Governmentalities of climate change education in England: Perspectives from history, policy and position-holders

Abstract

Recent civil action in England, and internationally, has called for more climate change education. Such calls for 'more' might well be met with the retort 'of what?', for as scholars have recognised, there is little consensus on what climate change education entails. Meanwhile, research gaps exist when it comes to understanding nation-level policy responses to climate change education.Responding to such gaps and appeals, this thesis presents an examination of the climate change education policy landscape in England and offers new insight into how the current situation has come to be, such that progress might be made.The research, which is theoretically framed by Foucault's concept of governmentalities and his analytical instruments of policy historiography and policy archaeology, sets out to examine the rules that govern climate change education in England. It submits a history of the present of climate change education in England, exploring political events and transformations since the emergence of environmental education in the 1960s; a period coinciding with a 'climate as catastrophe' discourse. ContentsAcknowledgements .

‘Standing back’ or ‘stepping up’? Exploring climate change education policy influence in England

“…Beyond that near consensus, perspectives on what climate change education is or should entail, were diverse. Previously (Greer & Glackin, 2021) we have described position holders' views of what climate change education is or could be in terms of three categories ranging from more knowledge-oriented approaches centred on disciplinary curriculum (and dominated by geography and science education) through to more expansive conceptions that integrate formal education into society's response to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Such conceptual diversity illustrates the difficulty of agreeing a single definition of climate change education, a factor which is likely to contribute to its continued marginalisation in policy.…”