Teachers' global warming sway studied
Teachers influence some, but not all, climate change beliefs.
The answer is yes and no, according to North Carolina State University researchers. Their study involving 369 middle school students in coastal North Carolina examined whether a teacher’s beliefs affected how students viewed climate change.
The overwhelming majority of students – 92 percent – had teachers who believed climate change was real. The research found that if a teacher believed that climate change was happening, students tended to believe the same.But only 12 percent of students had teachers who believe that global warming is caused by humans.
Even so, researchers found that “teacher beliefs about human causes of global warming had no relationship with student beliefs, suggesting that science teachers’ low recognition of the causes of global warming is not necessarily problematic in terms of student outcomes.”
Many Americans believe climate change is happening but don’t believe it is man-made. A Pew Research Study in 2015 found that half of all adults believe climate change is happening because of human activity. An additional 23 percent believe climate change is caused by naturally occurring weather patterns; 25 percent believe there is no evidence the Earth is getting warmer.
Various studies have found that the overwhelming majority of climate scientists believe that warming is real and caused by human activity. A study by Purdue University last year found that 90 percent of scientists in other fields also believed humans are contributing to climate change.
The study, How Climate Change Beliefs among U.S. Teachers Do and Do Not Translate to Students, is published in the journal PLOS One. The authors are Kathryn T. Stevenson, assistant professor, Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University; M. Nils Peterson, associate professor, Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University; and Amy Bradshaw Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University.
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