BIODIVERSITY IN MOROCCANS TEXTBOOKS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ACTION-ORIENTED ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Year 2016, Volume: 4 , 144 - 148, 01.09.2016

Mustapha Arfaouı Boujemaa Agorram Sabah Selmaouı Salah-eddine Khzamı Abdelaaziz Razoukı Lhoussaine Maskour

Abstract

The world
environmental situation is likely to be further aggravated by the increasingly
rapid extinction of species. This is likely to destabilize various ecosystems.
This phenomenon has stimulated citizenship’s awareness to the extent that it is
acknowledged that its study involves great educational value and should be
present at school. Biodiversity teaching quality depends on how it is dealt
with in the classroom. Given that textbooks constitute a widely used material,
its content should increase the pupils' knowledge about Biodiversity and the
consequencies of its loss. The present research explores the contents of school
textbooks of Morocco in relation to Biodiversity topic. The research method is
content analysis. The findings revealed that the majority of textbooks have
integrated a number of issues that could enhance understanding about the
significance of biodiversity but only one textbook dealt with consequences of
its loss. The textbook analysis revealed a multiplicity of biodiversity
definitions, with a strong predominance of the number of species, suggesting
that many textbooks were outdated. Majority of analysed textbooks cannot expect
concrete action planned and executed against loss of biodiversity. The paper
calls for redressing some of the observed limitations through revision of
existing content.

Keywords

Biodiversity, content analysis, textbooks, environmental education

References

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