Abstract (eng)
This master thesis deals with critical climate education and how it is implemented in the climate education project makingAchange. In the theoretical part the claims of critical climate education, which are divided into the dimensions (1) critical pedagogy, (2) political ecology and (3) climate justice, are presented. Furthermore, climate education in the Austrian school system is contextualized. The empirical part of the thesis is primarily devoted to the conversations conducted with participants of the project (group discussions with students and individual interviews with teachers). The results suggest that background knowledge on the climate crisis was discussed in the groups, but that social issues are of secondary importance and historical analyses (e. g. on (neo-)colonial structures) are missing. Existing inequalities and power relations in relation to the climate crisis are addressed, which speaks for critical reflections among the project participants. However, the reflections remain within existing systems. Furthermore, the analysis shows that only few questions are asked about development and alternative, different development models (outside the singular development path towards industrialized, neoliberal, Western societies). Hence mainly dominant forms of knowledge were used for climate education in the projects. In terms of climate justice, it can be stated that intergenerational justice is very present. In contrast, international and historical justice issues seem to be little discussed in the context of makingAchange’s climate education projects. Overall, the present work suggests for future - critical - climate education projects to be more engaged with the political dimension of the climate crisis.