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Pre-service Teachers’ Perception Towards the Use of Climate Change Open Educational Resources in Kenyan Universities
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Abstract
School teachers' knowledge of climate change impacts in Kenya is relatively satisfactory due to noticeable direct and indirect effects on education and other sectors. The consequences of climate change include loss and disruption of learning, increased classroom temperature, and frequent crop failure, leading to hunger and famine and general damage to infrastructure. However, teachers and headteachers indicate that the current climate change curriculum is not updated to the local area, and the rate of climate change surpasses what is contained in textbooks. The headteacher further observed that there is a need to train teachers on climate change-related factors. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the use of open educational resources (OERs), particularly Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA), the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI), UNITAR and Atinga to increase awareness of climate change among pre-service teachers at a Kenyan University. This study is anchored on transformative theory, which explains how learners reflect on their own beliefs and assumptions, resulting in shifting their understanding and perspective. University pre-service teachers taking a course in environmental education were referred to several OERS for further reading at the start of a semester. An online Google form questionnaire was shared via the WhatsApp platform to the entire student population to collect data about their perceptions on the effectiveness and use of OERs in learning about climate change, and only 223 teacher trainee respondents to the questionnaire. Another 10 teacher trainees were randomly selected to participate in a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) about OERs. Quantitative data from the questionnaire were analysed by use of frequency counts and percentages using SPSS version 20.0, while qualitative data were coded and analysed by key themes. The study found that the OERs presented to the pre-service teachers were current, relevant, informative and vividly brought out the concept of climate change. These findings suggest that OERs are a solution to teacher professional development regarding climate change awareness and knowledge, and should be adopted by ministries of education in respective countries to train teachers since they are readily available online, cost-effective, and are self-paced.
PCF11 Plus: Beyond the Forum
Sub-Theme: Skills development through lifelong open education
Paper ID: 5870
Country
Kenya
Region
Africa
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Date
2025-09
Author
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Publisher
Commonwealth of Learning (COL)