Improved Grades for Gardeners in School
In USA, school gardening is gaining popularity.
But why?
Turns out, school-gardening can have some desirable outcomes.
Back in the day, school gardens were normative and aimed to teach children through experience and to connect them to nature (Bundsch-Mooney 2003). Nowadays, majority of the population lives in urban areas, whereby school and family gardens are no longer normative. This is important to note, because the environment in which kids are raised becomes the landscape where imagination and connection to the world is developed (Mergen, 2003).
The important thing about gardening is that it shows children how to grow local food in a sustainable way (Blair, 2009). If we want to try to solve the issue of food sustainability, then we must make teaching this skill a higher priority. Interestingly enough, in 75% of the quantitative studies reviewed, Blair, 2009 found that
Garden-based learning correlated with an increase in science achievement and behavioral improvement in children.
Unfortunately, these gardening studies were only done with students in grades 3-6; therefore, Whether or not gardening is beneficial to younger or older individuals is unknown.
With all this being said, it is important to not that the author mentions that some of the studies examined showed bias towards the positive effects of gardening on children. Making changes to experimental design would mitigate this.
Now, given that we don't have the luxurious growing seasons as those down south, we are faced with the issue of whether or not garden-based learning is applicable to Canadian schools. With students finishing school in June then not returning till July, the key harvesting months would not have students around. This, in my opinion, is a major issue and unless students are willing to come during the summer months, garden based learning might not be as easy as one may initially think. Of course, there could be the option that students do the planting in late May then some harvesting in early September, whereas they are taught preservative measures; however, each school would have to hire someone (or arrange volunteers) for the summer months to upkeep the garden while students are away. The final option would be to do a gardening program within the classroom, or to build greenhouses both of which have pros and cons themselves.
Even though garden based learning doesn't seem to be an easy option for schools, it is important to take from this article that f parents took it into their own hands to teach their kids about gardening techniques, and allow them to explore and get dirty in the garden, they may find that their child will actually benefit in school. Taking the time to explain to your kids about the science of the garden, may aid in their learning in the classroom and build upon their future success as students.
Full article was retrieved from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.3200/JOEE.40.2.15-38
References
Blair, D. (2009). The Child in the Garden: An Evaluative Review of the Benefits of School Gardening. The Journal of Environmental Education, 40(2), 15-38. doi:10.3200/joee.40.2.15-38
Bundschu-Mooney, E. (2003). School garden investigation: Environmental awareness and education. San Rafael, CA: Division of Education, School of Business, Education and Leadership, Dominican University of California. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED480981). Retrieved June 6, 2016, fromhttp://edres.org/eric/ED480981.htm
Mergen, B. (2003). Review essay: Children and nature in history. Environmental History, 8, 643–669.
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