Overview
The workshops for high school students in Poland covered three aspects of the European Climate Policy, namely European Green Deal, Biodiversity and Energy Policy. Scenarios for those workshops were prepared by Jakub Gontarek in cooperation with a group of 18 experts and educators from all over Poland with an input on the current EU Climate Policies from experts from the Polish Green Network. Once the training sessions with youth were carried out, the feedback from those sessions was collected and then discussed and further analysed and adapted by a smaller group of educators during online and live consultations. There were fifteen workshops which lasted on average three hours and had 344 participants in total. It was concluded that for future applications of the developed training scenarios each module would benefit from an informative introduction on the topic to address frequently reported knowledge gaps, and division into 45 min blocks to provide a possibility to run the sessions during regular school hours and allow for the workshop to be split into different sessions/ days. Final workshop scenarios were made available to all the participating educators and there is a plan to make them freely available to everyone shortly.
About the method
The educational scenarios are based on the dialogic method P4C, or philosophical inquiry method. Students discuss the impact of climate change on life on Earth and the role of the European Union in preventing the negative effects of climate change. They consider the role of climate policies and the regulations/laws being enacted to protect the environment and climate. In this method, it is the students who create the questions for inquiry and choose the one they find the best and most interesting. The method is also intended to encourage discussion and exchange of views as part of the law-making process and to raise awareness that the regulations being introduced affect many areas of life and human activity.
Philosophical inquiry is an exercise in the art of independent thinking and communication with others through:
– Formulating opinions, justifying, arguing (critical thinking);
– Asking questions, listening to each other, dialogue rather than debate (engagement and cooperation);
– Using imagination rather than recalling knowledge (creativity).
How does the method of Philosophical Inquiry differ from traditional forms of education?:
– The teacher’s role is not to convey a certain portion of knowledge;
– The teacher’s role is not to resolve the philosophical problem (who was right?);
– Participants choose the topic they want to work on themselves;
– The method is focused on skill development;
– They learn from each other and experience self-discovery.
The P4C Philosophical Inquiry Method
The originator and author of this method is Professor Matthew Lipman, a philosophy professor at Columbia University in New York. The program he created, Philosophy for Children (P4C), aims to educate individuals to think independently and effectively. Through inquiry, children and adolescents develop the ability to independently acquire and organise knowledge about the world, the habit of logical thinking and argumentation, as well as openness to changing their views.
Philosophising with children and adolescents allows for discussions where the participants themselves control the course. A community of inquiry is formed, which initially establishes the rules that will apply during this process. In this group, all students and the teacher have equal rights to express their opinions, respecting the diversity of views. At the beginning, the teacher leads the process by properly preparing and presenting the topic, helping participants choose questions for discussion. During the discussion, the teacher acts as a moderator, allowing participants to freely explore the topic. In case of difficulties, such as long pauses in the discussion, the teacher intervenes subtly, encouraging the next person to speak. The teacher also reminds participants of the limited discussion time and suggests moving to the next stage at the appropriate moment.
Discussions take place in a circle, which facilitates the flow of the process. They can be organised in various school spaces, such as the cafeteria, common room, or hallway, to allow participants to move freely.
Philosophical inquiry with children can result in independently thinking, creative individuals who actively participate in social life, thereby contributing to the enrichment of democracy, culture, and science.
Details about workshops:
Wrocław:
The workshops conducted focused on the biodiversity around us – what it is, how to preserve it, and whether it can be increased concerning the European Union and the European Green Deal. Each meeting was conducted according to a script prepared for the mentioned workshop. Participants of each workshop were introduced to the definition of biodiversity, which served as a starting point for further reflections and teamwork. The result of each workshop was graphic presentations on various aspects of biodiversity (biodiversity and pandemic, climate, species extinction, economy, oceans) and a summary by the participating group on what each of us can do to protect biodiversity using EU mechanisms and support.
Kwidzyn:
Participants in the workshops were students from grades I, II, and III of secondary schools. The aim of the workshops was to introduce the topic of the European Green Deal and the associated Biodiversity Strategy. It aimed to show EU policies in this area as important for everyone’s life and to stimulate discussion among young people on this topic.
The overarching conclusion was that the initial scenarios require more time to be effectively completed. During the workshop on 27.05.2024, there was more time because the youth came to the Eco-Initiative Association and had no time limit. The workshop lasted 4 hours plus an outdoor walk and was very successful according to the organisers.
The educator stated that the European Green Deal topics were interesting to most young people. They encouraged them to calculate how old they would be in 2050, as this is the perspective for achieving climate neutrality. “We will be 47 years old! Our children will be our age!” This greatly brought the workshop topics closer, making it clear that the Green Deal cannot be implemented without their involvement as it concerns their lives. In the three classes where this was applied, it immediately engaged them in discussion. The question of why the EU should be the leader in pro-climate changes, while most of the world does not want to impose restrictions, frequently arose. They did not favour the idea of the EU being an example for other countries. Interesting discussions developed around how to encourage other countries to reduce greenhouse gases, mainly economically. They were keen to work in groups, discuss, and debate their views.
The youth participating in the biodiversity workshop had little knowledge on the subject, making it challenging to even conduct a warm-up exercise. However, their interest grew as the workshop progressed. The law & language class entered the session with the narrative that these topics were not needed in their lives or careers and that this workshop should be for the biology-chemistry class. Although the beginning was difficult, by the end of the workshop, most had changed their minds, realising that we live so detached from the natural world that we stop understanding it.
Linking biodiversity to climate adaptation was very interesting for the youth, and the connection between biodiversity and the Covid pandemic and other pandemics was surprising to them. A discussion about trees developed, which was very important to the youth. They expressed strong opinions about the modernization of a street in Kwidzyn, opposing tree cutting. This was a crucial element of the workshop. A great comparison of biodiversity to an aeroplane was provided. The educator believes the workshops’ goal was achieved because all classes expressed interest in continuing the cooperation. One class expressed a wish to use the Green Deal topics to prepare for an Oxford debate in the next school year.
Toruń:
Classes were conducted among students from 5 high school classes in Toruń. Participants were 15-16 years old.
At the beginning of each class, the instructor discussed the current state of Poland’s energy policy, the main sources of energy in the country and abroad. Then, involving the students, they identified the threats to people, the environment, and the climate from the current energy mix. The next step was a discussion about the possibilities of changing the current energy mix by expanding and introducing other energy sources. After determining the modified energy mix, the safety of the country’s energy in various climatic and weather phenomena was assessed, and the impact of these changes on the environment, economy, and society was discussed. The next stage involved dividing the group into supporters of various energy sources. Each group had to showcase the advantages of their chosen energy source. After the presentations, there was a discussion phase where each group could highlight the drawbacks of other groups’ solutions while defending their own energy source. This led to groups presenting mixes dominated by selected energy sources. In the next round of discussions, through questions and answers, participants could be convinced of the benefits of other proposals and switch groups. Thus, each class produced 3-4 preferred models of energy mixes based on some leading energy source.
Rzeszów:
Two modules: on European Green Deal and Biodiversity, were carried out during three separate workshops in Rzeszów.
The effectiveness of the adopted method depended on the maturity of the group in which the classes were conducted. This was not entirely related to the age of the participants. The first group consisted of students from various third-grade high school classes (a mixed group), including students from biology-chemistry classes. For them, the proposed method was not entirely appropriate, partly due to a lack of knowledge on the subject, apart from the texts read and the film watched. They also had trouble formulating proper arguments. A conversation with the teacher after the classes indicated that this method is not used in school practice and may pose a problem both cognitively and in terms of formulating conclusions or conducting the discussion itself.
The second group consisted of second-grade high school students from a biology-chemistry profile. Here, the students were better prepared for the proposed method. Leaders immediately emerged in the group, who directed the work in individual teams. The group was also better prepared in terms of content.
The third group also lacked leaders, background knowledge and initiative, yet as the session progressed warmed up into the participation.
Conclusion
Overall, the sessions that were carried out in selected locations across Poland showed varied degrees of awareness of climate change in general and awareness of the European policies to tackle those issues among the workshops’ participants. It was concluded that more supportive materials shall be provided both to educators and pupils and more time shall be permitted to explore those topics, ideally in a form to allow the workshop division into smaller blocks that could then gradually be carried out during regular school teaching time (45 min).
To conclude, it can be argued that the event helped to achieve some of the project’s intended impacts and objectives, namely, ‘reducing the identified gap in the general knowledge regarding the impact of climate change’. It also showed an urgent need to amplify the efforts to improve the knowledge and awareness of climate issues as well as European policies aimed at tackling those issues both among young people as well as educators.