A Comparison of Secondary School Curricula in Terms of Climate Change Education in the World and Turkey

Abstract

Climate Change Education (CCE) is an approach that has started to establish its own identity in recent years. Many countries have begun to integrate global climate change into their curricula according to the CCE approach, following the UNESCO call. The aim of this study is to compare the curricula of Turkey with those of other countries which cover Climate, Climate Change, and Global Warming in terms of goal (gain). The countries and states with the highest scores in PISA (2015) were selected. The data obtained in this study were collected using the document analysis method as a qualitative research method. According to the CCE approach, issues related to climate and climate change are covered using an interdisciplinary approach in Germany, USA, Australia, Canada, Spain, Republic of South Africa (RSA) and Turkey while they are covered using a disciplinary approach in Sweden. In Finland and England, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches are used with students. Establish a connection between local environmental issues and climate change, which is one of the components of CCE, can be found in the curricula of Finland, Sweden, Spain, Canada, Germany and RSA. In addition, comparison of the effects of climate change on the continents are made in the curricula of Finland and Australia. The topics of local effect of climate change and sustainability are cursory in the curricula of Turkey and USA. Curricula are focused on the environmental problems of the Baltic region in Finland, environmental problems in the African continent in RSA, especially water scarcity, and Australia's ecological problems in Australia. While teaching past climate changes is a highlight of the CCE approach, only students in the UK learn how to interpret climate changes from the ice age to the present.