The global trend that interests me personally and in relation to my practice is global warming, in particular climate change, as described on page 32 in “Global trends: Alternative Worlds” . Jim Salinger, a New Zealand scientist who worked for NZ Met Office and then for NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) contributed to earlier publications of this document and also produced a report on how global warming would affect New Zealand back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s. I used this report to promote discussion in my senior horticulture classes at that time. He continues to be a sought after speaker on this topic, for example his presentation in Auckland in 2014. Now that I teach year 7 students, I can see the opportunity for meaningful learning using the context of climate change; participating in research and problem solving on climate change at a local level, for example coastal erosion, how climate change is affecting agriculture (national level) and what effects it is already having on our day to day lives (Heatwave in Australia).
The effects of climate change
“Global trends: Alternative Worlds” states that “empirical evidence alone - without reference to climate models - indicates that a general warming trend is affecting weather and ecosystems, causing increasing impacts on human”. Climate change is reinforcing extreme weather, such as the heat wave recently experienced in Australia. The Guardian tweeted a quote from Shane Fitzsimmons the RFS Commissioner at his briefing “ "These conditions are unprecedented not just in NSW but Australia, worse than Black Saturday forecast”. The Global Trends report states that this pattern is predicted to continue during the next 20 years. These environmental changes are already affecting our community, for example the road closure at Colac Bay and erosion of the Hokitika coastal walkway. There is a growing awareness of the need to plan and prepare for the predicted changes.
How this could affect education
The ERO 2012 report on priority learners identifies issues which schools need to focus on to address the needs of priority learners and are of benefit to all learners. The report states that only a third of New Zealand schools are addressing these issues satisfactorily. Two of these have relevance to climate change; student-centred learning and curriculum implementation. Student-centred learning gives teachers the opportunity to “foster students’ interests and strengths” (see page 7 of the report) as their students choose local or international climate change related issues to research and problem solve. Curriculum implementation is “responsive and rich” as described in page 12. Responsive in the sense that it has meaning for the learner and is supported by their families and the wider community. The communication skills learnt can contribute to solving problems now and in the future.
The Ministry of Education is also planning for the future in the design of their school buildings. Amesbury School in Wellington is an example of a primary school which has internationally recognised “best practices in educational investment”. The buildings are designed to have a low impact on the environment and includes technology that monitors energy consumption which is available to teachers and students as a learning resource.
References
Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools. Retrieved 18 May 2016, from http://www.ero.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Evaluation-at-a-Glance-Priority-Learners-in-New-Zealand-Schools-August-2012.pdf
National Intelligence Council. (2012). Global trends: Alternative Worlds. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved from https://globaltrends2030.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/global-trends-2030-november2012.pdf
Web links
https://www.niwa.co.nz/news/international-scientists-focus-global-warming-and-climate-change
.@RFSCommissioner briefing: "These conditions are unprecedented not just in NSW but Australia, worse than Black Saturday forecast" #nswrfs
1:25 PM - 12 Feb 2017 · Sydney, New South Wales
Hi Karen,
ReplyDeleteThis also is a trend that is close to my heart. I feel the knock-on effects of global warming will impact greatly on education. Populations will become more transient so fragmenting children's' education. Greater amounts of government budget will be spent on survival, reducing money available for education, there will be more crises with all the stress and disruption they bring to education.
This is a global problem and provides a great opportunity for students to work beyond the classroom walls in collaborative problem solving. If we don't teach them to do this the competition for resources (water, land etc.) will escalate into inter and intra nation conflicts.
Kia ora Karen,
ReplyDeleteI read with interest on your megatrend. It's interesting to see in the ODT today a prediction that South Dunedin may be under water in as little as 17 years or so. I worry that the families already renting in some parts of this area might not be able to afford to rent/purchase due to the inflated house prices too so they'll no doubt uproot their whanau and move on. It's incredible to think how interconnected these megatrends are and the flow on effects for schooling and education. Here's the article link for your reading http://tinyurl.com/southdunedin