Format: ORAL

Eugenio-Gozalbo, Marcia

Faculty of Education of Soria, University of Valladolid

Plants constitute a highly diverse taxonomic group with fundamental ecological functions, which is currently undergoing a dramatic biodiversity loss. It is thus essential to promote their knowledge and appreciation through formal education, particularly during educational stages that are compulsory for all citizens. In Spain, plants are studied along primary (6-12 years) and compulsory secondary education (12-16 years). An analysis of the new competence-based Spanish curricula (2022) was conducted by identifying all plant-related text fragments and classifying them into a system of categories; the results will be presented and discussed to highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of the new curricula regarding plant contents teaching. Furthermore, and basing on the fundamental role that teachers play for the introduction of new perspectives in societies, two educational experiences aiming to promote plant awareness in Spanish pre-service teachers will be presented: -The first one had two fundamental pillars: (1) the use of an organic garden as a real-world context where students could establish direct interactions with alive plants and develop attachment to them, besides learning about plants that are useful (thus facilitating authentic learning: linking new knowledge to prior knowledge and noticing the relevance and applications of their learning); (2) the use of a teaching-learning strategy largely based on drawing to promote observation, and including a seminar on botanical illustration, drawing sketches from nature, or designing mind maps. The didactic sequence included other science activities and contents, with the overall objective of integrating plant-related contents and promoting plant awareness. -The second one constituted a refinement of that first experience, in which some new and relevant elements were included, such as a test that was purposely designed to assess students’ perception of plants both at the small and medium-scales, as a measure of plant awareness. Results of both experiences will be also presented and discussed.