What Counts in a School Garden? A Critical Account of the Impact of School Gardens on Students' Environmental Literacy

• In Event: 29.090 - Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: 29.090-20 - Enacting Participatory Environmental Education

Abstract

In our study, we compare the experience of children from schools that follow different approaches in the care and educational use of their gardens. 126 students (8-11 years old) from 7 elementary schools participated in the research and were interviewed individually. Analysis revealed that the creation and maintaining of a school garden is an amazing experience for students. However, the richer outcomes in terms of motivation, interest and understanding the significance of their own garden were observed in the 2 schools implementing an action research approach, indicating that the activities developed around the school garden and the type of students’ involvement in them is decisive for the contribution of a school garden on the cognitive and emotional development of children.

Authors

• Stella Petrou, University of Cyprus

• Konstantinos Korfiatis, University of Cyprus