Integrating Climate Change Issues in the Upper Basic Schools of the Gambia: A Test Case of the Upper Basic School Curriculum

The study reported here focuses on integrating climate change issues in School curriculum in The Gambia. The objectives are to determine the extent to which climate-related themes presently feature in the Upper Basic (lower secondary) schools of The Gambia; propose an integration plan for enhanced climate themes in the school curriculum; and identify suitable teaching methods for conveying climate change information to students. A curriculum audit of two subject areas in the Upper Basic School where Climate issues could be taught was done. Also, a determination of suitable teaching methods for climate change themes was done with a set of questionnaires administered to 104 teachers and educators. Literature review was used to determine suitable themes for integration in the school curriculum and to obtain appropriate teaching methods. The Likert scale was used to rate the suitability of the various methods. The findings revealed that there are gaps in the curriculum in relation to climate change. For example, they showed an insufficient explanation of the impacts of climate change on human health and an omission of climate change impacts on the ecosystem. Of the 14 teaching methods which constituted the items included in the questionnaire, 12 were considered appropriate for teaching climate change themes. There was no significant difference between the mean responses of educators and teachers on the appropriate methods for teaching climate change topics. The study recommends inclusion of themes such as renewable energy sources into the school curriculum.

work at the land use change and forestry (LUCF) and agricultural sectors by a three-year Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) project implemented in the Gambia. (Gambia's Second National Communication). As robust as some of these campaigns are, they are yet to make appreciable impacts on attitudes of several individuals and communities. There is clearly a need to pay more attention to infusing climate change issues into the formal education system to constitute what makes an educated person in a particular country. This is the focus of this paper with particular attention on the republic of Gambia. For this to be effectively done, the curriculum must be adjusted to include climate change content. Curriculum can therefore be defined as a deliberately and systematically planned body of knowledge, skills and attitudes which are grouped into subject topics and taught to learners in schools . Curriculum is also viewed "… as the document used as instructional guide in formal institutions", (Chakeredza, et al., 2009).  pointed out that "curriculum is a deliberately and systematically planned attempt to change the behavior of young and inexperienced to enable them gain the insight that helps them solve problems for a better society" and the list of subject topics taught in schools is what is generally referred to as curriculum. Again, curriculum could be planned and received. Planned curriculum referred to the blueprint in syllabuses and prospectus while actual or received curriculum refers to what is realized in terms of pupil's experience  Integration simply refers to the incorporation of something into another in order to improve it . To actualize the goal of effecting an attitudinal change in the general public through climate change education the following objectives were targeted.
To determine the extent to which climate-related themes presently feature in the Upper Basic (lower secondary) schools of The Gambia; To propose an integration plan for enhanced climate themes in the school curriculum; and To identify suitable teaching methods for conveying climate change information to students.

Methodology To achieve objectives 1&2
A curricula audit was done to determine the specific climate change topics already been taught in Upper Basic (lower secondary) schools of The Gambia. This was done to identify the existing gaps in them in relation to climate change education. A list of climate change themes developed was used for the audit and observations were made on areas that need adjustments in the curriculum as well as where integration of new climate change themes could be carried out. The result of the audit also revealed all the climate themes already featured in the curriculum. To achieve objective 3 A research question was developed and answered by the study. Descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. The sample for the study was 104, 25 educators at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and 79 teachers in schools which participated in an environmental program, selected using purposive sampling. The sample selection considered those who are well placed to answer the questions. A 14-item structured questionnaire was developed from the literature reviewed for the study and was used for data collection. Weighted mean was used to answer the research questions. Standard deviation was used to validate the mean. To answer the research questions, each item was assigned real limit number as follows; stronglyagree-4.50-5.00, agree-3.50-4.49, strongly disagree-2.50-3.49, Disagree-1.50-2.49, Don't know-1.00-1.49. Any item with a weighted grand mean (XG) of 3.50 and above was considered as "agree" while any item whose weighted grand mean is below 3.50 was considered as "disagree". The standard deviation was used to determine the closeness of the respondents from the mean and to each other and otherwise.     The table 8 above shows the mean rating of respondents (Educators and Teachers) on the most appropriate method for teaching the meaning of climate change. From the above table, the weighted grand mean of both the educators and teachers ranged from 3.2885 to 4.4904. The items whose weighted grand mean was below 3.50 include teacher-centered method and lecture method. All other methods had their weighted grand mean above 3.50. Therefore, the most appropriate method for teaching the meaning of climate change include; Childcentered, resource-based learning, Demonstration method, Discussion method, Field trip, excursion and site seeing, Role play/modeling/drama, Project work or activity, Experimental/exploration and research for knowledge construction, Student participation in community, Audio visual Video/picture show, Brainstorming, Combination of different methods. The P-value of above 0.05 for all the items indicated no significant difference between the responses of the educators and teachers. . The table 9 above shows the mean rating of respondents (Educators and Teachers) on the most appropriate method for teaching the causes of climate change. Based on the assigned real limit value for the items, a weighted grand mean (XG) of 3.50 and above was considered as "agree" while weighted grand mean of below 3.50 was considered as "disagree". The range of the weighted grand mean of both the teachers and educators is 3.2692 to 4.3750 and items whose weighted grand mean were above 3.50 include the following; Child-centered, Resource-based learning, Lecture method, Demonstration method Discussion method, Field trip, excursion and site seeing, Role play/modeling/drama Project work or activity based learning, Experimental/exploration and research for knowledge construction Student participation in community environmental project, Audio visual Video/picture show, Brainstorming, Combination of different methods. The P-value of above 0.05 for all the items indicated no significant difference between the responses of the educators and teachers. From the above table, the weighted grand mean of the items ranged from 3.5096 to 4.4519, indicating that all the items were agreed upon by both teachers and educators as being apt for teaching the impacts of climate change. The methods appropriate for teaching the impacts of climate change are; Teacher-centered, Childcentered, Resource-based learning, Lecture method, Demonstration method Discussion method, Field trip, excursion and site seeing, Role play/modeling/drama Project work or activity based learning, Experimental/exploration and research for knowledge construction, Student participation in community environmental project, Audio visual Video/picture show, Brainstorming, Combination of different methods. The P-value of above 0.05 for all the items indicated no significant difference between the responses of the educators and teachers.

P-value
The P-value of all the items was obtained using the statistic generated from the software used for the data analysis. The P-value of above 0.05 for all the items indicated no significant difference between the responses of the educators and teachers.

Discussion
The results of the research were in consonance with the findings of (Oversby, 2015), in which innovative pedagogical methods such as provocative discussion statements, generation of questions, collaborative games which initiates engagement of learners, provoking student-relevant questions, considering instructions in the light of learners' prior knowledge and their skills of independent learning were considered the most appropriate methods for teaching climate change education. The results from tables 1, 2 and 4 showed that appropriate methods for teaching the meaning of climate change included child-centered, resource-based learning, demonstration method, discussion method, field trip, excursion and site seeing, role play/modeling/drama, project work or activity, experimental/exploration and research for knowledge construction. This is in consonance with the findings of (UNICEF, 2012) which stated that environmental projects uphold the fundamental principles that are child-based, child-involving and environmentally protective like all other activities. It is also in alignment with the findings of (UNICEF, 2012), in which the involvement of school children in climate change was advocated, especially those from marginalized communities. It supported childbased approaches, which allow conduct of research and communication of findings and ideas by students. The result of the analysis also revealed that child-centred approach and resource-based methods are the most appropriate methods for teaching the themes of climate change.

Conclusion
Integration of climate change education into the National curriculum of The Gambia involves a strategic process such as a careful audit of the curriculum as was carried out in the study to identify the gaps that should be filled with climate change education. In order to do this, the needs or the level of understanding of the students in relation to the subject matter to be taught should be considered which would thereafter be followed by the use of a clearly designed teaching technique as was investigated in this study. In order to effectively teach the various themes of climate change, it is essential to employ the specific methods considered appropriate for doing so. This is important due to the varying learning abilities of the students, as that would ensure that the various categories of learners are included in the learning plan through a combination of different methods for teaching climate change topics. The learning plan hence stands a good chance of conveying climate change information effectively through the entrenchment of the phenomenon in the students for deep-rooted knowledge of its components. It will also awaken in them a vivid consciousness of the roles the environment play in their sustenance as well as their responsibilities to protect and preserve it for the coming generations.

Recommendations
It is recommended that all the items identified as appropriate methods for teaching climate change themes be used to teach them after inclusion in the Social and Environmental Science and General Science of the Upper Basic Curriculum, especially in The Gambia.
Other recommendations include capacity building for teachers to effectively teach the topics on climate change. In addition, discovery of and excursion to affected places e.g. coastal places of Banjul and Tanji, observation with questions and answers, debates, one on one conversation on climate change topics, group presentation and invitation of special guests.