Identifying key issues for university practitioners of garden-based learning in Spain

Abstract

The presence of learning gardens in Spain is growing, and the current scenario is highly diverse in relation to issues such as participatory models or purposes, among others. In the context of the 1 st National Meeting on organic learning gardens, we convened eight expert practitioners in a focus group. Their discourse was analyzed through content analysis, after which four categories were selected for co-occurrence analyses. The most important questions for university garden-based practitioners in the country are presented, related to actors involved, functions that gardens fulfill, strengths of these educational resources, and requirements for their consolidation.

Gardens as Science Learning Contexts Across Educational Stages: Learning Assessment Based on Students’ Graphic Representations

“…The concept of what “a garden is” evolved and diversified in all educational stages, from a prevalent initial idea of cultivating on the ground (or in flowerpots, in the case of some pre-school children), to a final idea that included cultivation in raised beds and cultivation boxes, as was experienced in the learning gardens. This is significant, since it opens a vast array of creative possibilities regarding the relation with plants and the manners in which they can be placed near us in our daily lives ( Eugenio-Gozalbo et al, 2020 ). Overall, the diversification of the initially included elements of each type was an outstanding trait of final graphic representations across educational levels: the initial ideas that students held not only about modes of cultivation, but also about watering, tools, structures, crops, tree species, or animals were enriched after the educational gardening experience.…”

“…They moreover allow students gaining outdoor experiences, which is valuable since a growing body of empirical evidence exists on the fact that outdoor classrooms increase wellbeing and boost subsequent classroom engagement ( Kuo et al, 2018 ; Largo-Wight et al, 2018 ), and on the impacts of greening schoolyards on children’s health and wellbeing ( Kelz et al, 2013 ; Van Dijk-Wesselius et al, 2018 ). Finally, they are versatile tools that can be used throughout all educational stages: pre-school education ( Murakami et al, 2018 ; McMillen et al, 2019 ), primary education ( Nury et al, 2017 ; Dyg and Wistoft, 2018 ), secondary education ( Ruiz-Gallardo et al, 2013 ; Eugenio et al, 2017 ), and higher education ( LaCharite, 2016 ; Eugenio-Gozalbo et al, 2020 ).…”

Organic Learning Gardens in Higher Education: Do They Improve Kindergarten Pre-service Teachers’ Connectedness to and Conception of Nature?

“…In Spain, the number of learning gardens is growing at primary and middle schools, and they are also being used as a context for natural sciences teaching in Higher Education, particularly for initial teacher training. Thus, University Organic Learning Gardens (UOLGs) allow students to experience sustainable land practices and encourage them to become aware of the need for nature conservation from cognitive, procedural, and affective dimensions (Eugenio and Aragón, 2016;Eugenio et al, 2018;Eugenio-Gozalbo et al, 2020). Pre-service teachers might become a key to spread knowledge and transfer pro-environmental values and skills to forthcoming generations, since whenever teachers perceive that implementing outdoor experiences result in school improvement (Sahrakhiz, 2017) and that support is given to them to further integrate the green schoolyard as a learning environment (Dijk-Wesselius et al, 2020).…”

Environmental Education to Change the Consumption Model and Curb Climate Change

“…Literal expressions, such as text fragments, were present at both the time of selection and throughout the processes of categorization, analysis, and elaboration of conclusions [22].…”