EXPLORING THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL GARDEN THROUGH PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH APPROACH

Abstract

Schools around the world have used gardens as an alternative teaching approach connecting classroom-based teaching and learning to outdoor work. There has been a considerable rise in interest to establish school gardens in Nepal. Evidence of the importance of the school garden is found in policy-level interventions as well as the introduction of several programs to promote school gardening. Though the policy and other research programs appreciate the idea of the school garden, there has been very limited research on the perception and appreciation of school gardens among teachers and students. This study addresses that gap. The meaning-making is evidenced from a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project in a community school of mid-hills of Nepal. The study explores the perception and engagement of teachers and students in connecting teaching and learning with school gardens. For this purpose, the study addresses the question, “How do the teachers and students describe the importance of school gardens in teaching and learning activities?” To get an in-depth understanding, the PAR methodology was followed by fourteen members of the PAR committee who were involved in planning the school garden. Focus Group Discussion, semi-structured interview, plan, observation and reflection meetings were major data collection tools of the study. It was to ensure sustainability and ownership of the stakeholders. The study revealed that students and teachers are motivated to set up school gardens primarily for two reasons (1) beautifying the school, and (2) utilizing school gardens to connect teaching and learning. In an implementation, subjects with vocational nature such as Occupation, Business, and Technology (OBT) utilized school gardens as a laboratory. However, connecting other mainstream subjects with gardening activities was quite time-consuming and was possible only with personal initiation from a specific teacher. School gardens provided an opportunity to deeply understand and analyze perceptions of teachers and students on various themes such as school garden in pedagogy that emerged from setting up the school garden to taking steps to ensure its sustainability. Furthermore, school gardens created a conducive environment for community engagement with parents, community members, and local administrative bodies. The study showed that while teachers and students enthusiastically appreciated the concept of integrating the school garden for teaching and learning purposes, to some extent, the lack of guidelines to integrate the courses with the school garden hindered the connection. Also, resource constraints, particularly the lack of sufficient land-area and water resources for school gardens were some of the obstacles to setting up a school garden. The findings of this study are useful for policymakers and school gardening practitioners to decide what works and doesn’t work for school gardening in public schools of Nepal.