Elevers känslor och tankar kring miljö- & klimatfrågor i undervisningen

The purpose of the research paper is to find out what thoughts and emotions environmental and climate issues provoke among pupils according to scientific research. Furthermore, the intention is to ascertain what possible connections there are between the emotions and the education in sustainable development. The research methodology is based upon searching in databases, primarily ERIC and Education Research Complete. Delimitations are made in order to focus on sources that are up-to-date and concern primary school pupils. The results show that many pupils are concerned about climate change and that their thoughts and feelings give rise to a pessimistic view of the future and emotions of anxiety, sadness and anger. Pupils may use different strategies to cope with these feelings which can affect how they behave when climate and environmental issues are discussed. The results also show that the tuition outline and a teacher’s communication with his/her pupils affect how committed they are in climate and environmental issues. The paper concludes that the part of sustainable development education that concerns climate and the environment gives rise to a lot of feelings. It furthermore states that there is a connection between how the tuition is conducted and the emotions of the pupils. It is suggested that if a teacher acknowledges and addresses the feelings of the pupils respectfully, he/she may make use of the emotional aspects to strengthen the pupils ability to express their knowledge and commitment in the subject both in school and at home