Positiewe gesindheid by onderwysers en leerders kan ’n lewenslange belangstelling in
plante aanwakker. Tog word Plantkunde wêreldwyd as ’n ongewilde vak gereken. Studies
in die Verenigde State van Amerika en elders het getoon dat leerders die vak as vervelig
beskou. In die literatuur word plantblindheid, soösentrisme en soöchauvinisme wyd hiervoor
geblameer. In hierdie studie is daar deur onderhoude met onderwysers en vraelyste aan
leerders gepoog om te bepaal wat die status van Plantkunde in sekondêre skole in Tshwane,
Gauteng is. Lewenswetenskappe-onderwysers was baie positief oor hulle vak, maar van
die deelnemers het negatiewe houdings teenoor die Plantkunde-inhoud geopenbaar.
Onderwysers was dit eens dat leerders, met enkele uitsonderings na, nie van plantstudies hou
nie en hierdie bevinding is gestaaf deur die vraelyste wat die leerders ingevul het. Verskeie
struikelblokke wat die onderrig van Plantkunde bemoeilik, is geïdentifiseer. Krathwohl,
Bloom en Masia se klassifikasie van die affektiewe domein en die holistiese benadering tot
Lewenswetenskappeonderrig is gebruik om die bevindings in perspektief te plaas.
A positive attitude in teachers
and learners can create a life-long interest in plants. Worldwide, Botany is seen as an
unpopular subject and studies in the United States of America and elsewhere have shown that
learners find the subject boring. Plant blindness, soöcentrism and soöchauvinism are widely
blamed for this situation. In this study, the status of Botany in secondary schools in Tshwane,
Gauteng, was investigated, using interviews with teachers and learner questionnaires. Life
sciences teachers are positive about their subject, but some of the participants revealed
negative attitudes towards the Botany content. The teachers agreed that the learners, with a
few exceptions, did not like plant studies and this finding was confirmed by the questionnaires
that were completed by the learners. A number of challenges, increasing the difficulties of
teaching Botany were identified. Krathwohl, Bloom and Masia’s classification of the affective
domain and the holistic approach to Life Sciences education were employed to provide
perspective to the findings.
