| NSF Org: |
DGE Division Of Graduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 15, 2012 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 7, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1239733 |
| Award Instrument: | Cooperative Agreement |
| Program Manager: |
Earnestine Psalmonds
DGE Division Of Graduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2012 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $5,852,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $5,852,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2013 = $3,350,000.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
119 MERCHANT ST HONOLULU HI US 96813-4418 (808)441-1300 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
HI US 96813-3718 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
OPPORT FOR ENHANCING DIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION, TUES-Type 2 Project, EPSCoR Co-Funding |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001213DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001314DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001415DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
The Pacific islands Climate Education Partnership (PCEP) is a collaborative network of Pacific Island communities and organizations responding to the impacts of climate change and committed to enhancing climate education in the Pacific Island region. The core team includes PREL, WestEd, the University of Hawai'i, the College of the Marshall Islands, entity-based Curriculum and Instruction Chiefs, and other researchers. About 40 other organizations, including all U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) school systems and institutions of higher education, as well as governmental agencies and a broad range of non-profit groups and local communities, comprise the cadre of supporting partners. The PCEP strategic plan is founded on a K-14 Climate Education Framework (CEF) that is based on the Next Generation Science Standards and Pacific Island Indigenous knowledge and practices. The CEF guides the PCEP work throughout the USAPI in professional development, curriculum contextualization and dissemination, and assistance to community-school partnerships. The regional implementation and dissemination strategies are informed by deep understanding of the differences and similarities among the region's islands, cultures, and governments.
The PCEP vision is to empower the region's students and citizens through education that exemplifies modern science and indigenous environmental knowledge, addresses the urgency of climate change impacts, and honors indigenous cultures so that students and citizens within the region will have the knowledge and skills to improve understandings of climate change and adapt to its impacts. A strategy of connecting community adaptation and K-14 education to advance climate science education is particularly appropriate for this highly vulnerable and currently impacted region. This aspect of the PCEP work can serve as a beacon for climate education strategies that may become equally appropriate and desired if projected increases in climate change occur in other regions of the USA and internationally.
This project is one of six Phase II projects being funded through the Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) program. The CCEP program was developed as part of the NSF Climate Change Education program, established through Congressional appropriations in FY 2009. The CCEP program is a one-time, dedicated NSF effort to establish a coordinated national network of regionally- or thematically-based partnerships devoted to increasing the adoption of effective, high quality educational programs and resources related to the science of climate change and its impacts. The CCEP portfolio encompasses a major interdisciplinary research and development effort designed to promote deeper understanding of, and engagement with, climate system science and the impacts of climate change on natural and human systems. The vision of this program is a scientifically literate society that can effectively weigh the evidence regarding global climate change as it confronts the challenges ahead, while preparing the innovative scientific and technical workforce to advance our knowledge of human-climate interactions and develop approaches for a sustainable, prosperous future. Each CCEP is required to incorporate innovative collaborations among expertise of climate scientists, learning scientists, and education practitioners in either formal or informal learning environments to research, design, and test new models and strategies for effective teaching and learning about climate science. With its focus on interdisciplinary approaches and transformative scales of impact, the CCEP program occupies a unique and complementary niche in the portfolio of Federal investments related to climate science education and workforce development.
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Pacific island Climate Education Partnership (PCEP) is a collaborative network of over 60 partners working together toward a new vision of climate education. Core partners include Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL), WestEd, University of Hawaiʻi (UH), and College of the Marshall Islands (CMI).
As a partnership, PCEP worked toward a vision of climate education that exemplifies modern science and local ecological knowledge, while addressing the urgency of climate impacts in the Pacific region, primarily the U.S.-affiliated Pacific islands of Hawaiʻi, American Sāmoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau. To address this goal, PCEP developed a five-year strategic plan that incorporated a range of interconnected goals, grouped into four priority areas: Climate Education Framework (CEF), Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), Learning & Teaching, and Community-School Partnerships.
PCEP achieved a balance between implementing the structure of their plan while responding to emergent openings and leveraging opportunities. As a result, the project accomplished much more than originally intended.
How has PCEP built capacity in climate education in the region among educational administrators, teachers, and in community-school relationships?
PCEP built capacity in the region for climate education through sustained professional development combined with place-based learning resources and backed by a content framework and the support of community organizations also working to better understand and address climate change.
The range of professional development workshops on content and pedagogical approaches to teaching climate change was significant. Through questionnaires and focus groups, teachers indicated use of professional learning in their classrooms. This was especially strong for those in DASH: Developmental Approaches to Science, Health, and Technology and the place-based learning workshops. PCEP also supported learning garden trainings and the development of the Pacific Storytellers Cooperative to engage educators and learners beyond the classroom.
PCEP partnered with UH to host a series of trainings, and the WestEd's Making Sense of Science (MSS) teacher professional learning program was presented to teachers in Honolulu, but not in other sites. Feedback indicated that MSS would not be fitting for Pacific island teachers. Therefore, PCEP opened an investigation into childrenʻs ecological reasoning in Kosrae and Hawaiʻi Island. And to support pre-/in-service educators, PCEP launched a climate education course at CMI, which has been incorporated into the school's course offerings.
Through the CEF, PCEP made a lasting contribution to climate education by stimulating the revision of standards across the region to embed climate science into the region's national and state standards
PCEP also developed a considerable suite of resources (books, posters, videos, web interactives) to support teaching and learning about climate change through local environments and languages. Production exceeded expectations. Books were purchased by M/DOEs and disseminated to teachers for use in classrooms along with free materials. These tools represent island-based resources in a region dependent on books oriented to the continental US.
PCEP spawned/encouraged community-school partnerships through local professional learning communities (LPLCs), educators and community organizers working toward addressing the impacts of climate change in their communities.
How has PCEP identified and engaged Indigenous knowledges and practices, and how have these influenced climate change learning and teaching in the region?
PCEP used LEK as the framing for place-based education and learned how to address LEK to elevate its presence in trainings and resources. The Place-Based Education: Elements of Design booklet and related workshops engaged teachers in LEK and demonstrated ways to use this knowledge with students. Elders with knowledge of LEK worked with teachers in CNMI and Kosrae. And LEK was infused into the Agroforests: Growing Resilient Communities book.
What have we learned about contextualizing climate education to island cultures and languages from the interactions of climate scientists, learning scientists, practitioners, and the community in the Pacific?
PCEP demonstrated that climate scientists and educators together can make considerable contributions to furthering climate education. Scientists helped to ensure accurate information for educational products and for the CEF, as well as for staff understanding of climate science. They contributed to developing workshops and creating materials that explained the rationale and impact of climate change; while engagement with PCEP staff and teachers helped climate scientists to view science through cultural lenses.
What is the evidence concerning the cohesion, efficiency, and sustainability of the partnership?
PCEP's core partnership provided the expertise and diversity to support the four priority areas. Although the formal partnership is not feasible after PCEP, the principals involved worked well together and will maintain individual and organizational collaborations for other mutually supportive initiatives
PCEP was instrumental in building local partnerships through the LPLCs. LPLC members built capacity in communicating about climate change while also allowing PCEP staff to connect with governmental agencies and environmental organizations working on climate change to school systems and classrooms. LPLCs in at several communities will continue to support learning and teaching about climate change.
Last Modified: 11/21/2018
Modified by: Corrin Barros
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