‘Teaching for Sustainable Futures’: a research-informed professional development course

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article puts geography teachers’ professional development for teaching about climate change in the spotlight by explaining the ideas behind a free, online short course: ‘Teaching for Sustainable Futures’ (UCL-CCCSE, 2023a). The course – a result of collaboration between teachers, educators and academics – is designed to show the potential of geography to learn about climate change and for sustainable futures. The article first outlines the course, then explains the research on which it has been informed, and, finally, considers the next steps for teacher development and research. AcknowledgementsI would like to thank all the colleagues who contributed to the course or have offered advice and feedback as we developed this programme. Special thanks to colleagues in the UCL-IOE Development Education Research Centre, and Dr Tessa Willy, Dr Janet Davies, Dr Alison Kitson, Dr Michael Riley, Professor Nicola Walshe, Professor Lizzie Rushton, Kirsty Holder and Danielle Sherwood for their ideas, inspiration and support.