Abstract
This paper explores (1) student teachers’ mental maps of the global distribution and loss of biodiversity and (2) their perception of threatened biodiversity at the national, transnational and global levels. Data was collected from a questionnaire study of student biology teachers from Germany (n = 868) and Costa Rica (n = 284). Student teachers’ mental maps matched quite well with the scientific view. Nevertheless, they clearly showed a “brazilisation bias,” meaning that the first and foremost country associated with high and threatened biodiversity was Brazil. Industrialized countries were often misconceived to have a particularly threatened biodiversity. Except for Brazil (and Costa Rica in the Costa Rican sample), most students neglected a connection between a country’s high biodiversity and its high threat as proposed by the biodiversity hotspots concept. Despite this common ground, major ethnocentric distortions merged in the composite mental maps for each sample: German students had a more global perspective on biodiversity and its loss, whereas Costa Ricans students had a more localized view. Student teachers from both countries have largely overestimated the percentage of threatened plant species on a national, transnational and global level (“overestimation bias”). In addition, the estimated percentage of threatened plant species have correspondingly increased with a greater distance from the students’ home country (“spatial optimism bias”). Results will be discussed in terms of educational implications.
Highlights
The loss of biodiversity progresses on a global scale and is considered one of the most serious environmental problems of our time (Dirzo and Raven, 2003; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment [MEA], 2005)
Worldviews on Countries With High Plant Diversity Common characteristics of student teachers’ mental maps from both countries were: (1) the majority of student teachers in both countries mentioned Brazil as a country with high plant diversity (Germany: 56.7% and Costa Rica: 68.3%), (2) most other countries were only mentioned by a small number of participants, and (3) students’ views matched quite good with scientific data, except for some countries as mentioned in the German sample (e.g., Germany, New Zealand, and United States)
Common characteristics for our participants’ views on countries with threatened plant diversity were: (1) the majority of student teachers from both countries mentioned Brazil as a country with threatened plant diversity (Germany: 28.1% and Costa Rica: 22.9%), (2) industrialized or newly developed countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan, and China were considered as countries with a threatened plant diversity by many students from both subsamples
Summary
The loss of biodiversity progresses on a global scale and is considered one of the most serious environmental problems of our time (Dirzo and Raven, 2003; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment [MEA], 2005). ESD should be interdisciplinary and global in its scope (Scott and Gough, 2004; Summers et al, 2005; Scheunpflug and Asbrand, 2006; Menzel and Bögeholz, 2008) This is a difficult task as the scientific evidence about global biodiversity and its loss is rather uncertain and often controversial (Kassas, 2002). To adequately teach this complex issue, teachers need a basic understanding about the world, its principal regions and political and biogeographic characteristics (Holm and Farber, 2002). In line with other authors, we argue that teaching about a complex and controversial issue, such as the distribution and loss of biodiversity, raises important questions for teachers concerning bias, balance and personal worldviews (e.g., Pajares, 1992; Holm and Farber, 2002; Moseley and Utley, 2008)
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