Educating for Hope in Troubled Times: Climate Change and the Transition to a Post-Carbon Future

Abstract

For many years one of the themes which has been at the forefront of many teaching conferences and debates devoted to the learning process is the aims of education. These discussions still seem to cover – insufficiently – the aspect of the general goal of education, i.e. how should we teach young people to prepare them well for a self-reliant and satisfying adult life in society? Progressive globalization, and the escalation of several unwanted environmental and social changes seem to be additional reasons for the statement that one of the biggest challenges to the present educational system is to equip the student (in addition to a variety of skills) with an attitude of openness, and a readiness to undertake activities that lead not only to improvements in the quality of life of the individual but also of the whole society, and a feeling of responsibility for the future of the Earth (from the micro to macro scales). In brief, a crucial area of modern education is global education and education for sustainable development, both meant as preparing people with a view of themselves as global citizens, and also deep involvement in shaping the future of the Earth. These targets seem to require a change in the way we understand education in general, from education aimed at the “mental” side (intellect, intellectual rationalism), which refers very little to new paradigms of development, to an education that presents a broad approach to its role, scope, and tasks in the present and future world. Thinking and acting in categories of responsibility for the present and the future require the shaping of “warm” values (i.e. empathy, effectiveness, optimism). These attitudes and actions cannot be acquired without a belief that they are important, necessary and accessible. Therefore I opened the book by David Hicks entitled “Educating for hope in troubled times. Climate changes and the transition to a post-carbon future” with great interest, because the title promised that it would be devoted to the issues that I find especially important, i. e: education and environment perceived in a new way: in the context of hope.