GSE scholar works to advance climate education in schools

Becoming the second state in the country to do so, New York will be implementing a new cross-curricular requirement for climate change instruction across K–12 schools beginning in the 2027–28 academic year. On March 10, the New York Board of Regents voted to approve the requirement and the policy will require climate education for students in grades 5 through 12 starting in 2027–28, with expansion to grades K–4 the following year.

Alexandra Schindel, associate professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction, Graduate School of Education, and member of the Climate and Resilience Education Task Force, has spent the past several years helping advance the effort.

“I’m just really excited,” Schindel says. “A mandate like this provides the opportunity for educators to be able to teach climate education.”

Schindel joined the Climate and Resilience Education Task Force in 2022 and became part of a core policy team working toward climate education for all New York students. The group, formed in 2018 and managed by the National Wildlife Federation, has collaborated with educators, policymakers and the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to move the issue forward. The task force also worked closely with NYSED to develop a manageable budget.

“Right now, it’s an unfunded requirement,” Schindel says. “So we’re still hoping to see the final budget come through.”

The requirement ensures that students across New York will have the opportunity to learn about the causes, impacts and solutions to the climate crisis as part of their education, and is intended to move climate education beyond science classrooms and into subjects across the curriculum.

“The goal is for it to be taught interdisciplinarily,” Schindel explains. “Science is extremely important, but so are politics, economics, sociology and other disciplinary lenses.”

For teachers, the mandate could provide important official support, especially in districts where climate education is not always encouraged.

The new requirement gives educators “the freedom to integrate climate into their curricula,” Schindel says. “If you wanted to teach it previously but felt like the district might not support you, this gives you the ability to say, ‘Climate is part of New York State’s requirements, so I can teach this.’”

The policy may make it easier for educators in subjects such as English, art and social studies to include climate-related content without being told it belongs only in science.

Schindel, whose research focuses on equity and justice in STEM education, climate change education and environmental justice education, recently received the Sustainability Leadership, Innovation and Collaborative Engagement (SLICE) Award. She says climate education is especially important because students are already encountering climate change through media, current events and lived experience.

“Young people are getting this information in a variety of ways from very young ages,” she says. “But it’s not always coupled with all of the forms of climate literacy and emotional literacy that young people deserve to know and understand as they face the future.”

The media can leave students with incomplete information — and in some cases, anxiety or even despair and grief.

“Youth today are facing a global concern that none of us have previously faced before, not on this kind of scale,” Schindel says.

In Western New York, students have seen smoke from Canadian wildfires turn skies orange and ash fall from the sky. In New York City, flooding has disrupted schools. Across the state, students hear these events connected to global warming, but their teachers may not always feel prepared to answer questions or discuss solutions.

“It’s really important that K-12 teachers are prepared to teach about climate change and to respond to their students’ climate questions in ways that are age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate, supportive of young people and action-oriented,” she says.

Climate education also has economic implications. Schindel says students will need climate-related knowledge and skills as the workforce changes over the next five to 10 years.

At UB, Schindel has incorporated climate education into teacher preparation, including creating a dedicated elective course for teachers. She says the Graduate School of Education has been highly supportive of the work.

And much of her motivation comes from her students.

“I could see this emotional arc happen,” Schindel says of pre-service teachers learning about climate education. “They were excited about it, and they started to make connections between climate and their disciplines. And then there was this letdown when they realized that because it wasn’t required, their hands might be tied and they would not necessarily be supported to teach about climate.”

That realization helped push her into policy work and eventually connected her with advocates across the state.

“Engaging in policy-level work really broadens the scope and impact of the work that we’re capable of doing at the university,” she says.

While questions remain about funding the mandate, Schindel sees it as an important step toward preparing students for the world they are inheriting.