Education Today Education Today Magazine
Children associate “Natural History” primarily with fossils, dinosaurs and museums rather than the future of the planet, according to new research submitted to the government consultation on the proposed Natural History GCSE.
The findings have prompted The Lost Gardens of Heligan to ask ministers to rename the qualification “Natural Futures” before its subject content is finalised.
When children aged 11 to 14 were asked what came to mind when they heard “Natural History”, their three most common associations were fossils and dinosaurs, chosen by 48%, museums at 45% and animals and wildlife at 43%.
“Natural Futures” produced a very different response: 55% associated it with the future of the planet, 37% with protecting nature and 30% with climate change.
The research of 1000 children and their parents in England was commissioned by Cornish landmark garden destination Heligan to inform its response to the Department for Education consultation, which closes at 11.59 p.m. on Friday, 4 September.
Heligan supports the creation of the GCSE but argues that its name should reflect its forward-looking purpose and the role young people can play in protecting the natural world.
Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of The Lost Gardens of Heligan, said: “Natural History is a worthy name, but it points towards the rear-view mirror. Natural Futures looks through the windscreen.
“It tells young people this is not simply the study of what has gone before. It is about understanding the living world they will inherit and recognising the part they can play in helping it thrive.”
The intervention comes despite substantial interest in the proposed qualification. 34% of children said they would definitely choose the Natural History GCSE if their school offered it, while a further 41% said they probably would.
Children also expressed a strong preference for learning about nature through direct experience. Six in 10 said they would learn best through a mixture of indoor and outdoor lessons.
Trips to beaches, woods, farms or nature reserves were the most popular practical activity, chosen by 53%, followed by helping to restore a wildlife habitat at 41%.
Yet the research revealed that many children have little direct experience of the natural world. More than half of children in England have never climbed a tree, six in 10 have never collected conkers and seven in 10 have never made a daisy chain.
Nine in 10 have never learnt to recognise birds by sight or sound, 88% have never been birdwatching and 85% have never caught tadpoles or watched frogspawn develop.
More than three-quarters have never identified a wildflower, tree, animal, bird or insect, while 77% have never built a den from branches, leaves or other natural materials.
Sir Tim said: “A generation growing up with so little direct experience of nature is telling us it wants to learn about it. We should listen.
“This GCSE could put science into young people’s hands, mud on their boots and confidence in their ability to repair what has been damaged. It must not turn nature into another subject studied at a distance.
“Nature is not a collection of dusty specimens behind glass. It is the air in our lungs, the food on our plates and the living system that holds our future together. Young people are not spectators standing outside it – they are part of it and deserve an education that makes that real.”
The research found that children’s disconnection from nature extended across outdoor play, wildlife knowledge and practical experience.
Nearly two-thirds had never picked blackberries or other wild fruit, skimmed stones across water or rolled down a grassy hill. More than half had never walked barefoot on grass, sand or mud, jumped in muddy puddles or collected shells on a beach.
More than eight in 10 had never planted a tree, made a bug hotel or put up a bird box. Nearly nine in 10 had never gone pond dipping, followed animal tracks or taken part in a nature or wildlife survey.
Despite this lack of direct experience, children were highly conscious of the pressures facing the natural world. Seven in 10 were worried about extreme weather such as summer heatwaves, although 58% remained hopeful about nature’s future.
Nine in 10 saw people as part of nature and 89% believed people had substantial responsibility to protect it.
The government launched its consultation in June, seeking views on the content of a new Natural History GCSE in England. The proposed qualification will cover plants, animals, habitats and human influences, supported by sustained fieldwork.
Heligan’s consultation response welcomes the proposed emphasis on organisms, habitats, human influences and fieldwork.
It asks the Department for Education to combine rigorous scientific knowledge with local fieldwork, habitat restoration, technology and practical responses to climate change, as well as reconsidering the name before the qualification is finalised.
Heligan’s response builds on years of work reconnecting young people with nature. Sir Tim has publicly championed the creation of the GCSE, while Heligan’s Centre for Nature Futures provides nature-based learning for school groups and young people across its 200-acre estate in Cornwall.
Read a summary of Heligan’s submission here.
