Alexandros Amprazis

Area of Interest: Environmental education – education in biology / plant biology“

Thesis: “Knowledge and attitudes towards plants of primary school students. Development, implementation and evaluation of  an environmental education intervention regarding ‘Plant Blindness'”

Description: Even though plants contribute so much to human life, people seem to ignore them. This phenomenon is called “Plant Blindness” and refers to the human’s inability to see or notice the plants in one’s own environment, the inability to recognize the importance of plants in the environment and human affairs, the inability to appreciate the aesthetic and unique biological features of plants and the tendency to rank plants as inferior to animals. According to the literature, causes of plant blindness are both biological and educational. There are also studies about plant blindness that show how educational interventions can enhance the interest of students about plants and counteract this phenomenon.

Aim of this doctoral study is to investigate Plant Blindness in the Greek educational system. In particular, we want to establish what progress has been made on this subject through an in-depth literature review, to analyze Greek primary curriculum in order to clarify whether they contribute to plant blindness and to record primary school students’ knowledge and attitudes towards plants. Furthermore, we want to examine whether environmental education is an efficient option for addressing plant blindness through developing, implementing and evaluating an environmental education program.