Communications Austral University of Chile.-With a shape similar to that of a human body, the Juan Pardo Medicinal Garden -a space inaugurated on the Campus of The Museums of the Austral University of Chile in 2019 by the Museum Department (DM) in collaboration with the School of Chemistry and Pharmacy- seeks to contribute to the scientific knowledge of native plants, as well as to the conservation, rescue and enhancement of the traditional uses of medicinal plants.
It is in this context that the Department of Heritage Education of the DM, led by its coordinator, Carolina Maturana, presented and awarded a project to the Initial Teacher Training Fund of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, focused on carrying out intercultural educational activation. in said space. In this way, an attempt is made to resume the work started around the Juan Pardo Medicinal Garden prior to the pandemic, based on the preparation of printed pedagogical material aimed at school communities at the pre-school level in the Los Ríos Region.
As Maturana explained, the material will be oriented to transition students, that is, boys and girls between 3 and 4 years of age, who will have an approach to the natural and cultural heritage of the medicinal garden from an intercultural approach. This aspect will facilitate understanding this space in a different way and betting that the new generations can approach the experience of interculturality from its early years.
“At this moment we are together with the history teacher and intercultural educator Angélica Aucapan Millaquipai in the design stage of the activation material, which contains a story where personal characters with territorial relevance appear who tell us a story and highlight the natural value and culture of the garden”.
The design of this educational proposal, in execution since mid-2022, has contemplated various stages, including the selection and scientific, cultural and heritage documentation of the native species available in the garden; a design of the pedagogical matrix that supports the didactic material; the elaboration of a didactic sequence of constructivist character that considers the three moments of educational approach to the visit to the garden: before, during and after the visit; and, finally, the stage in which both Maturana and Aucapan are currently working and which has to do with the design and printing of the four pages of educational material that will consider scientific, cultural and patrimonial contents of three species per pedagogical moment, as well as games oriented to the exploration, identification and patrimonial reflection of the herbal repertoires.
The activation is expected to begin in May, a date recognized as Heritage Month and which -according to the executors of the proposal- is the most suitable time to implement an activity that combines heritage, education, nature and interculturality. However, the path has not been easy and during the gathering of information and design of the pedagogical matrix they have had to overcome various challenges. For Angélica Aucapan, one of the challenges is to be able to reach an educational community that is willing to receive this type of knowledge of different knowledge and that can implement it in the classroom before the face-to-face experience. “Although it is a job that is designed for boys and girls, the role of educators will be an important aspect, especially in terms of support and awareness of families.”
For her part, Carolina Maturana referred to the importance of emphasizing those audiences that have not been fully addressed by museums. “I think the challenge for us is to take charge of a public with which we have not previously generated rapprochement strategies, as is the case of the nursery community. We hope that this activity can contribute to the museographic organization of museums in terms of adapting the showcases and narratives, as well as the exercises that are relevant to this early childhood audience, thus favoring discoveries”.
rmation at www.museosaustral.cl
