Innovate Educate & Inspire (IEI) along with AbadTak successfully comcludes the second round of it’s Climate Educator Training as part of the World Wide Teach-In with Bard College, New York.
Education is a powerful tool that can be used to drive positive change in the world. In Pakistan, IEI Pakistan, in partnership with AbadTak, is leading the way by creating a unique program that focuses on transformative education.
Their mission? To transform teaching and learning through innovative approaches, to promote education for sustainable development and prepare the young to solve local and global challenges with empathy and innovation.
This has led them to launch the Climate Educator Training Program, a one of a kind climate education program in Pakistan which engages teachers and through them students. The program completed its second round of training this March and was a huge success!
Here is everything you need to know about the training that combines climate education with innovative education approaches and transformative teaching practices.
The vision: Empowering teachers to empower students!
IEI Climate Educator Training Programme’s vision is two-fold: a) to enable teachers, working on ground in public and private schools across Pakistan, the skills and tools to lead activities for sustainable education. b) to encourage primary to high school students to become agents of change in helping address environmental challenges.
The vision is realized through carefully curated digital engagements that enabled teachers to organize and lead their own in-person Children Climate Solutions Summit (CCSS) within their schools where young children come together to solution for environmental challenges around them. These CCSS
Programme Outcomes: 2022 - 2023
About the Climate Educator Training Programme
The IEI x Abadtak Climate Educator Training adopts a holistic approach to education, empowering teachers and through them students, to find sustainable solutions to local and global environmental problems.
Through the program, teachers learn how to create engaging and active learning environments that promote experiential learning. They develop problem-solving skills and encourage emapthy and creative thinking among their students.
The program incorporates collaboration and encourages the use of technology in education to enhance the learning process. By fostering social-emotional learning, it equips both teachers and students with future-ready skills such as adaptability and resilience.
The program is divided into two phases to maximize its impact.
Phase I: Sustainable development and climate science workshops
In phase 1, the program emphasized the importance of Education for Sustainable Development and its role in creating a more equitable and sustainable future while sismultaneously building teacher knowledge of climate science. With workshops focused on climate change, sustainable development, and pedagogical approaches the training built teacher knowledge about climate change while also building their confidence to embed climate education in their teaching and establish cross curricular links.
Teachers were engaged in self-awareness and value-building exercises that were designed to relate to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Teachers were introduced to Innovative local and global solutions such as soil solutions for climate change. This phase was instrumental in helping the teachers understand the importance of sustainable development and climate change, and how it relates to the SDGs.
Phase 2: Design thinking and solutions journey for CCSS
In phase 2, the program focused on design thinking and the design process as a way to foster an empathic solution-oriented approach to look at environmental challenges. Through interactive virtual engagements participating teachers were trained on how to lead the IEI Children’s Climate Solutions Summit with primary to high school students, encouraging the young to collaborate and think creatively to find innovative and sustainable solutions to the challenges posed by climate change.
The program’s ultimate goal is to foster transformative education in Pakistan, empowering students and equipping them with the necessary skills for the future. By adopting a student-centered approach and integrating transformative teaching practices, teachers play a vital role in shaping a generation of young minds who are capable of creating a sustainable and equitable world.
Aligned to the ground context and the challenges posed by our traditional approach to education at a national level, the IEI x Abadtak climate educator training program provides teachers with resources including toolkits, activities, worksheets and in-house produced videos to integrate climate education into the subjects they are teaching. Watch our video: Understanding the Sustainable Development Goals.
Highlights
Children’s Climate Solutions Summit and Teach-Ins conducted nationwide
Participating teachers and youth organized 9 Children’s Climate Solutions Summits and Teach Ins across Pakistan, from the coast in Karachi to the Karakoram mountain in Gilgit Baltistan engaging 489 students in a hands-on learning journey.
AbadTak and IEI Pakistan’s climate educator training program is making a significant impact in Pakistan by creating a transformative educational experience for teachers and students alike.
Reaching up to 917 students nationwide
In total, since March 2022, the program has reached a total of 917 students, with plans to reach even more students in the future.
Led by Climate Educator Amna Mazhar, a Teach for Pakistan fellow who works at a low-resource public school, these young girls identified and worked on a challenge they faced on a daily basis in their school and it’s vicinity: Lack of water access. With school bathrooms without water the problem affected students, teachers and staff alike. Amna and her students went on a design thinking journey where they prototyped an upcycled rain water harvesting model as a solution to their school’s constant lack of water.
Students at the City School Darakhsan Campus Karachi, led by Climate Educator Sana Shah identified environmental problems in their surrounding that they wanted to address and then ran an advocacy campaign in their schools by setting up stalls and even going class to class.
Students of Cornerstone School Karachi, led by Climate Educator Anam Kabir, used IEI’s Climate Heroes Toolkit and explored three different topics: Recycling, Plastic Waste Reduction and Soil Solutions.
Climate educator toolkit: A comprehensive climate education resource for teachers
One of the highlights of the program is the interactive climate educator toolkit.
This toolkit includes all the necessary resources, lesson plans, presentations, step-by-step guides, and fun prompts to help teachers engage their students in the learning process.
It is a comprehensive resource that makes it easy for teachers to plan and implement effective lessons on climate change.
Conducted entirely virtually
IEI Pakistan and Abadtak were able to deliver the program entirely virtually. This made it possible for participants from all over Pakistan to partake in the training program. This includes Lahore, Karachi, Bahawalpur and Rawalpindi/Islamabad.
This also enabled teachers to learn through various digital tools and network with other individuals across Pakistan globally. Radhika Iyengar, Director of Education at The Earth Institute at Columbia University particularly provided an insightful mentor session.
The success of the program is a testament to the hard work and dedication of AbadTak and IEI Pakistan. By providing teachers with the tools and resources they need to teach about climate change, they are helping to create a generation of young people who are passionate about protecting the environment..
Last word
Transformative education is critical to building a sustainable future, and AbadTak and IEI Pakistan are leading the way in Pakistan. By empowering teachers and students to take an active role in finding solutions to climate change, the program is helping to build a more sustainable future for all.
By creating a program that focuses on climate change and sustainable development, AbadTak and IEI Pakistan are building a generation of young people who are passionate about protecting the environment.
Want to organise a Climate Educator Training for your school? For collaborations or more information about our programme reach out to our team or partners at team.ieipakistan@gmail.com , abadtak.pk@gmail.com