Another 31 percent said that they provide their students with both versions of the theory i.e. that global warming is either man-made or has natural causes, despite the consensus among climate scientists that the phenomenon is caused by man.
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A major new survey of USA middle school and high school science teachers has found that across the country, a majority are teaching about climate change in their classrooms – but a significant percentage are also including incorrect ideas, such as the notion that today’s warming of the globe is a “natural” process.
Minda Berbeco, programs and policy director at the National Center for Science Education and a coauthor of the study, said the survey’s aim wasn’t to single out teachers.
Furthermore, many teachers failed to follow official guidelines on how to teach climate change in class. Many of them said that they would discuss secondary topics with their students including pesticide use, ozone layer, and pollution caused by rocket launches. Save for very recent graduates, the coursework to become a biology teacher did not require studying climate science or climate change. Three out of five teachers surveyed were unaware of or misinformed about the near-total extent of scientific consensus on climate change.
Lastly, the findings of the study suggest that the climate change discussion is getting similar treatment as the discussion on evolution, which has set off the “Science versus Faith” argument for decades. “It is also true that there is no science behind the notion that there will be no detectable change in climate from increasing carbon dioxide, which is a true denier position”.
Most U.S. science teachers include climate science in their courses, yet political inclinations and insufficient grasp of the science may be hindering the quality of their teaching, authors of this Education Forum say.
So why do half of adult Americans not believe humans are changing the climate?
A paper based on the survey appears in this week’s issue of Science.
It’s too early to say whether teachers’ climate lessons are improving or not; this is the first study of its kind.
“Ideally, colleges that educate large numbers of science teachers would develop curricula that would ensure all future teachers receive foundational instruction in climate science“, Plutzer said.
At the far end of the spectrum, 10 per cent teach that global warming has nothing to do with humans. In the current study, only 4.4 percent of teachers reported feeling overt pressure, but in previous studies, the percentage reached as high as 15 percent. And the obvious remedy-teach your teachers well, so that they can teach the students-is easier said than done at a time in our history when “rejection of sound scientific conclusions is often rooted in value commitments rather than ignorance”.
“If a majority of science teachers believe that more than 20% of climate scientist disagree that human activities are the primary cause, it is understandable that many would teach ‘both sides, ‘ by conveying to students that there is legitimate scientific debate instead of deep consensus”, the authors write.
“Teachers didn’t create the polarized culture war around climate change, but they’re the key to ending this battle”, Rosenau said.
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“I no longer have to prove that it’s happening”, he said.
