Filter by author: Maria Paula Correia de Souza

Biodiversity and conservation are very popular terms that encompass different kinds of content, and addressing them in educational contexts is challenging. We assume the importance of promoting access to more complex definitions and content on these topics, contributing to the expansion of a reliable repertoire of terms and multifaceted ideas, as well as encouraging engagement with environmental issues. In this article, we discuss how these themes are represented in two immersive exhibitions in Botanical Gardens. To do so, we use Basil Bernstein’s Pedagogic Discourse model, with emphasis on the relationship between discourses from different areas of knowledge and/or forms of knowing (interdisciplinarity). It is considered that a higher degree of interdisciplinarity enhances more multifaceted and complex messages about biodiversity and conservation. The findings reveal that exhibition design plays an important role in expanding interdisciplinarity, and that the context in which the exhibitions are produced and presented also has a significant influence, contributing in different ways to providing access to the complexity of ideas surrounding these themes.