Climate change education: The shape of curriculum and pedagogy

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a two-stage scoping review of 67 studies published between 2010 and 2025, mapping the development of curriculum and pedagogy in climate change education (CCE), and serves as the introduction to a special issue of the Journal of Environmental Education that examines the state of curriculum and pedagogy in climate change education (CCE). The review identifies trends across theoretical framing, policy alignment, curricular design, and teacher and student perspectives. Findings show that CCE research is expanding but remains emergent, characterized predominantly by qualitative, descriptive work situated in formal education, especially university. Limited theorization, scarce policy-focused scholarship, and few evaluative or mixed-methods studies highlight key gaps. The eight papers included in this special issue address some of these gaps by advancing innovative pedagogical approaches, new curriculum designs, and insights into learner and teacher dispositions.