Exploring the voices of geography teachers in the teaching of climate change in Eswatini

Abstract

Teaching climate change has become highly complex for most geography teachers in Eswatini. The teachers are confused by the contestation of two giant voices that inform climate change teaching. The two curricular/voices (professional/vertical and societal/horizontal) conflict when teaching climate change, and the battle distracts teachers’ actions. This study applied the moments of the currere curriculum model to engage teachers in reflecting and critiquing their climate change teaching practices to instigate the recognition of their voices that would neutralize the conflict of the giant voice that dominates the teaching of climate change. Eight (8) geography teachers were purposively selected from four (4) high schools in Eswatini to participate in this study. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used for data generation. The study was framed by the qualitative approach under the pragmatic paradigm and adopted the educational design research. Findings revealed that teachers’ voices are lacking in climate change teaching. The currere curriculum model was used to sort the tension between the two giant voices and embrace the personal voice, which would manage the tension of voices in climate change lessons. Consequently, the study recommends that teachers apply the strengths of both societal and professional voices to relieve the tension between the two and embrace teachers’ voices, which are critical for climate change education.