Recently Daniel and Fay had the privilege of attending and presenting at the Early Childhood Education State Conference in Perth. Surrounded by like-minded presenters and attendees, they had the opportunity to sit in on some presentations about the importance of play and connection to nature. One of these presentations was facilitated by Kimberly Beasley, an early childhood educator. She has a passion that has seen her design over 200 nature play spaces. Kimberley is currently completing her PhD at Murdoch University on Botanical Literacy.
Botanical Literacy is the knowledge of plants through their names (latin, common and indigenous), characteristics and connection to the environment.
As part of her research, Kimberley spent two hours per fortnight, across a school year, in two Perth primary schools both in their onsite bush space and local bush/beach space. The aim of the study was to measure student and teachers’ Botanical Literacy in early childhood education settings before and after the implementation of the program.
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Expanding on previous research, Kimberley is exploring the barriers teachers encounter in taking their students into nature to learn (such as outdoor classrooms) and in extending learning and understanding about nature. The findings indicate the biggest roadblock is educators do not feel they have the botanical literacy to teach their students. For several generations, Botany has not been taught as part of the primary school or general high school curriculum. It has been overtaken with other science fields and relegated to textbook content. This has created a “pedagogical gap” (Beasley, 2022) within the teaching profession. Teachers have not been equipped with foundational knowledge during their schooling.
The Early Years Framework outlines a focus that, “Children are connected with and contribute to their world,” (EYLF) and the Sustainability cross-curriculum concept shows children should learn about the “interdependent and dynamic nature of systems that support all life on Earth and our collective wellbeing,” (ACARA, 2019). It would therefore be remiss to exclude Botanical Literacy from our classrooms and Early Learning centres.
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Using inquiry-based learning and the Mosaic approach to record findings, Kimberly and the classes used curiosity to determine learning pathways. They also used observation and exploration to gain knowledge, which often led to many questions. At the end of the year, Kimberly had collected overwhelming data to support the positive effect that Botanical Literacy study has on students, teachers, and school administration.
We are so excited to hear of Kimberly’s research findings as it adds to the strengthening foundation upon which nature-connected learning is growing. It refocuses our resolve and passion in our work to connect Western Australian children with the plants growing on the land they share.
To find out more, read Kimberly’s published research which is listed below:
A framework for supporting the development of Botanical Literacies in Early Childhood Curriculum
