Garden-Based Learning in School Education; “ From indoor Childhood to Active Outdoor Students” Erasmus Project

Project Title

Garden-Based Learning in School Education; “ From indoor Childhood to Active Outdoor Students”

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions; Natural sciences

Project Summary

Background of the Project:
A school garden is a powerful environmental education tool. Through gardening, students become responsible caretakers. They have an opportunity to engage in agricultural practices on a small scale, learning about the responsibilities and impacts of land cultivation. They explore the web of interactions among the living and nonliving players that sustain life. By doing so, they develop a greater understanding of the natural world. Having a school garden means students are actively learning more about plants, including vegetables and fruit, and seeing how they develop and what conditions are needed to grow them.
Establishing a connection with nature at an early age is extremely important. Researchers have discovered that childhood experiences with nature are strongly linked to adult attitudes toward plants. They determined that participation in active gardening during childhood was the most important influence in explaining adult environmental attitudes and actions and concluded that even in urban areas where green spaces are limited, gardening programs for children can provide a strong enough connection to instill appreciation and respect for nature in adulthood.
Moreover, the school garden is uniquely suited to help children learn. It is a place where students practice skills like measurement, scientific observation, informative writing, and poetry.

The main objectives of our Garden-Based Learning Project are:
* to provide children with an understanding of agriculture and the environment; provides children with opportunities for social and emotional growth; improves life skills, self-esteem, social skills and behavior;
*to improve in nutrition habits, environmental awareness and health-related knowledge;
*to discover how agriculture education reconnect students to school via a garden;
* to increase in willingness to try and consumption of fruits and vegetables at an older age due to gardening at a young age;
* to offer hands-on, experiential learning opportunities in a wide array of disciplines, including the natural and social sciences, math, language arts;
* to encourage all schools to use gardening as a teaching tool;
*to show how gardening can enrich the curriculum, teach children life skills, and contribute to their emotional and physical health;
* to embrace a healtier, more active lifestyle as an important tool for success at school and beyond;
* to demonstrate gardening’s pivotal role in developing active citizens of the future.

Number and profile of participants:
6 European secondary schools from 6 countries in Germany as a coordinator and Turkey,Romania,Poland, Norway and Portugal all having curricular and/or extra-curricular programmes for garden-based education.
Moreover, in our project will take part all teachers from our schools(especially basic skills PE,Science,language,and English teachers),school cooks,students and their parents.

Description of activities:
In our Project, there are also planned 6 students mobilities, where children can train themselves in healthy lifestyle, protecting environment and basic skills(Europass mobillities for students). School cooks will be trained in healthy cooking. At schools we will organize many national trainings and seminars for teachers, children, parents with local doctors,chemists,psychologists,dietitians,ecologists,gardeners.We will organize diverse activities and workshops for children and their parents about basic skills,healthy lifestyle,assertiveness, aggression,PE and Science.Children and their parents will be able to take part in sports contests and Erasmus+Fairs.

Methodology:
Our project’s activities will contain all necessary phases:
– implementation, monitoring, evaluation and dissemination of the project results;
– to gather interview and observational data regarding any changes (academic, attitudinal, social, etc.) that may occur as students use the school garden;
– to gather data from both teachers and students regarding the garden-based curriculum and its effectiveness in meeting state science standards and objectives.

Expected Results and Long Term Effects :
• Students will learn focus and patience, cooperation, teamwork and social skills;
• Students will gain self-confidence and a sense of “capableness” along with new skills and knowledge in food growing;
• Garden-based teaching will address different learning styles and intelligences; our non-readers will blossom in the garden;
• Students will become more fit and healthy as they spend more time active in the outdoors and start choosing healthy foods over junk food;
• The schoolyard will be diversified and beautified;
• Both teachers and students will get the knowledge how to plant eco vegetables and herbs and how to prepare healthy dishes from them;
• Both teachers and students will get a chance of exchanging new and innovative methods of teaching and a higher sense of entrepreneurship and initiative.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 117060 Eur

Project Coordinator

Ganztagsschule “Werner Seelenbinder” & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Szkola Podstawowa w Siedlcu Duzym
• Engerdal barne- og ungdomsskole
• Scoala Gimnaziala Valisoara
• Agrupamento de Escolas Nuno de Santa Maria
• mehmetçik anadolu lisesi