‘Beauty in the foreground, science behind the scenes’: families’ views of science learning in a botanic garden

Abstract

Botanic gardens, as well as being widely acknowledged as beautiful places, are often scientific organisations that aim to engage visitors, including families, in science learning. Yet, the extent to which families view them as settings for science learning is largely unexplored. Drawing upon social constructivist perspectives, this paper investigates families’ views of science learning at Kew Gardens. Kew is one of the largest botanic gardens worldwide and an internationally renowned scientific organisation located in London, UK. Twenty-four families took part in the study, which involved interviews and accompanied visits. Findings indicate that all families referred primarily to the aesthetic beauty of Kew, while its function as a site for science learning was less well acknowledged. However, interpretation helped families establish what constitutes science at Kew, and linked science to the beautiful plants, which offered avenues for families to appreciate science learning. The findings provide implications for developing interpretive provision in botanic gardens.

Keywords:

• Botanic gardens
• museums
• families
• science
• learning

Acknowledgements

Data in this paper were generated as part of the author’s PhD research that was funded by the Rosalind Driver Scholarship Fund at King’s College, London; and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This paper has benefitted for comments provided by Justin Dillon, Heather King and Melissa Glackin.