School strike for climate: A reckoning for education

In this article framing the special issue on the global school strikes for climate, we ask: what if education is not the solution, but part of the system young people want to change? In conversation with school strikers and reflecting on the contributions to this issue, we argue that the strikes pose a reckoning for education. Five key themes emerge from this special issue: (1) students are striking because of the affective weight of climate injustice; (2) students learn through their participation in striking, in contrast to the often insufficient climate change education taught in schools; (3) young people are becoming climate change educators through their roles as strikers; (4) strikers are patronised through paternalistic structures (including schooling) that ostensibly exist to protect them; and therefore (5) we need to reimagine education. We then advance four propositions for education in response to young people's modest demands for a liveable future: (1) young people are in and of the collapsing climate; (2) youth voices need to be taken seriously, without excusing adult and collective responsibilities; (3) multigenerational, more-than-human, intercultural collaborations must be practiced in education for climate justice; and (4) we must learn to navigate ontological uncertainty and attend to ethical complexity.

Automated summary

The school strikes for climate pose a reckoning for education, as young people challenge the system rather than seeing education as the solution. This article explores the themes emerging from the strikes, including the affective weight of climate injustice, the learning through participation in striking, the role of young people as climate change educators, the patronizing structures that protect them, and the need to reimagine education. The article advances propositions for education in response to young people's demands for a livable future, including recognizing the youth voices, practicing multigenerational and intercultural collaborations, and navigating ontological uncertainty and ethical complexity.