New guidance helps teachers address climate change denial with their students
Secondary teachers looking for support in handling misconceptions around climate change now have access to new guidance from EUK Education’s Climate Schools Programme. Based on feedback from teachers, the resource is designed to help schools confidently address climate change denial and keep lessons focused on evidence-based science.
DfE: climate change denial “has no validity” in the classroom
According to the DfE’s Impartiality Guidance, climate change denial is not considered a legitimate or balanced viewpoint in educational settings. The guidance is explicit:
- teaching well established climate science is not political
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teachers do not need to present misinformation - such as claims that climate change is not happening - for the sake of balance
This creates clarity for educators who may worry about crossing impartiality lines when discussing the causes and consequences of climate change.
Prioritising solutions over debates
The Climate Schools Programme has been designed to help teachers spend more time exploring solutions, not debating the scientific reality of human induced climate change. However, teachers know that denial or misconceptions can still arise organically through class discussions. To support this, the programme provides clear strategies that teachers can use in real time.
- Create an open classroom culture. To support teachers, the guidance recommends creating an “open classroom” environment, where debate and questioning are welcomed. Many disruptive moments can be avoided simply by ensuring students feel respected and heard.
- Inoculation approach. A central strategy featured in the guidance is the “inoculation approach”, a method inspired by the way vaccines expose the body to a weakened virus to build immunity. When applied to climate literacy, teachers give students a warning about the risk of misinformation and then provide clear counter-arguments to help them recognise flawed reasoning when they encounter it. This technique is already embedded in the programme’s English lesson on climate misinformation.
Download the guidance
Teachers can download the full guidance as a PDF or PowerPoint to share with colleagues, alongside a range of subject specific resources. These include introductory English, geography and science lessons, complete lesson packs across all three subjects and materials to help schools set up a Climate Action Club.
The guidance recommends creating an “open classroom” environment, where debate and questioning are welcomed. Many disruptive moments can be avoided simply by ensuring students feel respected and heard.
