Paper and presentation at symposiom: How teachers implement and imagine work with climate change in mathematics classrooms in norway and canada
Authors: Lisa Steffensen, Ragnhild Hansen and Kjellrun Hiis Hauge (Bergen University College, Norway). Yasmine Abtahi and Richard Barwell (University of Ottawa, Canada).
Abstract: An online survey was carried out in Norway and Canada to get a first impression of what teachers do in classrooms, and why, in relation to climate change and mathematics education. Barbosa’s perspectives of mathematical modelling inspired the questionnaire, in that his perspectives of modelling were exchanged for perspectives of climate change. We thus differentiate between working with climate change as 1. to learn mathematics, 2. to learn about climate change and 3. to encourage critical thinking. In particular, we were interested in critical perspectives. In this paper, we present some of the feedback on ideas on how students can work with climate change. The survey was partly quantitative, partly qualitative, and does not provide a full picture of how and why climate change is addressed in mathematics classrooms. However, it provides some ideas on the topic. We also present some ideas about education on climate change, based on the survey responses.