Climate images in the literacy classroom: developing a model for climate literacy discussion with preservice teachers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which humanities preservice teachers (PST) understand and tell the complex stories of climate disaster. Three themes are identified in the data and implications for each are discussed. Design/methodology/approach To address the research question, How do preservice teachers tell/understand stories of climate disaster? This study used focus group conversations with PST in their final year of undergraduate studies (n = 5) to elicit dialogue and reflection about their intended use of visual texts depicting climate challenges and issues of environmental justice in their future classrooms. Qualitative methods were used in study conceptualization and data collection. Thematic analysis methods were used. Findings The analysis highlighted that participants shared existing stories of their beliefs and experiences and negotiated the construction of new stories. The findings describe participants’ stories of dismissal, victimhood and contention as they interacted with climate-related photographs. These themes indicate PST need intentional support in preparing to teach multimodal texts, including those related to teaching environmental justice issues. Findings reveal both participants’ hopes to teach about climate justice in humanities classrooms, and their limitations with regards to preparation to successfully navigate complex contexts. Originality/value Within an ever-increasing visual world, there is value in hearing PST speak about photographs from personal response, content perspectives, as well as sharing their decision-making processes for using multimodal texts in classrooms. This study informs the work of teacher educators as well as school administrators who are supporting classroom teachers, early career and otherwise, in the advancement of intentional decision-making with regards to climate teaching and multimodal text selection.