Science in the Countryside: Lifelong Learning for Ecological Citizenship

Abstract

Here is an irresistible case for scientific rigour and dedicated adult education as essential components of an informed and effective democracy. Margaret Pilkington’s description of the first-class, long-running ecological studies of woodlands and meadows carried out by her university continuing education students shows the power of science education rooted in the countryside. Learning through fieldwork leads to a better understanding of how science works, and to the acquisition of skills needed for biodiversity conservation in local habitats. This book is addressed to teachers in adult education, scientists and non-scientists: they will be engaged by the ways in which difficult concepts and complex skills are explained by an extraordinary teacher and mastered by her impressive students. It is also addressed to science educators in universities and colleges: they will be reassured and even excited by its examples of how mature students master and apply the principles of experimental work. And it is addressed to everyone interested in conservation, the environment and biodiversity: they will be interested by the fieldwork, the habitats and the experimental results. They should be inspired by its description of the creation of scores of knowledgeable, articulate and active ecological citizens.