Transformative Teaching and Learning in Biology

What is it about?

Transformative education plays an important role in this process. When teaching is connected to students’ everyday lives and values, as well as to the meanings of the community and includes critical discussion and reflection on personal assumptions and issues, this kind of teaching and learning opens new perspectives that can change the way they think and act. In this study, a systematic review was conducted to investigate the extent to which transformative teaching and learning have been conceptualised and put into practice in biology, specifically in biodiversity education (BE). The study was guided by two research questions: (i) How are the learning processes concerning transformative education supporting BE? (ii) What are the transformative teaching and learning methods used to promote BE? Our main finding was that prior learning is important for promoting transformative learning and disorienting dilemmas. Various teaching methods and strategies have been used, such as action learning, project and problem-based learning, teamwork, field trips and use of technological tools and discourses. This chapter also presents findings concerning learning outcomes, such as improvement of practical skills, positive long-term impact of technology on authentic problem-solving, change of attitude towards and positive assessment of biodiversity, impact of curricula and need for interdisciplinarity. The findings are discussed in connection with biodiver- sity, sustainability and transformative teaching and learning.

Featured Image

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The planetary crisis requires an educational approach that seeks to com- prehensively change people’s knowledge, attitudes and values to support sustain- able behaviour. Transformative education plays an important role in this process.