The impact of Christian environmental education: the case of Catholic schools in England

What is the impact of Christian environmental education (CEE) on the ecological attitudes of young people? Broadly speaking, there are two opposing narratives about the effectiveness of CEE. While the sceptics accuse Christianity of having a detrimental effect on ecological awareness, the apologists emphasise aspects of Christian teaching capable of positively contributing to environmental education. To test the assumptions of both camps, this study draws on qualitative data from focus groups with students (n=44) in eight Catholic schools in the North of England. Our findings broadly support the apologetic narrative: CEE in Catholic schools effectively fosters stewardship beliefs, and the concomitant sense of self-efficacy and motivational climate worry. Importantly, our data suggests that young people’s self-understanding as stewards of creation is underwritten by a sense that responsibility for the planet is divided and distributed unequally across various individual, collective, and institutional actors. As we demonstrate, such an understanding aligns with Pope Francis’s message of “differentiated responsibilities” proposed in the ecological encyclical Laudato Si’.