English is a gift when it comes to teaching about sustainability, the environment and the climate crisis. Key skills can be taught using these areas as the subject matter – which also has the additional benefit of reaching all students.
Literature
Literature is a written art form that deals with the very essence of life. Whether it be prose fiction, drama, poetry, or a story from an oral tradition, literature deals with universally shared human experiences that transcend time and place. Through teaching literature, pupils are given opportunities to develop culturally and emotionally, intellectually and socially – in short, they can start to make sense of the world.
This becomes an invaluable skill when the pupils we teach may be wondering how on earth they can make sense of the world, when faced with the senseless, existential threat that is climate breakdown. This decade is our make-or-break opportunity to limit warming to 1.5°C and steer the world toward a net-zero future, as highlighted in Systems Change Lab’s 2021 global analysis, which explains the changes needed in order to avert the most disastrous consequences of the climate crisis.
We can include a range of inspiring literature sources into our classroom that will not only provide rich and diverse exposure to language, thus improving vocabulary, syntax, and structure, but will also offer pupils opportunities to learn about the effects of climate breakdown, to better engage with nature, and to consider empowering solutions.