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8:55	The Oregonian - Welcome to our live chat about global warming in education. We will get started in a few minutes.

8:59	The Oregonian - I'd like to welcome in Bill Bigelow, who wrote a Sunday opinion piece on the topic, as well as Lewis & Clark professor Greg Smith.

8:59	The Oregonian - Please add your questions and comments for Bill and Greg as we go.

8:59	The Oregonian - Guys, please take it away.

8:59

Bill Bigelow - First, I’d like to thank George Rede at the Oregonian for his help with my article and for inviting me to participate in this exchange. When we ask the question, “Do schools foster climate illiteracy?” it’s important to remember that schools are not monolithic. As I point out in my article, there is imaginative and important work going on in Portland area schools around climate change. But this work is not necessarily initiated by or even supported by school district higher-ups. That's what I hope will change. My article is an invitation to help move school districts to a recognition of the urgency of addressing climate change in the curriculum – an encouragement for school districts to bring teachers, scientists, environmentalists, parents and students into this process.

I’m a blog neophyte, in a hotel in Vancouver, BC with spotty internet reception, but I’m looking forward to this exchange.

9:01	The Oregonian - And Greg, please tell us a little bit about yourself …

9:02

Greg Smith - Hi Bill and Joel,

I'm a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Lewis & Clark who has been teaching and writing about sustainability issues for the past couple of decades. I've been happy to participate with Bill in curriculum development efforts in the Portland area about these and other global concerns.

9:04	[Comment From Janelle Hansen] Good morning gentlemen, I'm very interested in promoting sustainability in the school curriculums. Given that there are still some "climate naysayers" out there, how can we best inspire schools to teach sustainability?

9:06

Greg Smith - Hi Janelle,

I've got a friend and colleague named David Sobel who lives in New England. He suggests that the best way to address these issues is to give young people a chance to make real contributions to their schools, neighborhoods, and communities with regard to issues of human welfare and the health of natural systems. Help them become aware of what is happening but also give them the opportunity to make a difference right where they are.

9:06

Bill Bigelow - Thanks, Janelle. I'm not sure that there is one best way. We have an "earth in crisis" curriculum workgroup in Portland that Greg referred to, that is open to new participants. We have developed quite a bit of curriculum on environmental themes over the past couple of years. -- But, of course, what I'm hoping for and a big reason that I wrote my article is that teachers and community folks will urge school districts to convene workgroups and professional development collaborations.

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