Cross-Country Comparative Analysis of Science Textbook Representations of Anthropogenic Climate Change

Climate Change Education is an increasing focus of curriculum advocacy across the globe, as countries come to terms with the future threats posed by this socio-ecological crisis. Both Science and the Social Sciences are important for the knowledge and decision-making needed by an appropriately informed and active citizenry. While there is increasing research on the representation of anthropogenic climate change (ACC) in curricula globally, little attention has been paid to how textbooks in different countries incorporate ACC content. Yet, in any country, teachers’ knowledge and practice is strongly shaped by the resources at their disposal. In different countries, textbooks have an important, but differing place in subject teaching and learning cultures and in teacher learning. This study involves a comparative analysis of Science (including Geography) textbooks in the middle years of schooling in three countries - Taiwan, Finland and Australia – to interrogate the amount and nature of anthropogenic climate change content featured in these. We discuss the methodological approach to coding and comparative analyses and interpret the comparative results in terms of the different cultures of Science teaching of climate change in the three countries. We identify patterns of incorporation of different aspects across the different Science disciplines, showing variation in representation of these across disciplines and countries, identifying both silences and opportunities for representation. Implications are drawn for the shaping of resources to support innovation in Climate Change Education across the Science subjects.