Ep 2: Climate Education in Schools (Primary-Intermediate Teachers' Experiences)

Teachers are doing extraordinary work with K-12 students in public schools to raise awareness about climate change, to develop students’ sense of agency, and develop their capacity for shifting towards sustainability. In this episode, we are hearing from three different teachers, Rebecca Chahine, Farah Wadia, and Cynthia Roulston- who bring their insight and experience of addressing climate change in their teaching practice in primary to intermediate grade levels.

Guest Speaker Bios:

Rebecca Chahine has been teaching for 21 years. She has taught from kindergarten to grade 8 and special education. She is passionate about environmental education and has obtained an Environmental Education Specialist at OISE. She currently teaches grade 2/3 at Port Royal Public School and loves being part of the OPAL program and leading the Ecoschool team! During the pandemic, she led the team in a virtual platform and continued to inspire students to become environmental leaders. As a lead for the Eco-team, she collaborates with staff and students to create Ecoschool portfolios using Google Slides. She is proud to have been a leader in both Malvern Jr PS and Heritage Park PS Platinum certification process, and is an aspiring leader who hopes to become a vice principal who will play an integral role in leading a school to Platinum certification.

Farah Wadia
Farah is a grade 7/8 teacher in the Toronto District School Board with 22 years of experience. She is passionate about ecoliteracy, place-based learning, and mindfulness in nature. Farah values student voice and uses inquiry in the intermediate classroom to teach about social and ecojustice issues, while providing her students with stewardship opportunities. Farah has her Environmental Education Specialist Qualifications and co-taught the Part 1 AQ at OISE, University of Toronto this past summer.

Cynthia Roulston
Cynthia has taught for 20 years, primarily at the grade 7/8 level, and currently teaches in Scarborough, Ontario. With a passion for Science and Math, her programs focus on experiential learning, outdoor education, and eco-justice. As the lead Ecoschool teacher, she has helped her school community achieve and maintain Platinum status for the past 5 years. On track to becoming an Environmental Education Specialist, she has completed the Part 1 and Part 2 of the Additional Qualificiations.

This episode was hosted and produced by Yana Lee.