Conflicting perceptions of the status of field biology and identification skills in UK education

Goulder, Raymond; Scott, Graham W.

Abstract

There is an enormous degree of engagement between people and the outdoors in the UK; 58% of the adult population of England, about 24 million people, make at least one visit a week to parks, urban green spaces, the countryside or other outdoor destinations. Having nearby green space is important to 52% of adults and 37% of them claim to watch wildlife while outdoors (Natural England 2015a). Children, usually encouraged by adults, also make many visits to the ‘natural’ environment; 70% of children in England, about 7 million, visit natural environments at least once a week (Natural England 2015b). There is, nevertheless, an ongoing thread of opinion and research that suggests that engagement with and knowledge and understanding of the natural environment and knowledge of plants and animals may be decreasing in affluent consumer societies. Thus, Pergams and Zaradic (2008) described a shift away from visits to the outdoors and nature-based recreation in the US and Japan. There is also evidence of widespread decrease in support for natural history in developed economies, despite its huge importance to society (Tewksbury et al. 2015).

Citation

Goulder, R., & Scott, G. W. (2016). Conflicting perceptions of the status of field biology and identification skills in UK education. Journal of Biological Education, 50(3), 233-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2016.1202489

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 13, 2016
• Publication Date: Jul 2, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 20, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 17, 2018
• Journal: Journal of biological education
• Print ISSN: 0021-9266
• Electronic ISSN: 2157-6009
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 233-238
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2016.1202489
• Keywords: Field biology; Identification skills; Education
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/441430
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00219266.2016.1202489
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of biological education on 13th July 2016, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00219266.2016.1202489