The post-carbon challenge for curriculum subjects

• We explore the concepts of the ‘Anthropocene’ and ‘post-carbon social theory’.
• We explain how school subjects reflect the concerns of carbon-based modernity.
• We critically examine attempts to ‘green’ the school curriculum.
• We examine how ‘low carbon futures’ can be incorporated into curriculum subjects.

As global capitalism comes up against the ‘limits to growth’, there is an urgent need for ‘futures-oriented’ approaches to education. Taking as its starting point the notion of ‘post-carbon social theory’, this paper explains how the subjects that comprise the school curriculum developed out of the transition to a carbon-based modernity. As the environmental costs of that form of development have become clear, there have been moves to ‘green’ the curriculum through Education for Sustainability. The success of these approaches is limited given the continued dominance of ‘disciplined’ approaches. The paper examines the potential to develop ‘post-carbon’ approaches to curriculum subjects, suggesting the need for teachers who are confident in understanding how their subject contributes to conceptual understanding of sustainability.