Climate change is a pressing issue in Cape Breton. Residents continue to rely on coal-generated electricity and oil. Communities are vulnerable to increased coastal erosion and flooding of low-lying areas, issues compounded by persistent socio-economic challenges, child poverty rates of 30%, and long-standing inequities facing rural and working class, newcomer, L’nu, and African Nova Scotian communities.

Teacher education is a cultural catalyst with an ethical imperative to care for and actively support the sustainable well-being of communities. Considering that educational inequities in Nova Scotia have been demonstrated to contribute to climate inequities, teachers face challenges in creating climate education that supports social justice, even as they navigate emergent climate realities through curriculum, pedagogies, and practices.

In this context, faculties of education have a duty to care for the communities in which they are embedded while recognizing the regional cultures, histories, places, and ecologies of those communities.

Through participatory co-research with a variety of students, educators, academics, and community members, our interdisciplinary team is making efforts to ensure teacher education is locally situated and social justice oriented. Together, we aim to reconstruct purposes and practices for teacher education and co-construct collaborative partnerships that both inform the preparation of future teachers and enhance community responses to local issues.

Funded by: Accelerating Climate Change Education in Teacher Education (ACCE-TE) (Lakehead University and the University of Toronto), Cape Breton University’s Work Study Program, and Cape Breton University’s Research, Innovation, Scholarship, and Exploration (RISE) Grant