Botany Teaching: An Overview of Academic Research in Brazil from 2002 to 2017

Resumo

The enchantment by Botany teaching represents not an ordinary feeling among students, and even Biology teachers, at every educational level. Researches throughout the Botany teaching area point to a fragmented, decontextualized, quite theoretical and unattractive process. Therefore, in recent years, Botany has changed from a beloved science into a neglected science because of the botanical blindness that has been established in the general population. Thus, the present work aims to present a panorama of the academic researches about Botany teaching in Brazil. It was carried out of theses, dissertations, and articles published from 2002 to 2017. This period was intentionally selected as it fits the establishment of the Guidelines Curriculum for Biological Sciences courses. In parallel, the pursuit of researches on Botany teaching in other countries was also carried out, to verify the international scenario. The investigations were developed in CAPES, IBICT, and SCIELO portals, based on previously defined descriptors. The results, published in Brazil and in other countries, point out the lack of information and a valorization crisis of the scientific knowledge in the process of Botany teaching, both in basic and higher education. This finding gains strength especially when we check the publications of the Biological Sciences - Licentiate courses. These should present deep concerns with the process of teaching to teach, as the teaching roots are similar to the way we receive and comprehend it, which seems the reason Botany teaching ends up being relegated when compared to other areas of knowledge.