Energy literacy in geography curriculum: redefining the role of nuclear power in changing energy landscapes

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Geografijos mokymas; Atominė energetika; Atominės elektrinės; Kraštovaizdis; Vadovėliai; Geography education; Nuclear power; Landscape; Textbooks; Nuclear power plants.

ENThe aim of this chapter is to reveal how different forms of both formal and nonformal education can be combined within the educational route of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) seeking to develop the energy literacy by employing the geography curriculum. A general question raised in the chapter is how geography curriculum and teaching/ learning geography could be improved by developing energy literacy (including nuclear literacy), applying the context- based learning approach and using opportunities of the outdoor learning environment (in this case, nuclear educational tourism on the site of the INPP). Seeking to achieve the aim, the data of the content analysis of geography curriculum and geography textbooks is presented. The analysis of texts on nuclear energy in the textbooks aims to identify the connection of textbook materials on nuclear energy to geographical skills and competences pointed out in comprehensive programmes and how it combines with the taxonomy levels of competences. The research demonstrated that the national curriculum did not include direct connections to energy literacy; however, preconditions for the development of cognitive, affective and behavioural dimensions of energy literacy are created. In the textbooks, the theme of nuclear energy is mostly linked to the cognitive dimension, when basic knowledge of numbers and facts is obtained; comparisons of, e.g., volumes of nuclear fuel processing in different countries, changes in nuclear energy in different regions, and depiction of the process of recycling of nuclear waste are presented. The formation of other dimensions, i.e., behavioural and attitudinal (affective), is given little attention, and the development of these components is quite episodic. [From the publication]