quarters of the teachers devoted one or more lessons to recent global warming, the median amount of time they devoted to that was just an hour and a half, an amount, the authors write, that is “inconsistent with guidance from leading science and education bodies.”
The messages being taught are problematic as well.
“At least one in three teachers bring climate change denial into the classroom, claiming that many scientists believe climate change is not caused by humans,” stated NCSE programs and policy director Josh Rosenau. “Worse, half of the surveyed teachers have allowed students to discuss the supposed ‘controversy’ over climate change without guiding students to the scientifically supported conclusion.”
Specifically, the survey found that 31% of teachers said they emphasized “both sides”—both the scientific consensus that human activity has driven global warming and the false belief that climate change is due to natural causes. Twelve percent said they didn’t emphasize human causes at all.
Why? The authors write that just 4.4% of teachers said they felt pressure from outside actors including parents and administrators to teach “both sides,” and said the problem could be because of lack of knowledge of specific evidence. They also found that only 30% of middle school and 45% of high school teachers were aware of the extent of the scientific consensus on climate change.
They add: “combine this with the fact that almost one-sixth (15%) believe that it is mostly driven by natural causes, and another one-sixth thought that human and natural causes are equally important.”
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