Storytelling and climate education: Empowering preservice teachers as readers and leaders through literacy education
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In this paper, we delve into the impact of storytelling in a literacy methods course, exploring how it shaped preservice teachers' (PSTs) perceptions, hopes and actions regarding environmental justice. As PSTs collectively engaged with narratives in children's literature, we investigated how stories of environmentalism equipped them with the knowledge and skills essential for addressing the challenges of climate change that their students will inherit. Grounded in relational literacies, this paper examines PSTs' comprehension of diverse children's literature focused on environmentalism in relation to their sense‐making, personal climate stories and their conceptualisations and enactments of environmental justice. This study underscores the pivotal role of stories in shaping future educators' environmental literacy and in fostering a sense of agency and responsibility. The findings contribute to the discourse on integrating diverse narratives into teacher education, emphasising the potential of literature to inspire meaningful engagement with both literacy learning and environmental justice issues.
Source: Literacy
DOI: 10.1111/lit.70003
Authors: Lauren Fletcher, Erica Holyoke
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4410040606