Secondary pre-service teachers’ perspectives on Climate Change as a complex system: the role of Identity

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Abstract Addressing climate change requires pre-service teacher education to equip pre-service teachers with interdisciplinary competencies and systems thinking skills. This study explores how secondary pre-service teachers with diverse disciplinary backgrounds perceive and engage with complexity in climate change education. Using the science identity framework- competence, performance, and recognition - we examine how pre-service teachers develop a climate change identity and how the disciplinary background affects this development. This investigation is based on an interdisciplinary module developed within the ERASMUS+ IDENTITIES project, which was implemented in an international summer school. Through hands-on activities exploring how initial conditions in the system influence long-term predictions, critical states, and self-organisation, participants engaged with the complexity of climate change. Data was collected through audio recordings and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings indicate that disciplinary backgrounds influence teachers’ perceptions of complexity, interdisciplinary skills, and confidence in teaching complex problems. This study highlights the importance of integrating complexity in teacher education programs, thereby fostering more effective educators on climate change.

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