Using Children’s Picture Books to Introduce Climate Change Pedagogies in Teacher Education

Auteurs-es

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.7469

Mots-clés :

éducation au changement climatique, livres d’images, formation des enseignants, anxiété climatique, espoir

Résumé

L’Accord sur l’éducation pour un avenir durable reconnaît que les programmes canadiens de formation des enseignants ont la responsabilité sociale et éthique de répondre à la crise climatique. L’Accord décrit six principes : l’importance des modes autochtones de connaître, d’être et d’agir, la relationnalité, la justice sociale, le bien-être, le plaidoyer des droits et l’espoir. Un échantillon de livres d’images a été sélectionné et examiné de manière systématique afin de contribuer à la mise en œuvre des principes de l’Accord. Chaque livre a été noté en fonction de la visibilité des principes, et les facteurs d’anxiété climatique ont été identifiés comme présents ou absents. L’analyse des livres d’images sous l’angle de l’anxiété climatique comble une lacune dans la recherche. Une liste de 60 livres d’images a été établie afin de présenter aux enseignants en formation les meilleures pratiques en matière d’éducation au changement climatique. Lorsque les enseignants savent ce qu’ils doivent rechercher, ils peuvent sélectionner avec soin et intentionnellement une collection de livres d’images pour ancrer des conversations difficiles sur la crise climatique, les émotions liées au climat, l’action climatique et la justice climatique.

Statistiques

Chargement des statistiques…

Bibliographies de l'auteur-e

Wendy Simms, Vancouver Island University

Dr. Wendy Simms is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Vancouver Island University (VIU). Her teaching and research focus on science and sustainability education in initial teacher education programs, with particular interest in fostering science competencies, environmental identities, and agency. Through collaborative research with colleagues, practicing teachers, and teacher candidates, she explores interdisciplinary and inquiry-based approaches that can help educators engage students in science in meaningful and relevant ways. Her broader scholarship has examined climate change education, citizen science in classrooms, and the implementation of STEM-aligned curricula. Her current collaboration, Searching for the Science in Stories, explores how contemporary children’s picture books can support integrated science and literacy learning in teacher education and K–5 classrooms.

Kelly Hall, Cowichan Tribes

Kelly Hall is a Quw'utsun educator, Principal of Quw'utsun Hu-yi'xwule' Secondary School and Yuthay'thut Adult School with Cowichan Tribes. Whose work centres on Indigenous education, language revitalization, and land-based learning. Kelly's teaching, leadership, and scholarship explore how Indigenous knowledge systems and ancestral teachings can strengthen education by fostering language/cultural identity, community relationships, and environmental responsibility. Working alongside Elders, Knowledge Keepers, educators, and families, Kelly is committed to supporting Indigenous ways of knowing into contemporary educational practice.   Kelly's contribution to climate education is grounded in the understanding that caring for the environment has long been embedded within Indigenous ways of living on the land. Kelly's work explores how ancestral teachings, storytelling, language, and relationships with the natural world can help educators engage learners in meaningful conversations about environmental stewardship, sustainability, and climate action through an Indigenous lens.

Lindsay McCunn, Vancouver Island University

Dr. Lindsay McCunn is a Professor of psychology at Vancouver Island University (VIU) and Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). She is the Director of VIU’s Environmental Psychology Research Lab, an Adjunct Associate Professor of psychology at the University of Victoria, and the Principal of McCunn & Associates Consulting. Her research is published in several interdisciplinary journals that merge social science with engineering, sustainability, community planning, health care design, and facilities management. She is the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, and has co-edited special issues of journals concerning sustainable construction and psychology’s role in climate change and urban planning. In addition to fulfilling her teaching responsibilities at VIU, she continues to collaborate with federal, provincial, municipal, and state sectors of government, as well as with architecture and engineering firms, school districts, hospitals, prisons, and neighborhood organizations in Canada and the US.

Marylee Holmes, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools

Marylee Holmes (1982-2025) was a queer mom of four who brought years of social justice advocacy, compassion, and commitment to her work as an educator and researcher. She was a proud member of, and advocate for, the LGBTQ2S+ community. Marylee’s belief in the importance of connecting children with the natural world from an early age shaped her teaching practice and led her to develop an outdoor kindergarten program at her school. She believed it was crucial to empower children to understand the impact of their actions on the planet and inspire them to become responsible stewards of the land. Marylee’s commitment to this was visible throughout her work, including her collaboration with the British Columbia Climate Action Secretariat to develop a climate change connections guide for K-3 teachers and her research examining the sustainability and social justice policies of her local school district. 

Elizabeth Simms, retired teacher, private citizen

Liz Simms was an elementary and middle school teacher in Ontario public schools for 22 years, and for 4 years in the Canadian Arctic. Teaching English to French Immersion in a Gifted program, and ESL to refugee children, taught her the importance of story telling as an important tool in all our learning. She has a deep understanding of the impact that children's literature can have on the development of a child's perspective about the world around us. In retirement, Liz remains committed to fostering literacy skills with her grandchildren and in her community, regularly perusing the children's literature section at bookstores for her perpetual gift-giving.

Heather Thompson, Thompson Publishing

Heather Thompson taught a wide range of elementary grades and subjects in both private and public schools across Canada over a 25 year career. Among her most rewarding roles was leading the Kindergarten to Grade 3 physical education program in Vancouver, where she designed engaging learning experiences in dance, gymnastics, and games, drawing on her Movement Education degree from Brock University.

Contributing to this children's book project prompted Heather to reflect on her years as an elementary generalist teacher, particularly when she was assigned to teach science without specialized training. She hopes Wendy's resource will equip educators, regardless of their science background, with the practical strategies, creativity, and confidence to deliver meaningful science learning that she wished had been available to her.

Now retired from classroom teaching and living in Calgary, Heather is the author of the children's book Greta the Grasshopper and enjoys hut to hut hiking with her family.

Ana Vieira, Vancouver Island University

Dr. Ana Vieira is a professor in the Faculty of Education at Vancouver Island University in British Columbia, Canada. She teaches courses in reading, writing, assessment, and principles of teaching for preservice and practicing teachers. Her research interests focus on evidence-based approaches to literacy instruction and the science of teaching and learning, with a particular interest in how findings from the science of reading and learning can be translated into meaningful classroom practice. Dr. Vieira is also interested in disciplinary literacy and knowledge-building, recognizing that literacy development and content learning are mutually reinforcing. She values interdisciplinary approaches that integrate reading, writing, oral language, and disciplinary thinking to strengthen both students' literacy skills and their understanding of subject matter across the curriculum. Dr. Vieira collaborates with the Ministry of Education, local school districts, and educators on professional learning and literacy initiatives. Her work emphasizes bridging the gap between research and practice by equipping teachers with the knowledge, practical tools, and evidence-informed instructional strategies needed to support inclusive, engaging, and high-quality learning for all students.

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Publié-e

14-07-2026

Comment citer

Simms, W., Hall, K., McCunn, L., Holmes, M., Simms, E., Thompson, H., & Vieira, A. (2026). Using Children’s Picture Books to Introduce Climate Change Pedagogies in Teacher Education. Revue Canadienne De l’éducation, 49(2), 104–130. https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.7469

Numéro

Vol. 49 No. 2 (2026): Summer 2026 | Été 2026

Rubrique

Articles

Licence

© Dr. Wendy Simms, Kelly Hall, Dr. Lindsay J. McCunn, Marylee Holmes, Liz Simms, Heather Thompson, Dr. Ana Vieira 2025

Licence Creative Commons

Cette œuvre est sous licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International.

La Revue canadienne de l’éducation utilise la licence CC BY-NC-ND de Creative Commons.