Climate change education at first sustainable public school: a case study

Abstract

This case study is focused on the first sustainable and self-sufficient public school in Latin America -and arguably the world-, School No.294 in Jaureguiberry, Uruguay. This research studied how the Climate Change Education (CCE) policies and practices carried out in the school have been interpreted by the school community. This qualitative study had two research questions:
- How have the educational team, parents and students interpreted and adopted the CCE policies and practices of the school and how have they reacted in their own practice?
- What personal and contextual circumstances can explain the different interpretations and reactions to the climate change education policy among the school community?
Data was collected through interviews and document analysis; 17 participants took part of this study and 6 documents were analysed. The semi-structured online interviews were conducted between November 2020 and March 2021.
Findings indicate that the community has had a mixed reception to the CCE policies and practices. For instance, at the start of the school project in 2016, only 15% of families had an organic vegetable garden at home whereas in 2019, 80% of families did. On the other hand, only a few members of the community actively participate and support school activities. Moreover, there have been tensions between and within actors. The active and sustainability-oriented pedagogical approach was defined as ‘transformative education for sustainability’, and enablers and barriers were identified. The findings of this study highlight how important the support of the community and authorities can be for climate change education projects.