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Space, Place and Environment pp 1–25Cite as

Can School Gardens Deepen Children’s Connection to Nature?

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Part of the book series: Geographies of Children and Young People ((GCYP,volume 3))

Abstract

This chapter is a review of school gardens and their potential for deepening children’s connection to nature. School gardens are currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity in many Western countries following their decline after WWII. Rationales for contemporary school gardens are focused on issues that today’s children face, such as inflexible education systems, obesity, diminishing experiences with nature, and a lack of physical activity. Although lauded by their champions (e.g., researchers, educational and landscape professionals, celebrities), the school garden remains a tenuous construct both as an entity and an educational tool. This is due to lack of consistent empirical evidence about their role in learning, plus their reliance on teacher knowledge and commitment, fundraising potential, and volunteer assistance.

Yet school gardens can provide spaces for many experiences in nature ranging from play, exercise, and socialization to learning in maths, science, and environmental education. The focus of this chapter is examining their potential for environmental learning and fostering positive environmental experiences and attitudes.

It is proposed that many current school gardens may be limited both in their scope and levels of children’s participation, especially in areas such as planning and design. It is recommended that partnerships between schools and their wider communities (e.g., landscape architects) could result in more diverse school garden models that go beyond “vege” gardens in contributing both to environmental learning and promoting biodiversity. Empowering children through inclusion within such partnerships can lead to transformative learning. This type of learning could contribute to building resilient children who see themselves as future guardians of the Earth.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Landscape Architecture, Unitec Institute of Technology, 1 Carrington Rd, 1025, Auckland, New Zealand

    Susan J. Wake

  2. Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, 1010, Auckland, New Zealand

    Sally Birdsall

Authors
  1. Susan J. Wake
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  2. Sally Birdsall
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Correspondence to Susan J. Wake .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Karen Nairn

  2. Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Peter Kraftl

  3. Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Tracey Skelton

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Wake, S.J., Birdsall, S. (2015). Can School Gardens Deepen Children’s Connection to Nature?. In: Nairn, K., Kraftl, P., Skelton, T. (eds) Space, Place and Environment. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 3. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-90-3_1-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-90-3_1-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-4585-90-3

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