Chile has a new curriculum proposal, and we are filled with hope that children and teenagers across the country will soon become the naturalists we so urgently need.
August 14, 2024
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FFungi Staff
Directora de Programas
FFungi Volunteer
“There are hundreds of fungal species in just a spoonful of soil,” states the latest report on the global conservation status of fungi and plants from the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. The fungi kingdom is so diverse that, according to the most current estimates, there are 2.5 million fungal species on Earth. Yet, we only know about 155,000 of them. At the current rate of discovery and description, it would take between 750 to 1,000 years to fully uncover this realm.
Even though fungi are everywhere and play a key role in keeping ecosystems balanced, they've been largely overlooked — especially in education. When they do get mentioned, it’s usually just for making medicine, helping with fermentation, or causing diseases.
But this could soon change: in a historic moment for Chile, the term ‘funga’ has been included alongside ‘flora and fauna’ in the Proposed Update to the National Curriculum Guidelines for 1st grade through 10th grade. Fungi will finally have the space they deserve in education, to be studied in a comprehensive way — as a kingdom that encompasses an enormous diversity of fundamental roles in terrestrial ecosystems, far beyond the microscopic realm.
We celebrate that the Ministry of Education has listened to, received, and incorporated the recommendations of the Fungi Foundation to advance efforts toward proposing updated content that aligns with the environmental and educational challenges we face as a society.
The use of the term ‘funga’ in the proposed new curriculum — a word co-defined by the Fungi Foundation’s Executive Director Giuliana Furci, along with Latin American mycologists Francisco Kuhar and Elisandro Ricardo Drechsler-Santos — is much more than a simple linguistic update. It represents a major step forward toward an education in which future generations understand the essential roles of the fungi kingdom on the planet. These same generations will soon be responsible for implementing more and better conservation and environmental protection policies.
To face the urgent issues of our time, it is crucial to study and understand nature in its entirety, recognizing the complexity and interconnectedness of the beings that comprise it. That is why one of the Fungi Foundation’s goals, for over a decade now, has been for children to learn about fungi as much as they do about plants and animals.
This mission has led us to donate our field guides to public libraries and schools, to carry out hundreds of workshops, talks, and exhibitions about the fungi in educational institutions, to create a free mycological curriculum, and to train teachers and educators in Chile, the United States, and Brazil. Most recently, it led to the inauguration of Chile’s first permanent fungi exhibition room, in collaboration with the Museo Interactivo Mirador (MIM).
From this new curriculum proposal, we particularly highlight the inclusion of mycological content within the “Life Sciences” Learning Area, in the learning objectives for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 8th grades — ensuring that children between the ages of 6 and 13 acquire knowledge about fungal diversity alongside plants and animals.
To continue advancing and reduce the historical gap in how fungi are taught compared to plants and animals, we recommend including specific learning objectives about the fungi kingdom. These should cover topics such as fungal life cycles, ecological roles, and species classification — similar to the content that already exists for flora and fauna.
What’s the next step? The proposal is currently being refined based on feedback received during public consultations. The final version will be released in November of this year, to be implemented starting March 2025.
We are filled with hope that this proposed curriculum becomes a reality, and that soon, children and adolescents across Chile will become the naturalists we so urgently need.
It’s time to give fungi the recognition and place they deserve!
This op-ed column, written by Daniela Torres, was published in El Desconcierto.
