Abstract:
The study reported here focuses on integrating climate change issues in School curriculum in The Gambia. The
objectives are to determine the extent to which climate-related themes presently feature in the Upper Basic
(lower secondary) schools of The Gambia; propose an integration plan for enhanced climate themes in the school
curriculum; and identify suitable teaching methods for conveying climate change information to students. A
curriculum audit of two subject areas in the Upper Basic School where Climate issues could be taught was done.
Also, a determination of suitable teaching methods for climate change themes was done with a set of
questionnaires administered to 104 teachers and educators. Literature review was used to determine suitable
themes for integration in the school curriculum and to obtain appropriate teaching methods. The Likert scale was
used to rate the suitability of the various methods. The findings revealed that there are gaps in the curriculum in
relation to climate change. For example, they showed an insufficient explanation of the impacts of climate
change on human health and an omission of climate change impacts on the ecosystem. Of the 14 teaching
methods which constituted the items included in the questionnaire, 12 were considered appropriate for teaching
climate change themes. There was no significant difference between the mean responses of educators and
teachers on the appropriate methods for teaching climate change topics. The study recommends inclusion of
themes such as renewable energy sources into the school curriculum.
