Teachers are signing up to bring world class climate change education to every school in the North of Tyne.
Metro Mayor Jamie Driscoll wants pupils to have the best education on environmental issues and is proposing that every state school in Newcastle, North Tyneside, and Northumberland should have at least one UN-accredited climate change teacher. Teachers in each of the North of Tyne areas have completed online training of 15-20 hours to gain the necessary knowledge to teach children of all ages.
Here’s how you can too: https://www.educcateglobal.org
Sarah McKeown, a psychology teacher at Whitley Bay High School in North Tyneside, gained her accreditation this year.
She said: “I think it’s really important that pupils gain an understanding of the science and the facts and some of the solutions, as well. It’s something young people have not created but are going to have to deal with.“
And Dan Stanley, who teaches English Literature at the Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham, said “Our young people are becoming the custodians of this world. If we as teachers can get across the message that even if we are not touched yet by climate change, some time in the future we will be, it will help them prepare.”
Mr Driscoll, who declared a climate emergency on his first day of office in May, said he hoped the North of Tyne would become the first region in the world to achieve the goal of having a climate change teacher in every school.
He said: “Future generations are the ones who will suffer most. This is making sure that everybody is getting that world-class environmental education.”
Read more abut the project here: https://www.northoftyne-ca.gov.uk/news/2019/7/30/world-first-for-north-of-tyne-metro-mayor
Dr Meryl Batchelder, a teacher at Corbridge Middle School in Northumberland, is leading the project in the North of Tyne. She said educating children was the best way to promote understanding of the environmental problems facing the world. “The Industrial Revolution started in the North of Tyne and now the Green Revolution begins in the North of Tyne,” she said. “The three councils, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland, have all declared a climate emergency based on warnings from the United Nations. Education on climate change is essential for everyone in the North East to understand seriousness of the situation.” She said pupils of teachers who had completed the course would be more climate conscious and could join the drive to find urgent solutions.