The challenges and affordances of online participatory workshops in the context of young people's everyday climate crisis activism: insights from facilitators

Participatory workshops can provide an equitable way of working with diverse communities to co-produce new knowledge and understanding in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism. Drawing on data from interviews with seven facilitators, we consider the specific affordances and challenges provided by participatory workshops that are held online with groups including young people and teachers. We highlight that the online format can provide a powerful methodological tool for co-production, community building and developing constructive intergenerational dialogue. Although online workshops can include diverse voices, barriers and challenges remain when seeking to reduce the persistent under-representation of some groups

What role can ‘public switching’ play in researching public perceptions of controversial issues?

This short article reflects on ‘public switching’ as a methodology for research on public perspectives on potential responses to the climate crisis. There have been recent calls for early public engagement with potentially controversial science and technology. Such ‘upstream’ engagement is often conducted by those close to the science, presenting challenges associated with informing without advocating and deferral to scientists on non-scientific matters. The method we propose – public switching – involves engaging a public (here, young people) with emerging technologies through social science priming, independent research and the creation of questions which are presented to scientists and policymakers working in the field. We argue that this approach provides a mechanism for the public to connect with science and policy and to be heard, with question creation depolarising and deepening discussion. We reflect on methods of public switching, question creation and analysis, and discuss the limits and limitations of this approach

The challenges and affordances of online participatory workshops in the context of young people's everyday climate crisis activism: insights from facilitators

Participatory workshops can provide an equitable way of working with diverse communities to co-produce new knowledge and understanding in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism. Drawing on data from interviews with seven facilitators, we consider the specific affordances and challenges provided by participatory workshops that are held online with groups including young people and teachers. We highlight that the online format can provide a powerful methodological tool for co-production, community building and developing constructive intergenerational dialogue. Although online workshops can include diverse voices, barriers and challenges remain when seeking to reduce the persistent under-representation of some groups

Teacher and youth priorities for education for environmental sustainability: A co-created manifesto

What would it mean to put environmental sustainability at the heart of education? This article describes a process of inclusive, participatory manifesto-making to identify young people's (aged 16–18 years) and teachers' priorities for education for environmental sustainability across the UK. Drawing on analysis of qualitative data from over 200 teachers and young people who participated in futures and visualisation workshops, we identify key educational priorities at the levels of classroom, school, community and policy, based on consensus between teacher and youth perspectives. Whilst consensus-seeking comes with a risk of favouring ‘soft’ actions which reinforce unsustainable practices and systems, the process of identifying more desirable futures and immediate barriers that must be negotiated to reach them has the potential to create spaces for more critical pedagogies and practices. There is a need for policy makers and school leaders to recognise the interests of teachers and young people to enable greater participation in decision making at different scales, and to ensure that those with the greatest capacity bear their burden of responsibility for education for environmental sustainability

An introduction to the co-creation of policy briefs with youth and academic teams

Drawing on insights from a four-day online workshop, which explored geo-engineering and policy making with 13 youth participants, an academic and youth authorial team provide a guide to the co-creation of policy briefs. Drawing on excerpts from the policy brief at different stages of development and commentary provided by the authors during the workshops, we set out four stages including (1) Identifying the key message and audience, (2) Reading and critically engaging with examples of policy briefs during the drafting process, (3) Developing the policy brief text, and (4) Reviewing and revising the policy brief. We have developed this guidance with a co-creative, group work approach in mind and suggest that this has relevance for those working in and beyond the discipline of geography

How Science Works: the impact of a curriculum change on classroom practice

Background: In 2006 the UK National Curriculum for Key Stage 4 (KS4) was changed and increased emphasis was placed on How Science Works (HSW). KS3 and KS5 (Subject Criteria) followed suit around 2006. HSW encompasses those strands of curriculum which cannot be said to belong to any of the sciences in particular, such as History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), and investigative and socio-scientific aspects. Aim: This study aims to investigate the impact the curriculum change had on the classroom practice of UK secondary school science teachers, the influences they feel they have been subjected to surrounding the curriculum change, and their opinions of the curriculum change itself. The study is further informed by related practitioners’ reflections on the effects they may have had on teachers and their practice. Sample: Twenty-five secondary school science teachers from eleven different schools of five different school types participated in the study, as well as six textbook developers, two examiners and three science education consultants. Participants comprised a mix of males and females, from various science subject backgrounds, who had all been secondary school science teachers in the UK for varying lengths of time. Method: Participants engaged in a semi-structured interview of up to one hour about their current practice regarding HSW, as well as the changes they made specifically for HSW and any related feelings and opinions. Where feasible, teachers were observed in a lesson in which they had planned to address at least one aspect of HSW. Results: Participants had varied opinions on whether change had been necessary, based on recognition of HSW in earlier versions, but also recognition of the importance of HSW per se. As a group, the teachers displayed a spectrum of readiness to change, with most teachers either pioneering, embracing or following the change, and very few displaying signs of reluctance or subversion. Practice had changed under a variety of influences, of which the new curriculum was the main of the so-called ‘external agents’. Factors internal to school as well as personal agents were also brought forward. Conclusion: The study investigates a broader sample of teachers than has been studied before in the context of HSW. Although varying in their interpretation of the curriculum change and their eagerness to respond to it, the majority of teachers had made some changes, by expanding their repertoire of teaching activities, most notably in dealing with HPS and socio-scientific aspects of HSW, often at least partly in response to assessment requirements in those areas