'Digitality For Future'? - The Potential of Digital Practices for Transformative Education in the Area of Climate Change

Abstract

The Fridays For Future movement brought the issue of climate crisis an enormous boost in public awareness and generated great interest in climate-related topics among students. The particular way in which issues of climate protection or climate adaptation are negotiated by social media communities ensures their appeal. Two questions arise from this: Which digital practices do activists of Fridays For Future use to disseminate knowledge on climate and climate change? How do these practices affect informal learning processes in the knowledge domain of climate and climate change? Results obtained from a qualitative content analysis of posts and documents created by members of digital communities of the Fridays For Future movement and interviews with activists show that processes of identity formation take place in the communities. If these knowledge practices are taken up and reflected upon in the classroom, they can be transferred to formal educational processes, in terms also of transformative learning.