This is a report of an analysis of a project that aimed to pilot an environmental education curriculum development process and professional development model in a rural and historically educationally and economically disadvantaged area. The research looked at the topic “plants” as the biological content in the context of developing a school garden, which was an environmental system in this instance. The school garden was considered to be a local environmental issue that each and every teacher could relate to. The intention of this research was to determine which factors facilitated and hindered change in the teaching of botany in primary schools. The format of the research involved a preliminary study (to determine the participant’s initial environmental and plant knowledge) and then the main study, which followed the pre-post test format with interventions in between. This research is an example of a case study and the methods used to conduct the ”fieldwork” were guided workshops, compiling a booklet and developing a school garden. The main study’s starting point was that “active engagement promotes change”. Throughout this project active engagement was carried out to determine whether knowledge, skills and attitudes towards the environment could be changed by (i) the active participation of teachers in the production of a booklet on what and how to plant in a school garden and (ii) the actual development of a school garden. The initial findings of the main study were compared to the final findings to determine whether the active interventions resulted in change, be it positive or negative. One of teacher education’s most challenging tasks is to prepare botany teachers to enable them to deliver active participation instruction. The results of the research showed that the participating teachers had not become more environmentally literate although they did improved their plant knowledge. They had given lessons in the garden and utilized some of the activities from the booklet in their teaching. They had shared these with their colleagues and when materials from the garden were used they did have a positive effect on the classroom interaction. Thus they all saw the value of planting up their school garden and the merits in using actual plant material from these gardens. The Heads of the participating schools expressed the opinion that the project had been a success and many of the participants’ colleagues said that they had also changed their teaching to outcomes-based teaching and that their learner’s attitude was now positive towards plants. Most of the student group said that they had told their parents about the project and their parents said that they approved of them working in the garden thus learning life skills in a hands-on practical way. The overall impression of the school gardens at the end of the programme was one of general improvement and even nine months after the project, the participants remembered the majority of planting skills that they had accomplished during the year and still found it important for students to learn these skills. Thus the research findings support the idea that active engagement promotes change. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Plant Science / unrestricted

This dissertation was undertaken in collaboration with the Nisga’a First Nation of northwestern British Columbia to document their traditional plant knowledge. This information was gathered through collaborative audio recorded open-ended discussion with 21 Nisga’a elders, supplemented with material from the published literature and archival sources. Background information with respect to the Nisga’a culture, language, geography, plant classification and resource management is documented in the past and as exercised today. Nisga’a names or uses of 110 plant species are described. Of these, 72 species were documented as having been used for food, 52 for medicinal purposes; 12 for spiritual purposes and 70 for technological purposes. The role of plants in traditional Nisga’a culture is further explored through comparisons of plant distribution, plant names and pre-contact trade between the Nisga’a and their immediate neighbours, the Gitxsan, Tsimshian, Haida, Tahltan and Tlingit First Nations. Maps are presented which highlight the distribution of seven plant species traditionally important in these cultures: Shepherdia canadensis (soapberry), Vaccinium membranaceum (black huckleberry), Oplopanax horridus (devil’s club), Corylus cornuta (beaked hazelnut), Malus fusca (Pacific crabapple), Veratrum viride (false hellebore), and Taxus brevifolia (western yew). Currently, one of the plants most important to the Nisga’a is wa’ums or devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus). Devil’s club stems were measured in clearcuts of different ages to examine how quickly this important spiritual and medicinal species recovers after logging. Results suggest that although devil’s club does persist after clearcut logging, stems of a suitable size are rarely found in cutblocks less than 10 years old and that time since logging only partially accounts for the persistence or recovery of this species. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of historical Nisga’a plant knowledge. The gender of those who have held and transmitted traditional knowledge and the gender of present knowledge holders is tabulated and discussed. Results suggest that although both men and women hold and pass on traditional knowledge, women were and still are more commonly involved in its transmission to the next generation. Current plant uses are highlighted and prospects for the sustainable use of plants for personal and commercial purposes are discussed. / Graduate