Growing Minds: The Crucial Role of Botanical Knowledge in Education

Botany should feature more heavily in the school curriculum, and be a greater focus of educational policy, a new study in the Journal of Biological Education says.

It warns neither the importance of plants for sustainability nor the threats facing many of them are adequately represented in science education. While the problem has been identified for some time, attempts to address it have often struggled to gain a foothold in science education practice.

Dr Bethan Stagg from the University of Exeter and Professor Justin Dillon from UCL argue teachers should get support and training to challenge their existing assumptions about plants and their importance, so they can demonstrate the critical role of plants in the environment.

Plant diversity is crucial to ecosystems functioning effectively but many species are vulnerable to extinction, mainly due to habitat loss, direct exploitation, and climate change. The researchers have previously found people’s plant awareness develops when they have frequent interactions with plants that have direct relevance to their lives.

“Plants provide an excellent opportunity for developing nature connections since wild plants are ubiquitous in even the most built-up environment and can be reliably accessed at all times.

But connecting with plants does not just have to be part of outdoor learning. Plants in the classroom are a valuable resource and can include local wild plants to foster connections with the biodiversity that children encounter every day.

Focusing on learners’ local environments may render their experiences with plants more relevant and meaningful and allow for a growing appreciation and empathy towards plants.

Embedding plants in sustainability education is no small challenge,