Keywords

FormalPara Key message

First, this work can be useful to link theories in climate change education with youth voices. Second, it can help to find ways to reinforce the sense of empowerment of youth when it comes to climate change. Finally, it can be useful to better plan a whole school approach based on what youth demands to feel empowered.

1 Youth Voices About Their Sense of Empowerment

Given the urgent need to address climate change, it is necessary to empower youth. Since youth are particularly affected by climate change and its short-, medium-, and long-term repercussions, they should be recognized as full-fledged actors in climate change education (UNESCO, 2020; Ballet et al., 2013). This means, for example, that they must be given the freedom to create, change, and influence the course of events in accordance with their priorities, goals, and values. The education system must offer youth this kind of freedom of agency and other types of freedoms related to their well-being and opportunities (Sen, 2010). These different freedoms can reinforce their sense of empowerment and lead youth to act if that is their goal.

The whole school approach (WSA) may be seen as the starting point for a systemic and holistic redesign of the school as an institution (Hargis et al., 2021; Mogren, 2019; Wals & Mathie, 2022). UNESCO (2017b) has proposed “whole school approaches to climate action” that include aspects of school governance, teaching and learning, resource management, and school-based and extracurricular activities in partnership with the community. Various schools and extracurricular actors should thus be mobilized in such actions and support should be given to concrete youth initiatives. In our opinion, it is crucial to base this type of approach on what young people tell us. Therefore, we would like to propose here some relationships between what strengthens youth’s sense of empowerment from their perspective (Morin, 2021) and emerging theories about the WSA. Based on the comments gathered from youth and on the capability theoretical approach, we will point out some very interesting links between the WSA and the empowerment of students, as well as ways to implement the WSA in certain schools in Québec.

2 Epistemologies and Approaches in Climate Change Education for Empowerment

It is usually acknowledged in the environmental education research community that some schools, whether in the province of Québec (Canada) or in other parts of the world, do not achieve their climate change education objectives, particularly those aimed to encourage active eco-citizenship, build competencies such as systemic analysis and critical thinking, and give hope (Bader et al., 2013; Blaze Corcoran & Osano, 2009; Elshof, 2010; Field et al., 2019; Hayward, 2021; Jickling & Wals, 2018; Kwauk, 2020; Pruneau et al., 2015; UNESCO, 2017a; Zeyer & Kelsey, 2013). Despite the socio-constructivist approach to teaching and learning in Québec’s education department curriculum (Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, 2007a), a more positivist/empirical-realistic epistemological and pedagogical perspective and a transmissive science and environmental education still seem to emerge all too often in the classroom (Baillet & Therriault, 2021; Charland et al., 2009). However, this epistemology severely limits the development of competencies for critically analyzing environmental science and the work of scientists or experts, including the competency for understanding that scientific knowledge is socially constructed in a specific context. This dominant epistemology in today’s education systems creates a clash between the culture of youth (that is, their personal experience, life history, and initial conceptions) and the culture of Western science as usually represented by schools (Zeyer & Kelsey, 2013).

Therefore, even with the best of pedagogical intentions to develop young people’s knowledge about climate change, a teaching method that is based to a large extent on a so-called positivist epistemology and a transmissive conception of teaching can ultimately lead some youth to develop what Zeyer and Kelsey (2013) have named “environmental depression.” In their analysis, presenting youth with an accumulation of facts relating to environmental issues that are all too often alarmist tends to have the opposite effect of that desired. In fact, it contributes to reduce the empowerment of the learner by making them feel overwhelmed by complex, large-scale social and environmental problems that cannot be resolved easily and are way beyond their capabilities. The issue of climate change is of an exceedingly complex and interdisciplinary nature that should be discussed in the classroom (Bader et al., 2013; Schreiner et al., 2005). Adopting a socio-constructivist, critical, and transformative epistemological stance can thus help to further empower youth (Bader et al., 2014; Jickling & Wals, 2013, 2018; Morin et al., 2019; Zeyer & Kelsey, 2013).

We would have much to gain in secondary school by adopting a different approach to climate change education (Glithero, 2015; Sadler et al., 2007). Preferably, we should do more than simply teach facts, but should develop a more critical and transformative science and environmental education aimed to empower youth (Bader et al., 2017; Elshof, 2010). Various recommendations have already been made in this regard (Field et al., 2019; Kwauk, 2020; Sauvé, 2018). Kwauk (2020) insists that schools lack the support they need to properly integrate climate change education both at organizational and pedagogical levels.

Over the past few years, UNESCO (2016; 2017a, b; 2019; 2020) has suggested practical steps and directions for climate education that we think could foster the development of youth’s sense of empowerment. For example, the new roadmap for education for sustainable development (ESD) (2020) proposes, as a priority action area (area 4), to “recognize young people as key actors in addressing sustainability challenges and the associated decision-making processes” (p3). It has also suggested that the role of educational institutions be redesigned by focusing more on the community, that steps be taken to promote the cooperation and solidarity of all actors around causes defended by youth, and that the latter be asked to fully participate in all the stages involved in implementing environmental projects. However, many aspects essential to foster a sense of empowerment seem to be lacking in schools, particularly in the learning objectives related to sustainable development goal (SDG) to fight against climate change (SDG 13) (UNESCO, 2017a). One such aspect encompasses the emotional dimensions of learning that are tied to youth well-being. These dimensions seem to be fundamental to the ongoing discourse about changes in individual behavior, which is nonetheless accompanied by a proposed reorganization of societal structures.

Therefore, we believe that a whole school approach to climate change is relevant (Hargis et al., 2021; UNESCO, 2017b; Wals & Mathie, 2022). This type of approach was proposed during sessions of professional development in ESD that mobilized various actors from Québec’s education sector (Potvin & Bader, 2020). The project enabled us to reaffirm the appropriateness of key ESD competencies and to identify the types of school projects usually conducted in this area in Québec while proposing ways to enrich them in a collaborative manner.

This global approach has several different facets. At the heart of this school culture of action and engagement are an ethical stance and values that respect nature, life, solidarity, and social justice. Preference must thus be given to educational actions based on these values. The school curriculum must make considerable room for projects that are meaningful to youth because they are closely connected to their lives, their territory and community, and their concerns in a dialogical, critical, reflexive, and creative manner. This would reinforce the appropriateness of our approach, which involves listening to and considering the needs and expectations of youth so that schools can take them into account more fully in order to increase young people’s sense of empowerment. In regard to teaching practices and important learnings, we have advocated for many years for interdisciplinary pedagogical practices, systemic analyses, and a critical and creative stance. In particular, we would like to renew the concept of environmental sciences and the relationship between the scientific knowledge of youth and teachers (Bader et al., 2014). Our goal would be to encourage youth to consider themselves as being competent and entitled to enter into a dialogue with the actors concerned, while enabling them to act individually and collectively as citizens or professionals in order to change the way we live and consume. As for the management of schools, it must respect nature, reduce its energy and carbon footprint, be open to differences, and know how to reconcile them in an interesting manner. Lastly, the WSA must be based on professional development and ongoing dialogue with stakeholders.

3 Clarification of Concepts Pertaining to Empowerment in Climate Change Education

Many environmental education researchers (Blanchet-Cohen & Brunson, 2014; Dimick, 2012; Mackey, 2012; Payne, 2015; Schreiner et al., 2005) defend the goal of social participation (where power is shared equitably among the various actors) rather than that of change in individual behavior (where youth are expected to reproduce a social construct predefined by adults). Striving for social participation implies that youth are truly “empowered” (Hayward, 2021). However, there does not appear to be a consensus among the aforementioned authors on what is meant by the term “empowerment”. Some of these researchers refer to a sense of self-efficacy or personal efficacy (Corner et al., 2015; Goldman et al., 2017; Mead et al., 2012; Tsevreni, 2011), and others to agency (Blanchet-Cohen, 2008; Doyle, 2015; Glithero, 2015; Hayward, 2021; Lotz-Sisitka, 2016; Oliveira et al., 2015; Vongalis-Macrow, 2013) or empowerment (Birdsall, 2010; Blanchet-Cohen & Brunson, 2014; Dimick, 2012; Hayden et al., 2011; Schreiner et al., 2005). Nonetheless, it is necessary to theorize in detail and identify the limits of concepts identified as being relevant by researchers in this field if we want our educational practices in climate change education and, more broadly, in our secondary schools to be based on those concepts.

One approach in particular that has driven the research presented here seems especially appropriate for imagining an educational system that is characterized to a greater extent by social and environmental justice and is likely to give youth more freedom as well as the ability to act in ways they value. Known as the capability approach, it was developed by Sen (1985a, b) and Nussbaum (2000) and could easily be part of a transformative, sociocritical, and socioconstuctivist epistemological posture that also targets social participation in EE. It brings together three concepts that are particularly prevalent in the scientific literature in the area of climate education for empowerment, namely, empowerment, agency, and a sense of self-efficacy.

3.1 The Capability Approach

Sen (1985a), an economist and philosopher, conceptualized the capability approach in the 1980s to illustrate the relevance of considering the real opportunities and freedoms that a person have at their disposal in order to accomplish what they value instead of focusing essentially on individual access to resources (Comim et al., 2011). This approach, which goes beyond education and is in keeping with the perspective of improving human conditions, makes it possible to take an interest not only in justice in resource distribution but also in the other types of freedoms. In developing this approach, Sen (1985a) sought to defend the idea that social structures should always be designed with the goal of developing individual capabilities.

Although the capability approach provides theoretical tools that we cannot discuss in detail here, it should be noted that we divide these capabilities into two main categories (Morin, 2021): (1) capabilities that refer to opportunity and well-being freedoms and (2) capabilities that refer to process and achievement freedoms, with the latter referring directly to what is meant by the term agency. The capability approach is based on the idea that there are individuals who are more or less vulnerable or more or less free, who may or may not have to contend with injustice. Depending on their situation, we would like to empower them either by increasing their agency, that is, their ability to act, or by giving them opportunities and freedoms to enjoy fair and equitable well-being (Alkire, 2008; Gangas, 2016; Ibrahim & Alkire, 2007).

Comim et al. (2011) illustrate how appropriate it is to use the capability approach with youth given that they are not consulted or considered very often in the organization of social structures. In accordance with this approach, youth must be seen as full-fledged social actors, able to develop all of the capabilities they need to actively participate in society when they want to. They must be consulted on ways to boost their capabilities and reduce the injustices they face, particularly because they are the generation that will be most affected by the impacts of climate change. These are the main theoretical principles that have guided our reflection in this chapter, which is intended to underscore the relevance of certain aspects of the WSA, given the concerns expressed by youth and that affect their sense of empowerment.

3.2 Concepts Related to the Sense of Empowerment

As shown in Fig. 6.1, agency derives from process freedom and achievement freedom. Agency is what allows a person to act based on what he or she value. Achieving it depends directly on a person’s sense of self-efficacy (Bandura, 2003). Without this sense, agency is diminished or even nonexistent because it constitutes the belief of an individual in his ability to act.

Fig. 6.1
A chart. Within the capability approach, a sense of empowerment and empowerment lead to individuals and capabilities via well-being and opportunity freedoms, resulting in process and achievement freedoms. This drives agency, which integrates with self-efficacy. Empowerment impacts social structures.

The capability approach and the emergence of a sense of empowerment

Full size image

Empowerment is broader. It is both a process aimed at increasing agency and access to resources and goods, as well as a result of that increase. It is also a process aimed at boosting individual capabilities, be they directly related to an action or a state, in other words, the opportunity to act. Empowerment thus leads to the development of well-being and opportunity freedoms, together with process and achievement freedoms.

As shown in Fig. 6.1, the sense of empowerment is understood as being the way a person feels in regard to the various freedoms he or she has, their well-being and opportunity freedoms, and their process and achievement freedoms. This concept, whose principal dimensions were to be defined by the research presented here (Morin, 2021), is particularly well suited to explaining why a person wishes to act or not. It is in contrast to agency, which inevitably involves an action or a sense of self-efficacy that refers to a feeling toward a specific action. In our opinion, the sense of empowerment is particularly relevant within the context of the problem of climate change since this context makes people (especially youth) feel vulnerable and requires us to consider not only the process and achievement freedoms of individuals but also their opportunity and well-being freedoms.

4 Methodology

The methodological approach recommended for this research is in keeping with a qualitative/interpretive paradigm (Savoie-Zajc, 2018) and a socioconstructivist epistemological posture (Creswell & Poth, 2018). This posture involves reconciling the conceptualization of the sense of empowerment with the way in which youth, as social actors, interpret their own reality. In this sense, it aims to overturn the epistemic injustice faced by youth when they voice their concerns with a view to making recommendations for the education system.

The target population of this research consisted of young Quebecers at the end of secondary school. The secondary schools where the youth were interviewed were chosen on the basis of criteria similar to those used by Karpudewan et al. (2015) and Dawson (2015), namely (1) the public or private status of schools; (2) the environment, whether urban, rural, or semi-rural; (3) the socioeconomic background; (4) the number of students in the school; and (5) the presence or the absence of a particular program focusing on environmental education in the school. The objective was to obtain the greatest variability possible in the participants’ sense of empowerment, until theoretical saturation. We specify to the teachers who help us that the students we choose should not necessarily be engaged but should be interested in discussing about climate change and their sense of empowerment. A total of 29 French-speaking youth, comprising 18 girls and 11 boys, aged 15–17, were met. Overall, we conduct ten (N = 10) semi-structured interviews in five secondary schools in spring 2019. The first part of the group interview protocol was designed to remind the youth of times in their lives when they felt very empowered or, on the contrary, not at all empowered. A discussion was then held to highlight what a “sense of empowerment” meant for them. In the second part of the interview, more specific questions were asked about the youth’s sense of empowerment in the face of climate change, along with follow-up questions. For example, we asked: “Do you feel free to act on climate change? Do you feel able to act on climate change?” The interviews were during lunch, in a classroom and last for approximately 1 h. The analysis conducted was essentially thematic (Paillé & Mucchielli, 2016), and NVivo 12 software was used in view of the size of the corpus of data. The themes and subthemes obtained were the dimensions of the sense of empowerment. During the final step of the analysis, inspired by Creswell and Poth (2018), we took a step back to make sense of these themes and subthemes. Connections between broader units of abstraction and the scientific literature were listed. All the items in this list were then grouped by family resemblance (Wittgenstein, 1961). To make the results more accessible, these groupings were synthesized. They made it possible to identify three main findings for empowering youth in the face of climate change.

5 Dimensions of the Sense of Empowerment and Links with the WSA

As mentioned earlier, various links can be identified between the dimensions of the sense of empowerment that emerged from what was said by the youth we met with (Morin, 2021) and the WSA (Wals & Mathie, 2022). In this section, we present the findings that we believe are more in keeping conceptually and empirically speaking with the different components of the WSA defined by Wals and Mathie (2022).

5.1 Vision, Ethos, Leadership, and Coordination

To bring about changes in discourses and practices in school, it is essential that the actors in each school community share the same vision of environmental education at both pedagogical and administrative levels. As specified by Mogren (2019) and Wals and Mathie (2022), the school culture needs to align with this shared vision.

The young people interviewed in the course of our research mentioned various needs regarding school leadership. First of all, they talked about the actions that should be taken by schools to ensure that their students have a minimum of facilities and material resources for boosting their sense of empowerment. Among other things, they said that they would like schools to be better adapted to environmental action and be equipped at the very least with reusable dishware, composting systems, bike racks, and reusable bottles, instead of beverage vending machines, etc. Some became angry when they talked about their school’s material resources, including the fact that there were no recycling bins or that recycling bins were present but their contents were simply thrown into the garbage. This situation was distressing for the youth we met with and did not help them build a sense of empowerment.

The youth we interviewed also called for environmental action opportunities, meaningful projects, resources, support for their initiatives, and consistent, environmentally friendly actions on the part of school authorities. They also said that they wanted schools to help them make enlightened choices, develop their self-confidence, and foster their sense of responsibility. As well, some called for greater recognition for youth engagement. As shown by the following statement, the youth saw this as a way to develop their sense of empowerment:

Student engagement isn’t promoted enough in our school. And especially, no one praises those who do get involved. Just having someone give you a little pat on the back and say “You did it! Congratulations!” or “Thank you” encourages you to continue (translation, youth, age 14).

Such recognition should also be provided to schools that make efforts and get involved in an environmentally friendly manner.

5.2 Curriculum

The education systems in various countries have implemented school curriculums and promote educational approaches that may or may not address the challenges related to the climate emergency. For example, in Québec, one of the three aims of the Québec Education curriculum is organized around helping students to “become empowered” (Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, 2007a, p9). This idea is based essentially on students’ know-how and knowledge. Although very relevant, it does not seem to be put into practice to any great extent in many of the schools attended by the youth we interviewed.

In fact, knowledge is presented as a fundamental basis for empowerment in the curriculum concerned. Knowledge about climate change is made available, in particular, to 16 of age youth teachers in the following general education curriculums: Science and Technology (MELS, 2007b) and Environmental Science and Technology (Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, 2007c). It is also available for the 17 of age youth in the Contemporary World curriculum (Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, 2007d). As part of general education in Science and Technology, teachers may choose to discuss the issue of climate change, but they are not obliged to do so. As a result, when young people have finished their compulsory schooling at age 17, they may have had little exposure to the climate change issue in the different curriculums because none of them are devoted entirely to environmental education.

That being said, most of the youth we interviewed said that they had explored the question of climate change in school, while only a very small minority said that they had not discussed it at all. However, this did not prevent many of them from criticizing the way that climate change is dealt with in school. As with a positivist epistemological approach, it seems that the knowledge that is taught is rarely put into context or linked to the youth’s preoccupations, territory, and community (Morin et al., 2021; Morin, 2021). Therefore, nearly half of the youth interviewed said that knowledge was the only thing they heard about in school when it came to climate change. They also deplored the fact that they were mainly required to write about the subject rather than to take action. A sociocritical, transformative, and socio-constructivist approach where youth play an active role in choosing themes or actions they value (Bader et al., 2017) would seem to be more in keeping with the WSA.

Generally speaking, when the youth were asked what they wanted in order to feel more capable of taking action in regard to climate change, they asked for a course on climate change at school. The debate over the need for a curriculum on the environment made its way into the news in 2019 when youth in Québec, who had demonstrated in the wake of the climate strikes organized by young Greta Thunberg, made this their main request to the government in place.

In addition to the need for more relevant knowledge and the creating of a specific course on the environment, the discussions with the youth revealed that these young people did not have enough opportunities to talk about their feelings on climate change. However, many of them said they felt upset, powerless, anxious, depressed, distressed, pessimistic, disappointed, overwhelmed, mad, indignant, lacking in freedom, fearful, under pressure, etc. In contrast, feeling free, being hopeful, looking forward to a brighter future, and believing in a better response on the part of the community are feelings that can strengthen a person’s sense of empowerment.

We believe it is essential to be able to create a forum for discussion within curriculums, where youth can say how they feel. Philosophy for children, youth arts, and youth literature are all ways that can foster discussion. However, very full curriculums, frequent evaluations, and rigid timetables—particularly in secondary school—make it very difficult for teachers, even the most motivated ones, to put all that is needed in place. It seems desirable to have education curriculums that give more freedom to students and teaching staff, provided the latter receive appropriate support and training in climate change education.

5.3 Pedagogy and Learning

According to Wals and Mathie (2022), the type of pedagogy used coupled with conceptions of teaching and learning constitute another dimension of the WSA. As mentioned earlier, a transformative approach to climate change education can have very beneficial effects in a school. In our opinion, this type of approach seems to be well aligned with what the youth we met with said, especially because we feel they are being subjected to a form of epistemic injustice (Demers et al., 2018). Confidence, recognition, commitment, and their successes should be considered fundamental in this transformative sociocritical education on environmental issues.

According to some of the youth we met with, the fact that they feel encouraged to acquire knowledge about climate change without, however, being able to take action and be recognized for their actions, undermines their freedom. As one girl explained, learning about climate change is usually viewed favorably, but when this learning leads to action, some adults in positions of authority consider their action futile.

I feel free, yes and no, to act to address climate change. We’re encouraged to come up with ideas, do things, and develop our own view of climate change. But there’s always someone, like the school principal or a member of the political party in power, who tells you that you have good ideas and encourages you, but then says to themselves: “look at that girl making all those efforts for nothing” (translation, youth, age 16).

However, some of the youth we interviewed had had a very different experience. They drew attention to examples of environmental initiatives at the school they attended. Most of these youth felt that they had a certain amount of power at their school and were perfectly capable of working with the school administration or teachers to develop environmental initiatives. According to one girl, the fact that teaching staff had confidence in the students and gave them responsibilities as well as the freedom to act in their school setting was enough to convince them that they had the capacities needed to act:

When someone tells you to do what you want because they have confidence in you, you can’t ask for more power to act than that! I’ve come to understand that I’m in charge. This makes me resourceful, self-sufficient, and accountable for what I do. And since I’m responsible for others as well, that gives me a certain autonomy. Of course, you’re proud of yourself, but at the same time you gain self-confidence because you tell yourself that if someone gives you power, it’s because you can handle it (translation, youth, age 14).

The youth we met with said that they were satisfied, happy, or proud with regard to their actions, primarily those that had had visible results. Others said that they felt good about or enjoyed being involved. However, according to many of these youth, the successes of others were not discussed very much if at all in school, even when they were very relevant. More attention should be focused on their successes because this would help youth to develop a sense of empowerment and to be granted more importance.

5.4 Institutional Practices and Bureaucracy

Several of the youth we interviewed complained about the complex structures and bureaucracy needed to make changes that might be readily applicable. Some of them admitted that they found it very hard to deal with this bureaucracy: “What’s so annoying is that it takes so long to do even simple things. That makes me mad.” (translation, youth, age 14).

The youth we met with mentioned many very worthy and relevant initiatives that could be implemented in schools. Some of them said that they had talked to school administrators about these initiatives and had received strong support.Others expressed indignation about the way in which the adults gave to much importance to the supposedly complexity of changes the youth propose.

Other youth were aware that their lack of choices or opportunities could be due to a single individual, group, government, or organization. These youth said that they also felt helpless in such situations:

I felt very empowered when the school administration lifted the ban on taking part in protests, because prior to that I had felt really powerless in dealing with the administrators. You belong to the administration during school hours, so you can’t decide to skip classes or you’ll suffer the consequences . . .You really feel stripped of your power to act because your school prevents you from acting (translation, youth, age 16).

Many of the youth in our sample had been prevented from taking part in the Friday climate protests and they talked about this regularly during the interviews. Most of them said that it had had a direct impact on their sense of empowerment. As recommended by Mogren (2019), proactive leadership by the school organization is important to create a structure that facilitates transformative education.

5.5 Valuing Community and Intergenerational Connections

According to the youth we interviewed, establishing emancipatory relations with the various actors in the community surrounding a school seems to be essential for developing their sense of empowerment. Another element that emerged very clearly from the statements analyzed was a strong desire for solidarity.

Many of the youth we met with stressed first and foremost the importance of working together in order to address environmental issues. This helped them to feel less isolated:

If there’s no cooperation, you don’t have any power (translation, youth, age 16).

You need mutual aid to feel empowered (translation, youth, age 14).

When you feel empowered, you feel like you’re almost of the same caliber as others, you know what you have to do and you can share it with others (translation, youth, age 14).

Those youth had a fairly strong sense of empowerment. They already seemed aware of the surrounding community and the opportunities for assistance offered by it. One girl in particular seemed to be able to reflect upon the basis of the social solidarity she felt and promoted in all spheres of her life: “You mustn’t forget, in any case, that you’re never alone in life. You’re the one who makes the decisions . . . but you’re never alone. You’re never alone, even when you make personal decisions” (translation, youth, age 14).

Many of the youth we interviewed said that they would like to feel listened to, understood, and supported to a greater extent. They also recognized that such values are essential for creating a fairer society and that individuals would feel more able to act if they felt important to others and were listened to when they made choices.

Our analysis identified two other values that can give youth a sense of empowerment in the face of climate change, namely, empathy and respect. According to two young people, empathy can help us to better understand others and the situations in which they live so that we can help them more effectively. It can give rise to a multitude of learnings and address the most vulnerable needs.

Many of the statements we analyzed talked about “other generations” and, particularly, older generations. The youth we interviewed found it hard when older generations do not take responsibility for climate change. Some of them deplored the fact that those generations pass the burden to younger people and thus fail to shoulder their responsibilities: “We should be able to see the older generations as setting the example, but no. They flood us with information in the hope that we’ll take care of things, but why can’t they take the initiative?” (translation, youth, age 15). According to one youth, the best way to increase a person’s sense of empowerment is to encourage them to stop thinking that it’s up to others to act: “To make me feel more empowered, I’d like people to stop saying that future generations will do something.” (translation, youth, age 14).

Regardless of the form it takes, shared responsibility is important for putting an end to injustices. Achieving it requires thinking outside the box, getting rid of often deep-seated habits, and being open minded. In this sense, connections with the community around a school or outer society (Mogren, 2019) are essential for strengthening solidarity and showcasing models where older generations forcefully engage with younger ones.

5.6 Capacity Building and Continued Professional Development of All School Staff

As mentioned by Wals and Mathie (2022), teaching staff must build various capacities if they want to take part in a WSA. They will have to work with various partners in the community, be resilient in the face of change. and have a good capacity to adapt to unforeseen events. The staff will also have to defend the relevance of this type of approach before different audiences. When we interviewed the youth taking part in our study, they told us which capacities they deemed essential for increasing their sense of empowerment. These capacities also seem to be in keeping with what can be expected of teaching staff. For example, they said that they believe it is necessary to be able to convince, influence, and educate others, as well as to argue a point of view. When asked “If anything was possible, what would you like to have at your disposal for addressing climate change in the way you want?”, they mentioned “influence” on several occasions as a capacity that should be developed.

The ability to make efforts also seems to be important for developing a sense of empowerment. Efforts seem to be contagious and should be encouraged. However, they should have positive results if they are to be meaningful and generate hope. In this sense, determination, perseverance, and efforts are necessary, but not sufficient.

Courage is another sub-theme related to the aspect of capacity. For example, courage can be needed to do what is right. Therefore, it is important “to step out of your comfort zone” (translation, youth, age 14), “to not be afraid of what people will think” (translation, youth, age 14), “to have mental fortitude” (translation, youth, age 16), and “to even defy rules and standards at times.”

All of these capacities, be they the ability to convince, influence, educate, or persuade, or remain determined, persevere, make efforts, or display courage, are largely a matter of impressions or feelings. According to what the young people we interviewed said, these capacities depend a great deal on how they are perceived by others and on the actions that others take. Seeing others make efforts in the wake of your own or knowing that they share your determination can completely change the way you view your capacities.

6 Three Main Findings for Empowering Youth in the Face of Climate Change

The first finding that emerged from our results is the need to consider in climate change education not only what actions can be taken by youth and thus their agency in regard to the problem but also their well-being and the opportunities made available to them (Sen, 2010).

Taking well-being and opportunities into account also recalls the importance of considering the emotional dimensions of climate change education when it comes to empowerment, in order to prevent and mitigate feelings of despair, fear, urgency, or fatalism that are still overly present among some youth (Zeyer & Kelsey, 2013). In that regard, Kelsey and Armstrong (2012) put forward the hypothesis that asking youth to prematurely address an issue like climate change, which is an environmental problem well beyond their control, could contribute to reducing their empowerment. We support this idea and show that some of the youth we met with had a very limited sense of empowerment owing to the scope of the climate change problem and their lack of control over it. This is one of the climate education for empowerment challenges mentioned by Schreiner et al. (2005) that schools must strive to address. Therefore, adopting a different approach to dealing with climate change in schools is no longer an option but a necessity, especially when we think that certain current education practices exacerbate feelings of helplessness, discouragement, and even fear (Elshof, 2010).

The second finding that emerged is the link between the importance attached to prescribing changes in individual behavior and the decrease in young people’s sense of empowerment in regard to climate change. The young people we met with, like those met with by Kenis and Mathijs (2012), widely criticized an educational model where youth are expected to reproduce a social construct predefined by adults (Jickling & Wals, 2008). Since youth consider that they are among the individuals most affected by climate change (they will experience the effects to a greater extent) (Corner et al., 2015; Schreiner et al., 2005), their sense of empowerment will be reduced if they feel they are not being listened to or are not considered credible in decision making on this question, but have to comply with directives that they believe are lacking in scope.

Our results also show that the development of a sense of empowerment would be fostered by a more participatory citizen-action social model (Glithero, 2015; Hayward, 2021; Sadler et al., 2007), where there is an equitable sharing of power. Therefore, the youth we interviewed identified hierarchical social systems based on authoritarian political and social structures and major, but socially accepted, power relations (Jickling & Wals, 2008) as being at the root of a reduced sense of empowerment. These youth felt that they were regularly subjected to power dynamics that they did not consider legitimate, whether in regard to educational institutions (Demers et al., 2018), governments (Fielding & Head, 2012), multinationals (Kenis & Mathijs, 2012), or even adults in general. Ensuring that youth are directly and truly involved in making decisions that concern them in their school seems to be totally consistent with the WSA and should be considered a priority.

Similarly, it is interesting to note that some of the youth we met with criticized the social norm that values, for example, overconsumption and individualism, as well as capitalism. These youth, who recognized that it is important to do what is fair, to break free from social norms or their comfort zone, and to overcome the lack of support from others (Blanchet-Cohen, 2008), were also perfectly aware of the choices and responsibilities we have as individuals and members of society. They recognized the need to change habits, call the system in place into question, consider the most vulnerable individuals, and provide them with the opportunities and all the capabilities (Sen, 2010) needed to ensure greater social and environmental justice.

Since the vast majority of the youth we interviewed recognized that schools are accountable in the fight against climate change, education seems to be a promising way to call the system into question, imagine a more viable future, and take concrete action for the community. For some of the youth, it is impossible to not be affected by the injustices associated with the climate crisis. Therefore, critical reflection and systemic analysis (UNESCO, 2017a) encouraged by schools might facilitate the necessary social and ecological transition. Some of the youth we interviewed in one of the schools seemed to have completed this critical reflection and systemic analysis phase and were now looking forward to a more ecologically viable future. The fact that they experienced environmental successes on a daily basis and were part of a school community where they felt free and where adults had confidence in them encouraged them to have a strong sense of empowerment when it came to dealing with climate change.

The third and last finding that emerged from the results is the important role of solidarity in the development of a sense of empowerment. As in Hayward (2021) and Glithero (2015), some of the youth we met with called for climate change education that builds on the fairer and more equitable social participation of youth (at the level of consultation and decision making as well as action). Such social participation should be encouraged and developed in school and conducted for the well-being of the community around the school (Hargis et al., 2021; Hayward, 2021; UNESCO, 2020). In so doing, values such as solidarity or, as mentioned in particular by Sauvé (2018), benevolence should be valued in school. To that end, youth must be recognized as valuable, credible, and legitimate interlocutors.

Therefore, it seems logical that youth’s sense of empowerment will increase when group activities, particularly those that bring all generations together, are conducted and encouraged. It will then feel like responsibility is being shared and that the different actors in the school community are concerned as well. According to some of the youth we met with, schools are responsible for promoting this type of activity.

7 Conclusion

It is morally untenable that formal education as usually provided in formal school settings helps to increase the anxiety and discouragement of youth in the face of climate change (Elshof, 2010). To develop a real sense of empowerment in schools when it comes to climate change, it must be acknowledged that youth are free to act or not based on what they believe should be done. Various freedoms (or capabilities) must be granted to youth as part of a WSA so that they can feel empowered in the face of climate change.

Several initiatives are already underway in schools in Québec, thanks to the unrelenting efforts of teachers, school administrators, and other school employees. These initiatives must be recognized and promoted in order to inspire other school communities to follow suit. Political authorities must provide these communities with adequate support in order to reinforce this aspect of their school-based and extracurricular initiatives.

In conclusion, it should be noted that we have a tremendous need for education if we are to deal with climate change. However, the world of education (particularly, teaching staff and school administrators) also requires freedom, resources, and recognition if it is to achieve that goal. As Glithero (2015) said, teaching staff also need appropriate preservice teacher training and professional development in environmental education as well as an organizational structure that supports this type of education. In that sense, the WSA should serve as a source of inspiration.