Abstract
Plant blindness, the inability to acknowledge the importance or plants, or even to notice plants in one’s environment, is widespread among the public and also in classrooms. This phenomenon deserves investigation, as the existence of humans is dependent on the health of plants. In this article the question is posed: To what extent can Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) inform the exploration of teaching to mitigate plant blindness?
Plant blindness is described as: (1) the inability to recognise the importance of plants; (2) an inability to recognize the aesthetic and unique qualities of plants; and (3) considering plants to be of less importance than animals. In other words, people who are plant blind display a negative attitude towards plants, a lack of knowledge of and a lack of interest in plants. This could be traced back to the non-threatening nature of plants, the nature of visual perception, a lack of exposure to plants and a failure to study plants. Zoocentrism, the tendency to explain phenomena from an animal perspective and zoochauvinism, a distinct tendency to favour animals, also play a role in plant blindness.
CHAT provides a conceptual framework to understand human activities, such as the learning and teaching of botany, in the context of the cultural and historical factors that influence and shape it. This theory is based on the idea that humans do not act in isolation, but in a community in which they learn and communicate. Furthermore, humans create tools or instruments such as curricula and associated textbooks to achieve this. The community is central to the creation and interpretation of meaning. Activities such as the teaching of botany are driven by subjects, in this study teachers, who use artefacts such as the curriculum or textbooks to achieve a specific objective (the motivating influence) such as combating plant blindness. This occurs in the context of the rules and procedures and the division of labour set in place by the community.
The article is based on a scoping review that explores the existing literature on the teaching of botany to combat plant blindness. The study is also used to indicate gaps in the knowledge of this activity that can be investigated further. The study started with a Google search of the terms plant blindness, plant blindness + teaching and plant awareness disparity. References were then found in a snowball sampling procedure.
In this study the activity is described as the positive affective teaching of botany. The activity is performed by subjects who include secondary or tertiary educators, as well as educators in non-formal contexts such as botanical gardens and other community-based initiatives. The goal that educators pursue is not just the teaching of botany as a cognitive activity, but also the teaching of the subject as an activity with positive, affective implications. The outcome of this activity is combating plant blindness and the cultivation of an appreciation and love of plants. The cultivation of such positive attitudes is not an easy task, as many people do not find plants inherently interesting.
The remainder of the article discusses the components of the activity to highlight the research that has already been done to investigate each aspect of the system.
Botany is often associated with dry, complicated and uninteresting content. Despite this, there are teaching strategies that may bring about positive attitudes in the classroom. Suggestions include asking learners to imagine a world without plants, and teaching applied aspects of the subject, such as economic botany or plant cultivation. More botany could also be included in national exams, forcing a focus on this content. One strategy that has been used successfully is the cultivation of “pet plants” that encouraged students’ interest in the requirements to keep plants healthy, the dependence of humans on plants, and the complexity of plants. Another suggestion has been the anthropomorphic approach to plants, which could improve the connection of students with nature, but which should be approached with caution not to encourage the unwanted consequences of anthropomorphism. Other suggestions for teaching strategies have included the use of spice plants in the classroom and various writing activities involving plants. Teaching with digital resources has been explored previously, with positive outcomes. Studies have included the use of a smartphone-based plant hunt and developing time-lapse videos of phenomena such as gravitropism and mutations.
The subjects in the activity system could include any person with an influence on the botanical education of learners, even plant mentors such as knowledgeable adults, family or friends. Unfortunately, research outside the formal context is limited and anecdotal. Early, iterative, meaningful and mindful education about plants could be the best way to overcome plant blindness, but these influences are not formalised in the South African curriculum, leaving such interventions to persons outside of the formal school system.
It seems that the neglect of plant content results from teachers’ being insufficiently trained in botany, leading them to possess inadequate botanical knowledge to transfer to their learners. This seems to be a historical phenomenon that started in the early 20th century when botanical content in biology curricula was replaced with more general content. Today, the numbers of botany students, botany courses and even botany departments are decreasing, even to the extent that there are no more botany degrees in the United Kingdom. Two studies have also shown that teachers do not enjoy teaching botany, leading to neglect of this content in schools. Despite this negative picture from the academic environment, it appears that young peoples’ interest in plants as a hobby is increasing in members of the general public, at least in the United Kingdom. Whether this positive attitude will extend to South African youth needs to be explored, as teachers report that South African learners consider gardening as a disgrace and inferior. It is possible that the cultural-historical milieu in South Africa could limit plant appreciation.
Two of the most important tools or instruments that are used in the teaching of botany are the curriculum and associated textbooks. Textbooks are not just sources of scientific knowledge, but also cultural artefacts that reflect the curriculum ideology of the discipline. International sources have demonstrated plant blindness in textbooks from various countries. It has been shown that the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) for Life Sciences show clear signs of zoocentrism, anthropocentrism and plant blindness, especially in the Foundation phase. There are currently no studies investigating the issue in South African textbooks, but the assumption can be made that these textbooks follow the curriculum, reflecting the lack of focus on plants. Such imbalances can lead to the impression that plants are not involved in fundamental biological processes or concepts, including respiration, evolution or genetics, in which animals are involved.
Learners with an appreciation of plants form the object of the activity system. Several studies have shown that learners show a greater appreciation for animals than for plants. Some learners, and even university students, do not even realise that plants are alive. It is clear that children and young people show all the characteristics of plant blindness listed above.
The flow of information from the knowledge developed in an academic discipline to the form that the knowledge takes in the educational environment is known as reconceptualisation. This includes activities such as the writing of textbooks and even the form of knowledge and the transfer or teaching of knowledge in the classroom. This reconceptualisation is dependent on the written and unwritten rules that determine how curricula and textbooks are written, and on how the information is used in the classroom. The most prominent set of rules is the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for a subject. As mentioned above, an analysis of the CAPS documents for Life Sciences content has clearly shown the dominance of zoocentrism, anthropocentrism and plant blindness. Many plant topics are only touched on, with little depth. What is not known is how much time teachers really spend on botanical topics, but the limited evidence indicates that teachers themselves admit to neglecting plant content.
The question arises what can be done about plant blindness. The scoping review has shown that there is a problem in the academic discipline, but that it is possible that the general public may welcome plants in their lives. Awareness of and solutions to the problem of plant blindness should become the responsibility of the academic community, teachers, staff at botanical gardens and all those who can act as plant mentors.
The use of CHAT has made it possible to explore the scope of the activity of botany teaching to foster plant appreciation. Each element of the system could be investigated individually, while providing a holistic view of the topic. CHAT has made it possible to identify gaps where the literature on the topic needs to be strengthened. It is now up to all plant mentors to educate themselves and other stakeholders to combat plant blindness.
Keywords: activity system; cultural historical activity theory; plant blindness; scoping literature survey
- This article’s featured image was created by Bud Helisson and obtained from Unsplash.