Jakarta –

The Earth continues to give signs to its inhabitants. There are those who choose to be silent because they are ignorant, there are those who are silent because they are powerless, there are also those who shout because they feel the responsibility lies with the government (not their). Heat wave or a so-called heat wave has once again “attacked” a number of countries around the world. India is ranked as the most affected country.

India is not alone, this heat wave has also “attacked” China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The country nicknamed the lungs of the world, Indonesia, also “savors” this heat. It is possible that this heat wave will become the new normal in the future.

A time like this will continue to come and get worse. This can be seen, for example, in statements issued by the Australian Government Meteorological Office and CSIRO in State of the climate 2020. Since national records were set in 1910, the trend of increasing hot weather in kangaroo country has occurred year after year. Australia has warmed by an average of 1.44 ± 0.24°C.

For the Indian case, it is also equal to three dollars. Heat waves in India are increasing year by year. According to a study from the University of Cambridge, long-term projections indicate that the heat wave in India could exceed the survival limits of healthy and protected humans by 2050 (detik.com).

Indonesian today

One of the “local wisdoms” in terms of the impact of climate change in Indonesia is the unpredictable weather. While being beaten by hot weather, it also rained at this time with heavy intensity. One of the consequences is that the water level of the river rises and the floods come to say hello. On Saturday (6/5), several areas of Aceh, for example, such as South Aceh, Nagan Raya, floods occurred and overflowed settlements and highways.

Similarly, in North Sumatra, heavy rains caused flash flooding at the Sambahe River tourist attraction. During the period from January to March, at least 749 natural “signs” occurred in Indonesia. Floods occupy the highest position, followed by extreme weather conditions, landslides and wildfires.

Changes related to extreme weather and climate, such as extreme heat, heavy rains and droughts, have a profound impact on the health and well-being of our communities and ecosystems. It will affect lives and livelihoods. So will we choose to shut up, shout or do something?

Learn from two countries

As a teacher, I want to focus this article on climate change education. This is a long-term solution that can be planted from kindergarten (TK) to higher education. According to Anderson (2012), in simple terms, climate change education can be done in two ways; first, the attenuation (mitigation)on the other hand, adaptation (adaptation).

Mitigation is a prevention effort that can be carried out in a variety of ways, such as conserving energy use, waste and waste management, reducing or even avoiding the use of plastic, changing consumption patterns and the use and design of environmentally friendly technologies. But, it is all nonsense if it is not accompanied by knowledge (education).

Education can teach people that as conscious consumers and responsible citizens, they have an important role to play in redefining their lifestyles to solve the current sustainability issues facing creatures on Earth.

Education is an important component of adaptive capacity. The way people are educated and the content of education can provide the knowledge and skills needed to make decisions about how to adapt individual lives and livelihoods and ecological, social or economic systems in changing environments.

To be more concrete, let’s learn from two countries; Australia and Finland. In Australia, as Colliver (2017) writes, the content of climate change education is clearly spelled out in the curriculum. If we want to search by keyword “climate change” on the page http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au, then we will have a lot of material on climate change at each grade level. The most content is at the high school level (at the same level as SMP).

We are now moving from the Australian continent to the European continent, Finland. Sari (2023) shared best practices how Finland introduced environmental education through a scientific approach from primary school. There are three fundamental questions as principles of learning; (1) what already exists?; (2) why did this happen? ; and (3) how do we know?

Naturally, elementary school children are scientists. They are already very critical of what is happening around them. As they explore the environment, they will find and construct their own theory based on experience and field evidence. Another interesting thing about Finland is the quality of primary teacher preparation. They have been training since initial teacher training (pre-position) and also in-service teacher training (in the office).

From the above two experiences, it is not wrong if we think for a moment, lest we not endow our children with anything about nature, about how to coexist with nature.

Curriculum adaptation

There are still options to fix everything. Not too late. And, the best choice starts with the classrooms. It is therefore absolutely necessary to adapt to the content of the program. First, there must be curriculum content designed since elementary school and interrelated. It is not only the work of a science teacher, but all teachers participate in the material of their subject. You can also collaborate between courses.

second, I-Comments national education goals. Our education tends to be implemented in the classroom taught to be tested. The pass indicator is when the material provided can be answered in the final exam session. So, does this nation need test results to answer a million problems on this mother earth?

Ropo (2019) writes about how education should be able to produce graduates who have an identity. Knowledge is important, but perhaps no longer enough. The construction of identity is far more important than knowledge. What kind of definition does Ropo mean regarding this identity?

Perhaps many of us still remember the Japanese national team football fans. They picked up rubbish when they finished supporting the Japanese national team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. What they did was a form of “declaration” by the Japanese people about their identity. Wherever they are, maintaining a clean environment is their responsibility. Then, when the world community talks about Japan, this identity will become the base value-its Japanese.

Education aims to develop identity in understanding oneself, others and the world (the natural environment). For this reason, the program must promote complexity in the classroom as to the meaning of the knowledge taught and needed. Education can change human behavior to realize the importance of environmental protection. This can be done by applying the climate change program appropriately

Third, as a spearhead and above all, to ensure the capacity of teachers literate on climate change education. It cannot be simsalabim, it needs continuous assistance with clear and measurable concepts.

Zubir Principal of Lhokseumawe Sukma Bangsa School; participant in a short course within the curriculum development program for climate change education in the Global South (spring 2023), Finland

See also “When Jokowi charged 100 billion dollars from developed countries to overcome the climate”:

(mmu/mmu)