Guest editorial: Together addressing the challenges of the climate crisis: rethinking professional cultures, school improvement and leadership

Education’s pivotal role in addressing the climate crisis is underscored in the fourth goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” This goal underscores the immense responsibility of educational institutions to empower individuals with the knowledge, skills and values necessary to live sustainably and mitigate the impacts of climate change. However, this responsibility (and opportunity) is fraught with inherent tensions and challenges that demand critical examination.One key tension lies in the paradox that education, as it currently functions, has contributed to the ecological crisis. Rooted in industrial-era paradigms that emphasize economic growth, resource consumption and human dominance over nature, education systems often replicate the very structures and values driving environmental degradation. Consequently, education is not always a neutral or purely transformative force; rather, it is deeply entangled with the socio-economic systems that perpetuate the climate crisis (Schinkel, 2022).Another significant challenge is the disparity between global commitments to integrate climate education and the reality of its implementation. While policies and funding for climate education have increased (e.g. Anderson, 2012; Government of Alberta, 2017; UNESCO, 2009), these efforts often remain superficial. Many curricula focus narrowly on environmental education, treating climate change as an isolated issue rather than embedding it into broader discussions about equity, democracy and systemic injustice. This fragmented approach risks framing climate change as a problem for “some” communities rather than addressing its global interconnectedness and the disproportionate vulnerabilities faced by marginalized groups.Furthermore, education systems must navigate the tension between fostering a sense of urgency about climate change and avoiding narratives that lead to despair or inaction. While equipping students with climate knowledge is critical, there is also a need to balance this with pedagogical strategies that nurture hope, agency and the capacity for collective action. This requires rethinking professional cultures, pedagogical practices and leadership approaches to empower educators and learners alike.This special issue stems from the recognition that these tensions demand an urgent and coherent response from educational systems. Climate change can no longer be treated as a peripheral or isolated issue – it must become a central focus of educational debates on equity, democracy and social justice. For education to be a transformative force, there must be a profound rethinking of priorities, professional cultures and leadership approaches.As editors, we grapple with several pressing questions:This special issue aims to address these questions by presenting research that explores innovative approaches to climate education from an international perspective. Through this work, we hope to foster critical reflections and provide actionable insights for rethinking how education systems, professional cultures and leadership can rise to the challenge of the climate crisis.The seed for this special issue was planted at the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI), where a group of members from diverse contexts convened to address the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this framework, the Crisis and Response in Education Network (CREN) was established in 2020. As CREN’s work evolved, climate change emerged as a critical global issue in which education systems must play a pivotal role. In 2023, building on this foundation, CREN launched an online research lab titled The Role of Education in Climate Change.This special issue represents the next phase of that effort, offering an in-depth examination of persistent challenges, key lessons learned and future research directions. It is intentionally designed to extend beyond the work of CREN, inviting contributions from the broader educational research community. This openness underscores the recognition that addressing climate change in education demands diverse perspectives and collaborative efforts to comprehensively tackle this global challenge.At the same time, this collection sheds light on the systemic barriers and cultural challenges educators face, encouraging meaningful reflection and actionable change. By doing so, it aims to inspire new approaches and foster the professional and institutional shifts necessary to confront the complexities of climate change through education.The recent surge in research on climate change science has significantly advanced global understanding of its causes, impacts and solutions. Climate change refers to long-term alterations in temperatures and weather patterns. While some changes result from natural factors, such as solar activity or volcanic eruptions, human activities have been the primary driver since the 19th century. Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases, which disperse globally and intensify warming (Lumbreras et al., 2020). According to the UNFCCC, climate change includes human-induced alterations, such as global warming, which are distinct from natural climate variability (UNFCCC, 1994).The term “Anthropocene” has gained traction in the literature on the climate change crisis, emphasizing the undeniable and disruptive influence of humankind on planetary ecosystems and climate systems (Schinkel, 2022). However, the contribution to this damage is not evenly distributed across groups and societies, giving rise to discussions about climate justice. Climate justice addresses inequities between those responsible for climate change and those disproportionately suffering its consequences. It asserts that responsible parties must mitigate emissions, adapt to changes and provide reparations while ensuring marginalized communities have a voice in related policies (Haar and Levy, 2024).Despite this scientific foundation, bridging the gap between knowledge and its effective integration into classroom teaching remains a critical challenge. Monroe et al. (2019) highlight the lack of consensus on strategies for teaching climate change effectively. Similarly, Henderson and Drewes (2020) argue that fostering climate science literacy, while essential, is insufficient to address the interconnected challenges posed by the climate crisis. To move forward, educators must shift from a purely content-driven approach to one that situates climate change education within the lived realities of educational communities. This involves designing pedagogical strategies that deepen understanding of climate change and supporting community-based projects that empower schools to collaborate actively with their communities in addressing climate challenges.What has become increasingly evident is the need to foster systemic change by prioritizing knowledge, engagement and the emotional and political dimensions of teaching and learning. Achieving this requires creating clear and coherent strategies to prepare learners while simultaneously generating avenues for educators, researchers, policymakers and communities to collaborate. By fostering connections across boundaries, strengthening teachers’ professionalism and enabling systems to take meaningful action, climate change education can evolve into a transformative force.In this special issue, we emphasize the concept of professional capital as a key framework for addressing climate change in education. Widely discussed in educational literature, professional capital refers to the collective knowledge, skills and relationships among educators, leaders and communities that enable meaningful change (Hargreaves and Fullan, 2015). To address these challenges effectively, educators must strengthen their professional capital, enhancing the resilience and capacity of educational systems to respond to global challenges.The notion of professional capital is closely linked to collaborative professionalism (Hargreaves, 2018), which is commonly enhanced through professional networks where teachers and leaders engage in meaningful dialog, trust-building and accountability to improve educational outcomes. Collaborative partnerships within, between and beyond schools (Chapman et al., 2016, 2024) play a crucial role in advancing these goals.This issue contributes to the field by presenting research on a variety of experiences, projects and educational policies that tackle climate change while highlighting the critical role of educational agents working as part of a learning system (Madrid Miranda and Chapman, 2021).Professional capital plays a pivotal role in equipping school systems to respond effectively to climate challenges. The papers in this special issue highlight how leveraging professional capital fosters the development of innovative knowledge, collaborative practices and informed decision-making. These elements are essential for integrating climate-related challenges and complexities into both the curriculum and the broader life of schools.In relation to human capital – the knowledge, skills and expertise of educators – the article by Pilar Cristina Reyes et al., Strengthening Capacities in Latin America by Designing Teacher Professional Development Programs for Climate Change Education, underscores the critical role of professional preparation and development programs. These initiatives not only enhance teachers' technical skills but also shape their perspectives, attitudes and habits. The study, based in Chile and Mexico, sheds light on a frequently overlooked aspect of human capital: the personal dimension of learning. It emphasizes that fostering teachers' personal engagement with climate issues is as vital as equipping them with professional skills, ensuring a deeper and more sustained commitment to climate change education.Building on the personal dimension of professional capital, Ivan Salinas et al. focus on how Chilean teachers manifest professional capital in climate change education. This work vividly illustrates how teachers who promote climate change education embody all three types of capital. These educators demonstrate extensive knowledge of climate change, foster collaborative relationships and prioritize intentional decision-making, positioning climate change as a key topic in their teaching. They thoughtfully integrate their own and their students’ experiences while expressing their identities as both teachers and activists. Their findings show how Chilean teachers build and leverage professional capital to address climate change, offering an exploration of professional capital that challenges traditional notions of activism in teaching, particularly in relation to climate change.Contributing to an articulation of human/post-human and social capital, Diane Swift et al. present insights from a project that uses the curriculum design coherence (CDC) model with in-service teachers as a framework for professional learning for sustainability in geography education. This paper expands the concept of professional capital by emphasizing social capital and post-human capital, offering key insights into sustainability education. It emphasizes that curriculum design, grounded in disciplinary knowledge, is a vital foundation for curriculum development in this area. Informed collaboration between teachers and teacher educators plays a pivotal role, enriching professional learning through engagement with research materials and conceptually driven dialogs. The findings highlight the interconnected roles of teachers and teacher educators in the co-production of knowledge, underscoring the need for further research on teacher knowledge and its development with practitioners. Such efforts are essential for fostering professional empowerment, enabling young people to become informed and critical citizens prepared to address global challenges.Collaboration and relationships across actors are also key to successfully addressing the climate crisis. The article by Charlotte Jane Fielding – “A successfully sustainable school: Exploring sustainable development teaching and learning practices at an additional support needs primary school in Scotland” – provides an excellent example of the power of social capital, particularly at the intersection of sustainable education and inclusion. The paper offers insights from a post-humanist lens about the meaning of sustainable education for students with additional support needs, where caring about the planet begins with caring about ourselves and our school community. It also highlights the relationships between teachers and students as the driving force behind curriculum content.The article “Leadership for action on climate change: the role of education policy and professional standards in the Hong Kong context” by Paul Campbell examines educational policies and their role in enabling leadership to address critical challenges, particularly climate change. It explores leadership and climate change through a social justice lens, emphasizing how environmental threats intersect with human rights. The article makes a valuable contribution by proposing an expanded framework that incorporates social justice dimensions. Engaging with this article prompts the question of how social justice aligns with different types of capital (human capital, social capital and decisional capital), encouraging a deeper understanding of its role in educational leadership and climate change. Additionally, it reflects on the importance of developing professional learning approaches that enable action and examine how young people learn about climate change and associated inequities, while considering the role of teachers and leaders in fostering participatory and affective learning.The expression of social and decisional capital is reflected in the article by Elizabeth Rushton et al., “Leading whole school spaces of agency for climate change and sustainability education. A case study of four schools from England.” The contribution of this work is the connection between professional capital, teacher agency and curriculum-making from a systems perspective. By adopting a whole-school approach to climate change and sustainability education (CCSE), the authors present a promising perspective on the change needed to create an integrated, systems-based approach to climate change, which rethinks curriculum, campus, community and culture. The article allows us to recognize and reflect on the critical role of leaders as creators of social capital, fostering teacher agency around CCSE and the decisional capital they use to make sound professional judgments based on experience and evidence to achieve better outcomes for students.This special issue contends that addressing the climate crisis demands a collective reimagining of education’s purpose and practices. Educational systems must align with the broader societal goals of sustainability, equity and social justice. Achieving this vision requires professional cultures that emphasize agency, collaboration, adaptability and critical reflection.Drawing on diverse perspectives and case studies from the Global North and South – including contributions from Chile, England, Scotland, Mexico and Hong Kong – this issue deepens the global discourse on education and climate change. It explores a wide range of topics, from curriculum design and teaching strategies to leadership practices and community engagement. More importantly, it challenges educators, leaders and policymakers to transcend traditional approaches and embrace innovative, equity-centered solutions that build professional capital and drive systemic change.We hope this special issue serves not only as a resource but also as a call to action – inviting continued research, dialog and collaboration to empower education systems worldwide. In doing so, we can equip them to confront the climate crisis and contribute to building a more sustainable and equitable future for all.

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