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- Activity proposals to improve children’s climate literacy and environmental literacyPublication . Ramos, Ricardo; Rodrigues, Maria José; Rodrigues, IsildaWith the climate crisis, schools have a fundamental role to enrich children’s climate literacy, which should begin in their early years and continue for life. Developing activities in the classroom can be an excellent way of bringing this about. This work is part of a larger research project, during which a previous study was carried out with 245 children aged 9 to 13, in which we identified some limitations in their knowledge about climate change. Based on these results, we decided to present some proposals for activities that could help improve these children’s climate literacy. The study we conducted was of an exploratory character, and the main objective was to understand the impact of applying a set of activities to 54 children. The objectives of this work were to increase the climate literacy of the children involved—more specifically, to evaluate the impact of implementing three activities related to climate change and identify the knowledge about the cases and consequences of climate change that were acquired by the children involved. To collect the data, we used a focus group technique and content analysis to process it. The results revealed that the children acquired a better understanding of the problem of climate change—in particular, the causes and consequences of it and of the concept of the ecological footprint—as well as motivation to contribute to mitigating the problem. We conclude that the activities proposed could contribute to improving climate literacy, as well as stimulate children’s curiosity and proactivity so that they become citizens capable of exercising their active citizenship.
- Children’s Perception of Climate Change in North-Eastern PortugalPublication . Ramos, Ricardo; Rodrigues, Maria José; Rodrigues, IsildaDespite the impact that climate change is having on our planet and considering its consequences for future generations, much of the academic literature focuses on adolescent and adult perceptions, giving little relevance to children’s perceptions. Children’s voices have the potential to influence public opinion, which may in turn determine the direction of a new policy on the climate crisis. In this context, it is urgent that we understand how children perceive this problem. This quantitative study was based on the application of 245 questionnaires to children aged between 9 and 13 years old from five schools in north-eastern Portugal, more specifically in the region of Trás-os-Montes. We can say that this study was a convenience study because we delivered the surveys in the schools closest to the working area of the researchers. We used a questionnaire with 26 questions, 24 of which had closed responses (like the Likert type), one open response, and one with multiple choices. In this work, we conducted a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, and prepared a database, using the statistical software IBM SPSS, which allowed us to conduct some statistical tests, selected according to variables. For the descriptive analysis, several parameters were used for the distribution of variables, namely, frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. We rejected the null hypothesis (H0) and assumed for the inferential analysis that the sample does not follow a normal distribution, considering the fulfillment of the necessary criteria for parametric tests and after performing the Kolmogorov–Smirnov normality test, whose null hypothesis (H0) is that data are normally distributed, and given that the p-value for the variables under study was p < 0.05. In this regard, non-parametric tests were used. The Mann–Whitney test was used to compare the degree of agreement with climate change statements as a function of the student’s gender and year of schooling, which is a non-parametric test suitable for comparing the distribution functions of an ordinal variable measured in two independent samples. The results show that most of the children expressed concern about the study’s potential problem, and (42%) said they are concerned about climate change. However, they show some doubts and a lack of knowledge about some of the themes, like (33.5%) cannot name only one consequence of climate change. We also found differences between the two study cycles, with children in the 6th grade having a higher average in their understanding of the phenomenon (p = 0.049), as well as the level of education of the parents being positively correlated with a more ecocentric posture, we can see this when we considering the variable parents. We also found that 46.6% of the students say that television is where they learn more about climate change. From the results obtained, we can open new paths for future research and contribute to the definition of policies and educational practices since the school has the responsibility to cooperate in the production of values, attitudes, and pro-environmental behaviors.
- Climate Change Perceptions: A Study with Portuguese University Social Education StudentsPublication . Ramos, Ricardo; Vaz, Paula Marisa Fortunato; Rodrigues, Maria José; Rodrigues, IsildaClimate change (CC) is one of the most urgent problems to solve in this century, the effects of which cover a wide range of disciplines that go beyond the environmental component, becoming a social and economic problem as well. Social educators are professionals who must ensure that the quality of life in socially vulnerable societies is improved. In order to mitigate the problem of climate change, it is necessary for all professionals in the most varied areas to have climate literacy, so that they can adopt behaviors that comply with the objectives of sustainable development. Recognizing the importance of the social educator in the context of contemporary societies, we intended to find out the university students’ perceptions on the social education course. With this in mind, we set out to carry out this study, which was based on the application of a questionnaire using a Likert scale. The respondents were 161 social education students at a higher education institution in Portugal. In order to carry out the inferential analysis, we took care to meet the necessary criteria for carrying out parametric tests. The results showed that a majority (72.6 %) of students were concerned about climate change. They (54.7 %) also stated that they would like their course to deal more with climate change, as 74 % acknowledged that they did not have the skills to deal with climate change as a future professional. The results also showed that the students were incapable of correctly listing a consequence of climate change. The data collected and analyzed in this study allowed us to conclude that Environmental Education played a fundamental role in the academic training of social educators, suggesting the need for its reinforcement and inclusion in their training plans. We also found that greater efforts were needed to improve students’ climate literacy.
- Contributions of climate change research to the implementation of the 2030 agendaPublication . Ramos, Ricardo Manuel Machado; Rodrigues, Maria José; Rodrigues, IsildaThe adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development brings new challenges in the field of education research and its importance as a priority area for action. Climate change is one of these priorities. To solve or minimize the problems that arise, not solely public policies are needed but also new scientific, technological, and educational solutions. Not only it is urgent to know the importance that society is giving to this issue, but it is also essential to understand the perception and the current level of literacy of the population on climate change. In this context, we proposed to carry out a mixed methodology research. To know the perception of children in the first and second cycle of elementary education in schools in Portugal about climate change, we used a Likert scale questionnaire adapted to children, and this instrument was validated by the Portuguese Directorate General of Education. Based on the results, we intend to propose activities to enrich the literacy skills of the participants in this study. Since there are no studies of this nature conducted in Portugal with children of this age group, we believe that this study can be an added value, as it meets the 2030 agenda, particularly goal number 13, which refers to the mitigation of climate change issues and goal number 4, which refers to Quality Education. This theme is also addressed in the referential of education for sustainable development and in the national strategy of education for citizenship. The results of this kind of research may suggest the need for greater responsibility of governments and schools towards the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda. The results are in line with the findings of other studies in the literature review, which show a lack of knowledge on this topic. There seems to be some difficulty on the part of the school in raising awareness about climate change, as alerted by a project done by the School Education Gateway in 2020, which showed that teachers in countries such as Spain, Turkey, Romania, and Canada do not have adequate skills to educate students about climate change, and such situation is reflected in the students' perception. Knowing this, we think that schools have the responsibility to contribute to the promotion of pro-environmental values, attitudes, and behaviors. So if we do nothing, our lives will be significantly affected by climate change. Society, schools, governments must prepare us to adapt to the climate crisis and must also enable us to contribute to solutions to achieve climate justice and mitigate the problem. In this context, it is essential to know the perceptions and literacy level of the populations and subsequently propose changes or educational reforms that meet Unesco's commitments to find solutions that help mitigate the climate crisis.
- Perceptions of climate change: the voice of children in north-eastern PortugalPublication . Ramos, Ricardo Manuel Machado; Rodrigues, Maria José; Rodrigues, IsildaClimate change and its consequences have given rise to numerous multidisciplinary studies, but when examining the academic literature we find that studies of perceptions focus mainly on adolescents and adults, with fewer focusing on children's perceptions. This being said, it is urgent that we understand how children look at this problem. Therefore, we proposed to create this quantitative study, based on the application of 245 questionnaires to children aged between 9 and 13 years old, in five schools in the district of Bragança. For data collection, we used a questionnaire with 26 questions, 24 of which were closed-ended (Likert type), one open-ended and one multiple choice. The data were statistically treated using SPSS software. The results show that most of the children expressed concern about the problem, however they demonstrated doubts and a certain lack of knowledge about some of the issues. We found differences between the two study cycles, with children in the 6th grade having a higher average in the compression of the phenomenon. We also verified that the level of education of the parents is positively correlated with a more eco-centric attitude. The female students, also showed a slightly more ecofriendly posture. Through the results obtained, we can open paths for future research and contribute to the definition of policies and educational practices, seeking that the school, go against a more sustainable development marked by cooperation in the production of values, attitudes and behaviors pro-environmental
- Critical Analysis of Arguments in Confrontation with Climate SciencePublication . Ramos, Ricardo; Rodrigues, Maria José; Rodrigues, IsildaClimate denialism is a spectrum spanning outright denial and degrees of skepticism about the reality of climate change. Denialism is fueled by disinformation or imprecise information that finds fertile ground on social media and takes advantage of the users’ fears and vulnerabilities, such as a lack of climate literacy and critical thinking. In this article, we offer examples of how to refute climate change denialism and expand notions of climate literacy to include the capacity to both identify and respond to climate disinformation.