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Educators’ experiences and strategies for responding to ecological distress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2020

Blanche Verlie Open the ORCID record for Blanche Verlie [Opens in a new window] ,
Emily Clark ,
Tamara Jarrett  and
Emma Supriyono
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Abstract

Research is increasingly identifying the issues of ecological distress, eco-anxiety and climate grief. These painful experiences arise from heightened ecological knowledge and concern, which are commonly considered to be de facto aims of environmental education. Yet little research investigates the issues of climate change anxiety in educational spaces, nor how educators seek to respond to or prevent such emotional experiences. This study surveyed environmental educators in eastern Australia about their experiences and strategies for responding to their learners’ ecological distress. Educators reported that their students commonly experienced feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, anxious, angry, sad and frustrated when engaging with ecological crises. Educators’ strategies for responding to their learners’ needs included encouraging students to engage with their emotions, validating those emotions, supporting students to navigate and respond to those emotions and empowering them to take climate action. Educators felt that supporting their students to face and respond to ecological crises was an extremely challenging task, one which was hindered by time limitations, their own emotional distress, professional expectations, society-wide climate denial and a lack of guidance on what works.

Keywords

hopeanxietygriefsupportresiliencecopingyouth
Type
Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , July 2021 , pp. 132 - 146
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Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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