Why Every School Should Have a Garden

A new report commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society in England provides an extensive overview of all the reasons why we should be encouraging school gardens. Independent researchers at the National Foundation for Education Research interviewed dozens of educators and students over the course of the 2009 school year who were involved in their school gardens, garnering both student opinions and teacher and staff impressions on the value of school gardening and its impact on learning.

The report is glowing and thorough in its praise. It found that students who learn in school gardens are more focused, more confident, and more active learners. The gardens fostered independent thinking and self-motivation. Being outdoors and working physically helped the kids to engage fully with the topics they were learning and stay focused. Being in the garden encouraged participation and fostered conversation from all students, particularly those for whom English was a second language. It also created a marked improvement in kids with behavioral problems. Teachers cited not just the increased engagement through physical learning, but also the ability to quietly reflect in the garden as contributing to better behavior.

The students displayed a greater interest, too, in sustainability and leading a healthier lifestyle. The gardens sparked kids' interest in fresh produce and encouraged them to try new vegetables that they never would have touched before. It's hard not to want to at least try the food you've helped to grow yourself, even if it is cabbage and cauliflower. The students also gained a greater sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, and responsibility by bringing produce to their families, contributing to the home economy. This in turn fostered an entrepreneurial spirit in the kids, and they learned important job skills like communication, teamwork, and a healthy respect for possibly dangerous tools and supplies.

The gardens also encouraged community involvement. Parents often came to help with big garden tasks and local gardeners offered tips. Often the community had pooled resources to get the garden going and were thus invested in its outcome.

The report also pinpoints some of the challenges to successfully implementing school gardens. Teachers and staff can sometimes be resistant to the extra work involved in maintaining a school garden as it requires extra hours of what is often unpaid labor. It is important in such cases for teachers to be able to see the real benefits that a school garden brings. All of the schools also said that they had experienced financial hurdles to getting their gardening program underway and had to use multiple sources of revenue such as fundraising activities, donations, and even freecycle programs.

These are but a few of the many, many benefits — some small and some large — that the report says school gardens offer. We should take note of the success of our friends across the pond and learn how we can successfully integrate gardens into school curricula here. We clearly have very little to lose, and our kids have much to gain.

Photo credit: Woodley Wonderworks via Flickr