Inclusive climate pedagogy in low‐resource schooling contexts: A context‐responsive framework for access, participation and learning equity across climate‐vulnerable education systems

Abstract

This qualitative multiple‐case study examines how teachers and school leaders enact inclusive climate pedagogy in low‐resource, climate‐vulnerable public secondary schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews ( n  = 16), 24 h of classroom observations and document review, the Context‐Responsive Inclusive Climate Education Framework (CRICEF) was developed to explain how access, participation and learning equity are co‐produced through interactions among structural constraints, pedagogical agency and relational leadership. Findings show (1) emergent teacher‐driven pedagogical principles (ethical inclusivity; place‐based contextualisation; pedagogical flexibility; relational responsiveness); (2) structural barriers (assessment pressures, material scarcity, policy incoherence) which normalise climate disruption; and (3) leadership as a central mediating domain enabling or constraining inclusive practice. The paper argues for curriculum, teacher development and governance reforms that treat climate vulnerability as a routine condition for inclusion. Implications for policy and school‐level practice are discussed.