Integrating Climate Change Adaptation Strategies into the Secondary School English Language Curriculum in Nigeria for Sustainable Development

Abstract

The paper sought the opinions of English language teachers on the integration of climate change adaptation strategies into the secondary school English language curriculum in Nigeria for sustainable development. Three research questions guided the study. The design of the study was the survey research design. The study was carried out in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State with 137 English language teachers constituting the sample for the study. The Climate Change Adaptation Questionnaire was developed and validated. The data got were analyzed using means and standard deviation to answer the research questions. The results revealed that respondents agreed that climate change themes such as meaning, causes, vulnerability and impact as well as climate change adaptation strategies should be integrated into the secondary school English language curriculum. They also agreed that debates, stories, drama and speeches are some of the strategies through which climate change adaptation can be integrated into the English language curriculum. They were also of the opinion that integration of climate change adaptation strategies into the English language curriculum would require the training and retraining of teachers and production of relevant textbooks. On the basis of the findings it was recommended that the English language curriculum should be expanded to include climate change themes, while workshops should be organized at the school, community, state and federal levels to sensitize all stakeholders, including teachers, students and parents on the reality of climate change and appropriate adaptation strategies.