Want Students to Become Climate Stewards? Use These 6 Storytelling Stances!
Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.
05/11/26
•23m
About
Comments
Transcript
Featured In
What if the most powerful climate tool we have isn't a statistic, it's a story?
In Part 1 of my S5E37 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, I sit down with teacher Xochitl Bentley to unpack how using six specific storytelling stances can effectively engage students with climate change issues. Xochitl emphasizes that stories can be a more powerful tool than statistics in fostering environmental education and stewardship, highlighting their role in the broader education for sustainability movement.
Some resources mentioned:
📚 Helping Students Become Climate Stewards: Storytelling for Environmental Advocacy and Problem Solving by Xochitl Bentley
📚 Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor by Rob Nixon
📚The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
📚Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
➡️Fukushima Daiichi Accident
CHAPTERS:
0:00 – Introduction & Who Is Xochitl Bentley
1:45 – The Research: Rob Nixon & Slow Violence
3:30 – What Sparked Xochitl's Passion for Climate Stewardship
5:00 – The Food Story That Hooked Students (Heather's Classroom)
6:10 – Lessons from Japan: Foresight, Islands & Sustainability
8:30 – Why Facts Alone Don't Drive Action
9:30 – Wrapping Data in Stories: The Core Argument
10:30 – The Six Storytelling Stances (Overview)
11:00 – Stance 1: Storytelling for Systemic Responsiveness
12:10 – Stance 2: Storytelling About Root Causes
13:10 – Stance 3: Storytelling Beyond Either/Or
14:10 – Stance 4: Storytelling for Kinship & Reciprocity
15:20 – Stance 5: Storytelling for Intergenerational Awareness
16:30 – The Seventh Generation Principle Connection
17:10 – Stance 6: Storytelling for Collective Mobilization
18:10 – Lightning Round Begins
18:45 – Book Rec: The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
19:40 – One Word Students Feel: Overwhelmed
20:10 – Most Underrated Genre: Ghost Stories
21:00 – Biggest Myth in Environmental Education
21:30 – A Student Becomes a Climate Steward When...
22:00 – Wrap Up & What's Coming in Part 2
🎧 Part 2 drops Friday, where Xochitl walks through the full storytelling flow and real climate stewardship projects from her classroom.
Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child.
📧 🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Book a coaching session with me here if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
Don't forget to🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE!
#schoolutions #schoolutionspodcast #forevergettingbetter #curiositydriven #evidencebasedstrategies #classroomreadystrategies #StudentEngagement #TeacherCoaching #InstructionalStrategies #ClimateEducation #EffectiveTeaching #ClassroomBelonging #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Previous Episode
In part 2 of my S5E36 @schoolutionspodcast conversation with Sabina Sethi Unni from @openplansnyc breaks down how urban redevelopment can truly impact a school community. Sabina shares specific strategies for urban design, like a co-created toolkit and a relational outreach approach, showing a before and after in community engagement. This architecture video highlights the Clarkson Street project, proposing new installations to foster a better environment.
💫Make sure to watch Part 1 and learn more about applying by reaching out to Sabina at sabina@openplans.org
📚 Some Episode Mentions:
- School Streets program with Open Plans
- Clarkson School Street Project
- New York Edge
- The Project for Public Spaces
- Transportation Alternatives
- Paris School Streets program
- Pratt Institute / International Placemaking Week
CHAPTERS
0:00 — Introduction: Streets as the Most Joyful Place in the Neighborhood
1:30 — What Is a School Street? Definition & What It Looks Like
4:00 — How Schools Apply & Eligibility Requirements
6:30 — Equity First: Why Low-Income Communities Are Prioritized
9:00 — The Biggest Barriers: Staffing, Admin Burden & Leadership Turnover
11:30 — Co-Creating the Toolkit with Transportation Alternatives
14:00 — From Cold Outreach to Relational Organizing
16:30 — The Clarkson Street Story: A National Model in the Making
20:00 — NYC's First-Ever Permanent Swing Gate on a Public Street
23:00 — Mayor Mamdani's Opt-Out Proposal & What It Could Mean
26:00 — If Every Street Became a School Street: Where to Start
29:00 — The Vision for Scale & What Paris Can Teach NYC
31:00 — How to Get Involved, Apply, or Support the Movement
🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Connect with me if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
Don't forget to 🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE!
Next week's episode: Xochitl Bentley teaches us about different storytelling stances and how they connect to climate stewardship. Xochitl offers a masterclass in culturally responsive teaching, inclusive classrooms, and sparking student motivation through narrative and identity.
#schoolutions #schoolutionspodcast #forevergettingbetter #curiositydriven #evidencebasedstrategies #classroomreadystrategies
#SchoolStreets #UrbanPlanning #EquityInEducation #StudentSuccess #WholeChild #SchoolCulture #InstructionalLeadership #TeacherCoaching #ActiveLearning #OutdoorLearning #FamilyPartnerships #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #ProKidMindset #SchoolImprovement #EmpoweredEducators #InclusiveClassrooms #SchoolusionsPodcast #TeacherSupport #PrincipalStrategies #CommunitySchools
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Next Episode
When students shut down during climate conversations, the answer isn't more data; it's better storytelling. In this short from my S5E37 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, climate educator and author Xochitl Bentley explains why wrapping difficult facts in stories is the key to unlocking student engagement, authentic voice, and real civic action in your classroom.
Whether you're focused on inspiring students, improving student participation, or building a pro-kid mindset across your school, Xochitl's approach to environmental storytelling offers a whole child framework that works across ELA, science, social studies, and beyond.
Watch, reflect, and share Part 1 & Part 2 of our @schoolutionspodcast S5E37 interview.
📧 Book a coaching session with me here if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
Schoolutions is for teachers, education coaches, instructional leaders, school administrators, parents, homeschoolers, teacher mentors, school counselors, and anyone committed to empowered educators and thriving students. Tune in every Monday and Friday for evidence-based, classroom-ready strategies you can apply right away.
📚 CHAPTERS
0:00 Why students shut down during climate conversations
0:22 The problem with facts and statistics alone
0:38 Why storytelling unlocks student engagement
0:52 The power of community-rooted stories
1:05 Authentic voice, honest call to action
#Schoolutions #SchoolutionsPodcast #ForeverGettingBetter #CuriosityDriven #EvidenceBased #ClassroomReadyStrategies #StudentEngagement #ClassroomBelonging #InspiringStudents #ActiveLearning #EffectiveTeaching #InstructionalStrategies #StudentMotivation #TeacherCoaching #InstructionalCoaching #NewTeachers #MentorTeachers #ProfessionalDevelopment #SchoolLeadership #EquityInEducation #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #InclusiveClassrooms #AntiBiasTeaching #ProKidMindset #WholeChild #StudentSuccess #EmpoweredEducators #EducationTransformation #TeacherImpact #ClimateEducation #EnvironmentalStorytelling #StudentVoice #Schoolutions #ClimateStorytelling #ClimateStewards #XochitlBentley
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted