Growing interest in climate change amongst educational policymakers, school leaders, and educators in Aotearoa New Zealand has not led to clarity and consistency in related policy direction and practice. This report draws on literature from te ao Māori and Western/global perspectives to explore the question, “What does it look like when climate education is flourishing?” and shed light on opportunities for climate-responsive education to flourish. At the same time, the report explores some challenges that teachers, learners, and school leaders may experience in seeking to initiate and sustain deep sustainability and climate learning. 

The literature indicates that for climate education to flourish across the system, policy supports would need to include interdisciplinary curriculum guidance, teaching resources, teacher professional development, and clarity of long-term vision about the role of education in a world impacted by anthropogenic climate change. 

This report shares six case studies which themselves represent a variety of approaches, reflecting the diversity of learning approaches in the climate education literature. 

Eight themes are explored

• Teachers and learners alike were both motivated by a desire to do something positive 
• Practical, hands-on activities are used as a route to learner engagement and wellbeing
• Different scales of action-taking illustrate the complexity of the problem and solutions
• Rethinking the educational framework of time and place 
• Relational networks leading to emergent opportunities
• Beyond-school learning as an auxiliary to in-school learning
• The need to foreground “climate change” knowledge and concepts not always foregrounded
• The importance of connection to localised histories