Climate Competence in the Education of Preschool and Early School Teachers
Abstract
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to analyze how preschool and early school education students perceive their own preparation for implementing climate education and to identify areas of study that, according to the respondents, require in-depth study in their academic education.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The research problem concerns declarative assessments of competences, educational experiences and development needs of female students in the field of climate education in working with children. The research is exploratory and contributory in nature and serves to preliminarily recognise the phenomenon and identify key areas requiring further analysis. The method used was an interview in the form of written answers to open-ended questions. The study covered 83 female students in 2024.
THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The data analysis process was based on the respondents’ answers. The students’ statements regarding the importance of climate education, their sense of preparedness for its implementation, as well as their knowledge, educational experiences and development needs in this area were analysed.
RESEARCH RESULTS: The analysis of the responses indicates that female students attach significant importance to climate education and declare their readiness to address this issue in their future professional work, while recognising the limitations of their own substantive and methodological preparation and the need for more structured, practical support during their studies.
CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND APPLICABLE VALUE OF RESEARCH: The results of the study indicate a need for deeper reflection on the inclusion of climate education in the training of future teachers. The findings can serve as a reference point for the design of study programmes and teaching activities that prepare students to address this issue in pre-school and early school education.
References
Ardoin, N.M., Bowers, A.W., & Gaillard, E. (2020). Environmental education outcomes for conservation: A systematic review. Biological Conservation, 241, Article 108224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108224
Babbie, E.R. (2015). The practice of social research (14th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Batorczak, A., & Klimska, A. (2020). Edukacja na rzecz zrównoważonego rozwoju – refleksje przed ogłoszeniem nowej Dekady na rzecz Zrównoważonego Rozwoju (2020–2030). Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae, 18(2), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.21697/seb.2020.18.2.02
Bieńkowska I., & Kitlińska-Król, M. (2016). Edukacja dla zrównoważonego rozwoju (EZR) w opinii nauczycieli klas 1–3. Podstawy Edukacji, 9, 153–162. https://doi.org/10.16926/pe.2016.09.09
Bokwa, A., Kicińska, B., Kurowski, Ł., & Wieczorek, L. (2020). Zmiana klimatu jako wyzwanie edukacyjne [Climate change as an educational challenge]. Czasopismo Geograficzne, 705–707. https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/server/api/core/bitstreams/5c8fd807-fcf8-41f9-9300-0efd9825e10a/content
Chrobak, Z., & Frejusz, P. (2018). Pedagogika zaangażowania. Teoria i praktyka wychowania w ujęciu Janusza Tarnowskiego. Polska Myśl Pedagogiczna, 4(4), 223–237. https://doi.org/10.4467/24504564PMP.18.012.8651
Hedefalk, M., Almqvist, J., & Östman, L. (2015). Education for sustainable development in early childhood education: A review of the research literature. Environmental Education Research, 21(7), 975–990. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2014.971716
Ibragimow, A. (2020). Jak uczyć o zmianach klimatu? [How to teach about climate change?] In M. Śliwa & E. Chodźko (Eds.), Edukacja w XXI wieku. Teoria i metody badawcze [Education in the 21st century: Theory and research methods] (pp. 96–105). Wydawnictwo Naukowe Tygiel.
Jabłonko, O. (2015). Rola i zadania edukacji środowiskowej w kształtowaniu świadomości i kultury ekologicznej wśród młodzieży XXI wieku. Prace Naukowe Wałbrzyskiej Wyższej Szkoły Zarządzania i Przedsiębiorczości, 31(1), 103–110. https://pracenaukowe.wwszip.pl/prace/prace-naukowe-31.pdf#page=105
Kałużyńska, M., & Jackowska-Uwadizu, M. (2022). Jak uczyć o klimacie. Praktyczny przewodnik po rzetelnej edukacji klimatycznej. Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej. https://globalna.ceo.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/01/Jak-uczyc-o-klimacie.-Praktyczny-przewodnik.pdf
Kassenberg, A. (2022). Edukacja klimatyczna – podsumowanie rekomendacji Okrągłego Stołu dla edukacji klimatycznej. In UN Global Compact Network Poland, Edukacja klimatyczna w Polsce 2022 – rekomendacje Okrągłego Stołu (pp. 36–43). https://edukacjaklimatyczna.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Edukacja-Klimatyczna-w-Polsce-2022-rekomendacje-Okraglego-Stolu.pdf
Madalińska-Michalak, J. (2017). Filary pracy a kompetencje nauczyciela. In J. Madalińska-Michalak, N. Pikuła & K. Białożyt (Eds.), Edukacja i praca nauczyciela. Ciągłość – zmiana – konteksty (pp. 29–55). Wydawnictwo Scriptum.
Michalska, M. (2016). Edukacja ekologiczna jako niezbędny element kształcenia na studiach wyższych [Environmental education as an essential element of higher education]. Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu [Scientific Papers of the Wrocław University of Economics], 453, pp. 235–246. https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/39753/edition/36284/content
Niesporek-Szamburska, B., & Przybyla, O. (2021). Edukacja ekologiczna/klimatyczna w podstawie programowej i w seriach podręczników szkolnych do nauczania języka polskiego (jako ojczystego) [Environmental/climate education in the core curriculum and in school textbook series for teaching Polish (as a native language)]. Postscriptum Polonistyczne [Postscript of Polish Studies], 2, 15–25. https://doi.org/10.31261/PS_P.2021.28.02
Snarska-Nieznańska, M. (Ed.), Mitka, K., & Rościszewska, K. (n.d.). Edukacja klimatyczna i środowiskowa
w nowej podstawie programowej. Sieć Organizacji Społecznych dla Edukacji. https://sosdlaedukacji.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Edukacja-klimatyczna-i-srodowiskowa-w-nowej-podstawie-programowej.pdf
Spiteri, J. (2023). Approaches to foster young children’s engagement with climate action: A scoping review. Sustainability, 15(19), 14604. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914604
UN Global Compact Network Poland. (2021). Edukacja klimatyczna w Polsce. https://edukacjaklimatyczna.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Raport_Edukacja_klimatyczna_w_Polsce.pdf
UNESCO. (2017). Education for sustainable development goals: Learning objectives. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247444
Copyright (c) 2025 HORIZONS OF EDUCATION
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright to their work while granting the journal the right of first publication. The work will be simultaneously licensed under a CC BY-ND license, which permits others to share the work with proper credit given to the author and the original publication in this journal.
- Authors may enter into additional, non-exclusive agreements for the distribution of the published version of the work (e.g., posting it in an institutional repository or publishing it in another journal), provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.
We allow and encourage authors to share their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) both before and during the submission process, as this can foster beneficial exchanges and lead to earlier and increased citations of the published work. (See The Effect of Open Access). We recommend using any of the following academic networking platforms:
