Paper short abstract:

Drawing on focus group data with Finnish young people, this paper examines the significance of reverse pedagogical methods for fostering intergenerational communication and empowering young people to develop their sense of agency as they face a future defined by climate crisis.

Paper long abstract:

Young people today have only ever known a world defined by climate crisis. Accordingly, studies show that young people are not only engaging with climate knowledge, but are having to navigate new emotional challenges (Hickman et al., 2021; Beaumont, 2021). Older generations therefore have a responsibility to support younger generations to navigate ongoing climate issues. Critically, we need to foster opportunities for two-way relationships of learning, allowing for older generations to learn from the experiences, perspectives, and knowledge of young people. Our paper considers opportunities for intergenerational communication through ‘reverse pedagogical relationships’, which reverses the typical teacher or parent/carer-led style of learning. Drawing on data from focus groups (six groups of 27 students) with Finnish young people (aged 15-18) we examine their experiences and thoughts on reverse pedagogical relationships. Since power is manifested in the pedagogical relationship and reverse pedagogy challenges this balance of power, we analysed this through a Foucauldian discourse analysis. Our findings reveal that, in light of the obstacles which traditionally hinder such a pedagogical relationship, there is a need to develop reverse pedagogy methods and consider what support both younger and older people require to engage in such relationships. Our paper argues that reverse pedagogical relationships are unparalleled for empowering young people; we show how this approach offers an opportunity to develop young people’s agency whilst not requiring them to be in adult dominated situations, thus supporting them to express their views and learn from one another as they live through a time of climate emergency.