“Romantic”, “Classic” and “Baroque” Views of Nature: An Analysis of Pictures About the Environment in Greek Primary School Textbooks—Diachronic Considerations

Abstract

Taking the view that pictures are not a transparent but rather a deforming mirror of reality, shaping representations of the world bound up with the interests of the social institutions within which pictures are circulated and read, our aim is to explore what view of nature and of the human-nature relationship is built in Greek natural science school textbooks. The particular textbooks analysed have been recently introduced (in 2006 and 2007) into Greek education. The pictorial analysis suggests that a "baroque" view of nature and of the human-nature relationship predominantly emerges, according to which nature is constantly in motion, and therefore random and unpredictable natural change could be "normal". Natural environments are viewed in materialistic terms, being transformed by humans and serving as a resource. A comparison with our analysis of the older textbooks written in the early 1980s (Korfiatis et al. 2004) seems to indicate important conceptual differences between the two series of textbooks. The "romantic" and "classic" views of nature in the old textbooks could express the vigour, the optimism and the innocence characterising industrial societies (or in the process of industrialisation) about human interventions in the environment. Conversely, the "baroque" view found in the new textbooks probably marks the scepticism of post-industrial societies about natural phenomena.

An Analysis of Plant Blindness in Turkish Textbooks Used at the Basic Education Level

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“…Books with visual content are particularly important for the development of the skills required for early literacy, and provide cognitive flexibility to children in terms of comprehending the information the book contains, summarizing and making guesses (Mantzicopoulos & Patrick, 2010). In addition, visual aids allow information to be organized in different ways (Lemoni, Stamou & Stamou, 2011). Images can also contain messages that are not contained in the written text (Golos, Moses &Wolbers, 2012).…”

Students’ Digital Photography Behaviors during a Multiday Environmental Science Field Trip and Their Recollections of Photographed Science Content

“…While there has been some precedent for considering photographs in science and environmental educational research, the research emphasis has largely been on photographic images that are produced and presented to students through instructional materials (e.g., [25][26][27]). These treatments consider photographs as a tool of instruction, and they are largely concerned with how photographs are used by educators to represent a field of study.…”

The consistency among curriculum, textbooks and placement tests in terms of elementary biology education in Turkey

“…Several research studies have analyzed textbooks in terms of content (Abd-El-Khalick, Wters & Le, 2008;Chiappetta & Fillman, 2007;de Posada, 1999;Delil, 2006;İrez, 2009;Knain, 2001;Leite, 1999;Lemoni, Stamou & Stamou, 2011;Niaz, 1998;Rillero, 2010;Roseman, Stern & Koppal, 2010;Tracana, Carvalho & Ferreira, 2008;vanEijicg & Roth, 2008;Wilkinson, 1999;Yang, 2011). Some studies analyzed the way students and teachers used textbook and their views of the books (Güneş, Çelikler & Gökalp, 2008;Lubben, Campbell, Kasanda, Kapenda, Gaoseb & Kandjeo-Marenga, 2003;Mulayim & Soran, 2002).…”