Project-Based Learning for Global Climate Justice

Traditional environmental education efforts tend to focus on teaching students about climate change issues, rather than engaging students directly in climate justice work. For this reason, more and more policymakers, advocates, and educators are calling for approaches to environmental education that are project-based, contextually relevant, and equity-oriented.

However, designing and facilitating such learning experiences is challenging, even for accomplished and experienced teachers. Come learn about, and experience firsthand, the Penn GSE Project-Based Learning for Global Climate Justice program, and how it aims to prepare teachers to design and enact authentic project-based learning focused on the issues of global climate justice.

Speakers

Zachary Herrmann

Executive Director of the Center for Professional Learning University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

Zachary Herrmann is the Executive Director of the Center for Professional Learning. In this role, he leads the school’s strategy to design and deliver professional learning opportunities for learners across the globe. Dr. Herrmann also serves as the director of the Strategic Leadership in Education Certificate Program, and the co-director of the Project-Based Learning Certificate Program. Dr. Herrmann leads professional learning focused on teacher and leader development, team effectiveness, innovation, and creative problem solving. Dr. Herrmann taught high school mathematics for several years, during which time he developed a collaborative professional development network of schools dedicated to improving teaching and learning with a focus on complex tasks, collaborative learning, and equity.

Dr. Herrmann also serves as a member of the professional faculty at Penn GSE, where he teaches within several of the school’s master’s and doctoral programs. The new courses he has designed and teaches at Penn GSE are “Collaboration & Conflict,” which engages students in an interdisciplinary exploration of how people work together to solve complex problems, and “Teaching and Learning in Student-Centered Classrooms,” which explores student-centered approaches to teaching and learning. He also teaches negotiation within the M.B.A. program at The Wharton School.