Dr. Asma Ahmed, chair and assistant professor, and Dr. Carol Doyle-Jones, associate dean of education at Niagara University in Ontario, have been preparing their teacher candidates for climate education while recognizing Indigenous land and treaty relationships.
Each year, they recruit several teacher candidates to enhance their capacity in leading climate change initiatives and conducting research. One recent project was a study they conducted with their students to explore how the teacher education program co-constructs meaning-making among them during read-aloud discussions focused on climate-related picture books. The study aimed to assess the teacher candidates’ preparedness and comfort in discussing climate issues in their classrooms and examined the co-created meanings during read-aloud discussions to foster efferent and aesthetic transactions and enhance climate literacy engagement.
The findings demonstrate that read-aloud sessions are an effective and accessible method for helping teacher candidates feel more confident about raising awareness of climate issues in their personal and professional lives. This study highlights that promoting climate literacy can be achieved through simple, accessible steps; however, it requires intentional integration into the curriculum.
The professors, along with students Gardenia Grant, Courtney Hay, Philip Donoghue-Stanford, and Dean Kurtis-Pomeroy, presented their findings in October at the Peace and Justice Studies Association’s annual conference during the workshop, "Echoes for Earth: Reading Aloud for Climate Consciousness and Action."
They will also present in June at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education’s 2025 annual conference during a session on "Building Confidence in Climate Literacy: Preparing Teacher Education Candidates for the Classroom." The CSSE is one of Canada’s largest education conferences.