Integrating Climate Change Issues in the Upper Basic Schools of the Gambia: A Test Case of the Upper Basic School Curriculum

Abstract

The study reported here focuses on integrating climate change issues in School curriculum in The Gambia. The objectives are to determine the extent to which climate-related themes presently feature in the Upper Basic (lower secondary) schools of The Gambia; propose an integration plan for enhanced climate themes in the school curriculum; and identify suitable teaching methods for conveying climate change information to students. A curriculum audit of two subject areas in the Upper Basic School where Climate issues could be taught was done. Also, a determination of suitable teaching methods for climate change themes was done with a set of questionnaires administered to 104 teachers and educators. Literature review was used to determine suitable themes for integration in the school curriculum and to obtain appropriate teaching methods. The Likert scale was used to rate the suitability of the various methods. The findings revealed that there are gaps in the curriculum in relation to climate change. For example, they showed an insufficient explanation of the impacts of climate change on human health and an omission of climate change impacts on the ecosystem. Of the 14 teaching methods which constituted the items included in the questionnaire, 12 were considered appropriate for teaching climate change themes. There was no significant difference between the mean responses of educators and teachers on the appropriate methods for teaching climate change topics. The study recommends inclusion of themes such as renewable energy sources into the school curriculum.