Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE) - Volume 27 - Issue 1 - Rethinking Climate Change in Education

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by OmBimo

Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE) advances methods for examining relationships between climate change and education while challenging approaches that rely on endless economic growth, extraction, and dispossession. In a moment of transition toward a greener future, the work emphasizes how communities most affected by climate change are often excluded from “climate solutions” narratives. It identifies what is absent or erased within UN Sustainable Development Goals and common climate education approaches, using longer historical analysis and Black and Indigenous knowledge systems and cosmologies, framed through decolonial educational ecologies to confront power imbalances and expand more just, sustainable futures beyond universal Western epistemic models.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Climate education models and epistemic foundations

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and UN frameworks

Decolonial educational ecologies and reparative pathways

Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE), Volume 27, Issue 1, Special Issue 2025 Rethinking Climate Change in Education: From Climate Coloniality to Decolonial Educational Ecologies in Comparative and International Education Benjamin D. Scherrer State University of New York at Oswego tavis d. jules Loyola University Chicago We present methods to examine the relationships between climate change and education while rethinking educational approaches that do not rely on endless economic growth, extraction, and accumulation through dispossession. At this historical moment, which is focused on transitions toward a greener future, it is essential to consider how the roles of those most aﬀected by climate change are often overlooked in narratives about “climate solutions.” The paper highlights what is absent from and erased within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and prevalent approaches to climate change education. It does so by focusing on a longer historical arc, as well as Black and Indigenous knowledge systems and cosmologies, alongside ongoing and historical injustices. Utilizing the framework of a decolonial educational ecology, we reimagine climate change in education within interconnected global contexts, emphasizing historically marginalized knowledge systems, confronting power imbalances, and creating alternative pathways toward more sustainable, just futures that transcend universal Western epistemic frameworks. Keywords: Decolonial education ecology, Comparative and International Education, Climate Change Education, decolonization, climate coloniality. Introduction Scholars, policymakers, and practitioners worldwide have emphasized the importance of K-12 education, higher education, and informal education in responding to climate change in recent decades (United Nations [UN], 2021) . Simultaneously, the epistemic foundations of the topic are often ignored. Popular models of climate education aim to provide students with an understanding of climate change, covering its causes, eﬀects, and remedial strategies, such as transitions to “green energy” (Rousell & Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, 2020) . This knowledge is assumed to enable students to respond eﬀectively to climate-related challenges while promoting environmental stewardship and sustainable development. In curriculum and policy, climate education focuses on the scientiﬁc understanding of the mechanisms underlying changing atmospheric conditions, empowering students to reduce carbon emissions, and raising awareness of the impacts of intensifying weather patterns (Bhattacharya et al., 2020; © 2025, Scherrer & jules. CC BY 4.0 . Current Issues in Comparative Education 27(1), 153-171. Rethinking Climate Change in Education: From Climate Coloniality to Decolonial Educational Ecologies in Comparative and International Education Stein, 2020; Stein et al., 2023). However, we argue that what is missing from how climate education is currently taught is a focus on discussing the longer interconnected historical arc of the past, explaining the erasures of Black and Indigenous knowledge systems and cosmologies (other ways of living and being in the world), and addressing historical injustices through reparative projects (Acabado & Kuan, 2021; Emeagwali & Shizha, 2016; Estes 2019; Scherrer et al., 2024). We put forth that such a reorientation in the way we teach about climate education allows us to re/center a multiplicity of ‘pluriversal thinking’(Escobar, 2018) through what we call decolonial educational ecologies (discussed below) . Building on Ferdinand (2021), a decolonial educational ecological approach involves more than just incorporating Black and Indigenous viewpoints. It requires reimagining education to center historically marginalized knowledge systems and cosmologies while confronting existing human and more-than-human power imbalances as humans seek to address the current climate crisis. In the ﬁeld of Comparative and In

FAQs

What does the paper aim to examine about climate change and education?

It proposes methods to examine relationships between climate change and education while rethinking educational approaches that depend on endless economic growth, extraction, and accumulation through dispossession.

What does the paper argue is missing in current climate education practice?

It argues that climate education often omits discussion of longer interconnected historical arcs, erasures of Black and Indigenous knowledge systems and cosmologies, and the addressing of historical injustices through reparative projects.

How does the paper frame an alternative approach to climate change education?

It uses a decolonial educational ecology framework to reimagine climate change in education through interconnected global contexts, emphasizing historically marginalized knowledge systems and confronting human and more-than-human power imbalances.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by OmBimo