Education for Plant Literacy

“Plant illiteracy,” ( i.e. low knowledge of plants and processes by which they influence our environment) stemming from “plant blindness” ( i.e. human ignorance of plants), is a major societal issue and a barrier to sustainable development (Amprazis & Papadopoulou, 2020). Poor plant knowledge leads to harmful landscape management, exacerbating drought, increasing CO2 levels, causing soil erosion, raising local temperatures, polluting air and water, and intensifying climate extremes. The roots of plant blindness lie in school education, where plants are seen as less engaging than animals, and botany is considered boring and difficult. Key topics like plant role in cooling of ambient air via transpiration, starting the water cycle, retaining water in the landscape, and plant-atmosphere interactions are often underrepresented. To secure a sustainable future, improving public plant literacy and making botany education more appealing and attractive is essential. This requires innovation in teacher training at universities, integrating new scientific findings on plant ecophysiology through innovative educational approaches.

The project EDUCATION FOR PLANT LITERACY aimed to enhance public plant literacy through more effective and engaging botany instruction at all school levels, achieved by innovating teacher training. Educators, teaching methodology experts, and plant ecophysiology researchers from five European countries collaborated to develop innovative training for pre- and in-service teachers across primary, secondary, agrarian, and environmental schools. The project focused on improving teachers’ Technological-Pedagogical-Content Knowledge (TPACK) on the plant role in a human environment. Cutting-edge new scientific findings on plants’ roles in landscapes and climate were integrated into the science teacher preparation. Modern, student-centered teaching strategies and digital tools were used to enhance both pedagogical and technological skills. Key outcomes included increasing teacher motivation, fostering innovative botany teaching practices, and developing teaching materials (a handbook containing theoretical background and 3 sets of teaching/learning activities ) to combat plant blindness. Project results, developed in 5 languages (EN, CZ, FI, D, NL) were designed to extend beyond Europe, addressing plant illiteracy as a global issue

Within the project, 4 project results were developed: 1) Plant Literacy Teacher's Handbook (book containing biological principles of the role plants play in environment combined with an overview of modern teaching methodology to increase the attractiveness of learning botany and to improve students‘ plant awareness) 2) Developing Plant Literacy - Teaching activities for pre-service teachers' preparation 3) Modern teaching on plants - Teaching activities for secondary school (teaching materials for teachers' practice at lower and upper secondary schools) 4) Modern teaching on plants - Teaching activities for primary school (teaching material for teachers' practice at primary schools) Each set of teaching activities is accompanied by learning video. The project results are available online as pdf.files on project web https://planteducation.eu/ in five language versions, EN, D, CZ, FI, NL. (also each video is in 5 language versions) Other outcomes are: - Raised motivation of teachers to innovate in teaching botany. - Increased self-confidence of pre/in-service teachers to use modern measuring devices in their teaching practice at schools - Improvement of digital skills for botany teaching - Improvement of online teaching skills - Improvement of plant literacy of general public in European countries via innovative botany education at schools and availability of the project results free on web