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History and the Climate Crisis

Environmental History in the Classroom

A case for including an environmental focus in the secondary school history curriculum by locating its arguments within established historiographical and revisionist debates.

History education has a key contribution to make in developing a deeper understanding of the current environmental crisis, but its role is too often overlooked. When embedded in the school curriculum, environmental history adds crucial layers of knowledge to the learning from other subjects and can enable students to make their own informed contributions to one of the most pressing concerns of the twenty-first century.

History and the Climate Crisis provides much-needed environmental knowledge, an area that is new for most history teachers. The author considers the disciplinary and pedagogical challenges and demonstrates how including an environmental focus can strengthen students’ disciplinary knowledge. She also builds her argument through many examples and offers practical strategies for use in classrooms, including developed inquiries suitable for the secondary history curriculum. The book focuses on environmental history within a strong subject-bound curriculum and will be relevant to teachers, academics, and policymakers in the United Kingdom and internationally.
 

216 pages | 13 color plates, 10 halftones, 2 line drawings, 8 tables | 6.14 x 9.21 | © 2023

Knowledge and the Curriculum

Knowledge and the Curriculum

Education: Curriculum and Methodology


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Reviews

There has never been a better time to explore how history can help young people make sense of the climate crisis and this book is the perfect starting point. It takes us on a journey across broad timespans and smaller stories, providing fresh insights into what is already taught in classrooms and introducing us to surprising and fascinating perspectives along the way. Its breadth and accessibility will make it indispensable to teachers at every stage of their career and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Dr. Alison Kitson, Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education, UCL Institute of Education

Table of Contents

List of figures List of tables List of boxes Preface Part 1: Perspectives on subject knowledge 1 How the history curriculum was shaped and why it needs to change 2 Scale in history: Why it matters and how to navigate between different scales 3 Key turning points in humanity’s relationship with nature 4 Humanity’s relationship with nature: Examples from history 5 The role of microbes in shaping human history 6 Environment and other revisionist themes in history 7 How environmental perspectives impact on disciplinary concepts Part 2: Into the classroom 8 Pedagogical approaches to the challenge of teaching environmental history 9 Embedding environmental perspectives into classroom practice 10 Challenging the curriculum  References Index

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