Fostering a Lifelong Love of Plants; Educator Stories from a Botanical Garden

Abstract

With a growing interest in community-based STEAM education, 10 environmental educators with the Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association share their experiences connecting people to plants at VanDusen Botanical Garden and Bloedel Conservatory, located on the unceded ancestral shared lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Each educator contributes various perspectives based on their unique backgrounds and lived experiences, which culminate in a shared story of passion for the natural world and its belonging in STEAM education. This narrative demonstrates that STEAM education flourishes when informal and formal educators work collaboratively and embrace new educational opportunities, engage senses through experiential place-based education, explore Two-Eyed Seeing and reciprocity, include diverse perspectives and recognize how lived experiences shape worldview, share passion and curiosity with learners, and foster appreciation of the natural world.