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Participate in the CETE Research Project

CETE Project Description

Climate change is widely accepted as a global crisis that is significantly impacting world economies, environments, and societies. Communities in northern British Columbia (BC) are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to uneven warming of the globe, which has led to increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, extreme events (e.g., atmospheric rivers and wildfires), biodiversity threats, health issues, and disruptions of traditional ways of life. Clearly, education plays an important role in fostering understanding, adapting, and acting on climate change; though, climate change education approaches of K-12 teachers in northern BC have not been studied. The Climate Education in Teacher Education (CETE) research project responds to the 2022 Association of Canadian Deans of Education report titled "Accord on Education for a Sustainable Future," that underscored urgency for climate change education. Using the collaborative and participatory methodology of Educational Design-Based Research (EDBR), CETE partnered with two leading Canadian education experts, (IEL) and (LSF) and created a design team with other teacher educators, scholars, and experts in climate change education to guide the intervention with in-service and pre-service teachers in northern BC. Climate change impacts everyone. Empowering teachers through climate change education empowers youth, and thus, the wellness of the global community.

The study is currently being funded by a Climate Change Education Accelerator Grant and SSHRC Insight Development Grant. Prior funding includes: ÂÜÀòÉäÇø RSIG grants and the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) Fast Track Grant. 

ÂÜÀòÉäÇø Research Ethics Board (REB) Approval No. 6009004 

CETE Research Question

How might northern BC K-12 teachers be engaged to critically consider and respond to the climate emergency in their contexts and scopes of practice through teacher agency, creative pedagogy, educational leadership, and climate adaptation around climate change education?

CETE Study Participation

For Pre-Service Teachers:

1. Are you a teacher candidate in the ÂÜÀòÉäÇø Teacher Education Program?
2. Are you interested in or concerned about climate change or climate change education?
3. Are you willing to engage in several activities to learn more about climate education and contribute to the professional development of others?

For In-Service Teachers:

1. Are you a practicing teacher in School District 52 (Prince Rupert) or School District 57 (Prince George)?
2. Are you interested in or concerned about climate change or climate change education?
3. Are you willing to engage in several activities to learn more about climate education and contribute to the professional development of others?

If you've answered "yes" to all three questions and would like to participate in the CETE study, please read the CETE Information Letter and Consent and take a moment to complete the . The pre-survey takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. 

If you cannot or do not wish to participate, you are welcome to join upcoming CETE workshops as professional development. If you have questions about CETE or talk about about participation, contact Dr. Hart Banack, the Principal Investigator (see below).

CETE Workshop Series 

Teacher Professional Development (September 2024 - June 2025)

Planning for Year 3 of the CETE Workshop Series on climate change education. Listed below are upcoming workshop dates for the CETE Workshop Series 3. Workshops open to the public. They are hosted online or in-person. Video recordings are uploaded to this webpage. 

• Workshop 1 - Feelings and Anxiety
  October 25, 2024 - - Slide Presentation - Miro Map - WS 1 - Oct 25
• Workshop 2 - Health
  November 22, 2024 - - Slide Presentation - Miro Map - WS 2 - Nov 22
  November 25, 2024 - - Slide Presentation - Miro Map - WS 2 - Nov 25
• Workshop 3 - Mission-at-the-Moment: Collaborative Curriculum Engagement & Climate Change Education
  Friday, April 11, 2025 - Slide Presentation Spring Fling Conference - In-Person
  Friday, April 25, 2025 - School District 52 (Prince Rupert) - Online
• Workshop 4 - Indigenous
  Friday, May 16, 2025 in School District 52 (Prince Rupert) 
  Monday, June 2, 2025 in School District 57 (Prince George)

NOTE: if you are a CETE participant, please do not mention that you are a research participant to maintain anonymity. 

CETE Data Collection 

CETE data collection is only for CETE participants who consented to participate in the study.

Post-Workshop Series

After participating in the workshop series, CETE participants are contacted by the Principal Investigator or Graduate Research Assistant to partake in a post-survey and focus group.

• Post-Survey - 15 minutes - May 2025
• Focus group - 90 minutes - June 2025

Documentation

Artifacts created and developed by research participants such as lesson plans, unit plans, journal reflections, etc. during the their participation in the CETE study related to climate change education are submitted by the participant to the Research Team. Participants are contacted by the Principal Investigator or Graduate Research Assistant. 

Climate Change Education Resources

• Bigelow, B., & Swinehart, T. (2014). A people's curriculum for the earth: Teaching climate change and the environmental crisis. A Rethinking Schools Publication.
• Accelerate: Teacher Education Webinar Series -
• Communicating Climate Change with Care & Impact -
• BC Climate Emergency Campaign and Toolkit:
• Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF):
• LSF Presentation for BC Teachers (March 2024): Empowering Youth for Climate Action
• LSF database climate change classroom resources: )
• Environmental education, citizenship and sustainability:
• The Living World - Canada in a Changing Climate: Teacher's Resource Guide
• Learning Activity: Climate Action -
• Resource for Climate Solutions:
• What is your vision for a better Canada?
• How to be a Good Ancestor and Gentle Warrior - Lesson Ideas
• Classroom activity from the Centre of Science Education:
• Climate Change in the Visual Arts - Art Studio 10: art10-ccelessonal.pdf

CETE Workshops - Year 1 (March 2023 to June 2023)

• Video 1 - - March 14, 2023
• Video 2 -  - April 4, 2023
• Video 3 - - April 21, 2023
• Video 4 - - May 19, 2023

CETE Workshops - Year 2 (September 2023 to June 2024)

• Video 1 - - October 20, 2023
• Video 2 - - November 24, 2023
• Video 3 - - Jan. 29, 2024
• Video 4 - - April 26, 2024

CETE Publications

Lautensach, A, Younghusband, C.H., Thielmann, G., Litz, D., Banack, H., & Crandall, J. (2025, April 1). Climate Change Education for Teachers in Northern BC. Over the Edge: ÂÜÀòÉäÇø's Student Newspaper.

Younghusband, C. H., Banack, H., Lautensach, A., Litz, D., Crandall, J., Thielmann, G., (2025). Climate education in teacher education: Researching our way into teacher leadership. In C. Smith & L. Schnellert (Eds.), Canadian research in teacher leadership: Transformative and contextualized agency (pp. 642-672). Canadian Association for Teacher Education.

CETE Research Team

• Dr. Hartley Banack - Principal Investigator
• Dr. Alexander Lautensach - Co-Investigator
• Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband - Co-Investigator
• Dr. David Litz - Co-Investigator
• Dr. Joanie Crandall - Co-Investigator
• Glen Thielmann - Co-Investigator
• Laura Rodriguez Galarza - Graduate Research Assistant
• Behnoosh Roknaldini - Graduate Research Assistant

Contact information

For more information about CETE, please contact Dr. Hartley Banack by email at hart.banack@unbc.ca or call 250-960-5317. 

If you have any concerns or complaints about your rights as a research participant and/or your experiences while participating in this study, call the Office of Research and Innovation at 250-960-6735 or email reb@unbc.ca.