Hello folks, Gio here, back for week 2! While this Monday is a holiday (Happy Victoria Day BC friends!) I will create a blog post that culminates the knowledge and skills we acquired over the week and the further pondering that has taken place for me over the long weekend.
When we first began our CFE Susan asked us to consider a fundamental question throughout our time in the gardens we visit, What is a garden? This question seems so simple and the definition from the oxford learning dictionary would support this: Garden: a piece of land next to or around your house where you can grow flowers, fruit, vegetables, etc., usually with a lawn (= an area of grass). However, over the past 5 days we have explored gardens that shatter this notion in each and every way. We have witnessed gardens that aren't pieces of land at all like the hydroponic tank that our grade 11 student tour guides intend to fix up at Windermere. We have witnessed the Nitobe garden which is full of bushes and mosses and only a few flowers; it certainly doesn't have any fruits or veggies.
We witnessed the horticultural greenhouse that has no grass but produces a plethora of veggies (namely, some pretty yummy bell peppers), and the Orchard garden with its food forest, yummy kale, and tomato plants. Over the past week we have explored the endless possibilities that exist under the umbrella of a garden:
Gardens as metaphorical
Gardens as meditative spaces
Gardens as teaching tools
Gardens as productive (veggie gardens, orchards, etc...)
Last week I focused my blog post on the garden as a metaphor, weeding bore resemblance to the removal of the unwanted from the classroom. The metaphor of a garden can be interpreted in so many ways. Gardening, being in a garden, or simply passing by a garden, for many, is an intimately meditative experience. Following our visit to the Nitobe garden, Susan and I reflected on our experience as transportive. In this sense it was transportive geographically, taking us to eastern Asia, an opportunity to explore the physical, cultural, and even social landscape of Japan. As we crossed the quite literal bridge dividing East and West in the garden we also crossed a metaphorical bridge and in doing so we were inundated with new knowledge. For example, we learned about social expectations, and the existing pressures (represented through bridges) to marry at the appropriate age in Japan (elaborated in Caelan and Lexie’s blog). Being in the garden I think we were all so willing to consider the perspective of an unfamiliar culture. I was in such awe that it was only after we left I was able to understand the learning that was taking place. How many competencies in our BC Curriculum ask us to take this approach with our students? How many teachers struggle to teach them? I certainly do, or at least I struggle to make it meaningful, tangible, and immersive.
Explain different perspectives on past or present people, places, issues, or events, and compare the values, worldviews, and beliefs of human cultures and societies in different times and places (BC Socials Curriculum)
Recognize and identify the role of personal, social, and cultural contexts, values, and perspectives (BC English Curriculum)
Express and reflect on a variety of experiences, perspectives, and worldviews through place (BC Science Curriculum)
Explore relationships between identity, place, culture, society, and belonging through movement experiences (BC Arts/Drama 9 Curriculum)
Recognize the importance of story in personal, family, and community identity (BC Languages Curriculum)
These five applications are from the first 5 curricula I opened, I expect that each of the other ones contains a competency that can be explored in a garden such as Nitobe, as well.
So if the garden lends itself so perfectly to teaching in our BC curriculum then why don’t we use it more? This question was largely the focus of our trip to Windermere where a Science teacher introduced us to both the wonderful and the taxing elements of running a school garden in the secondary school setting. For me, the benefits it has on the students were overwhelmingly present. Each of the student leaders was so proud and capable of explaining what they were learning to us. I was in awe thinking about how many of our Science competencies each of these student leaders was demonstrating sophisticated or, “extending” proficiency at, and this was a club, not even a course. Moreover, the students were so engaged, clearly loving the freedom and trust that was so rightfully given to them in this project. They even explained how other groups in the school were utilizing the garden such as the life skills class who was growing quick to pick veggies such as radishes and potatoes as they value seeing the fruits (or veggies) of their labour. Unfortunately, the day was also eye-opening in a negative sense. We explored the many barriers that exist to starting gardens in our schools. In the name of aesthetics, safety, and school politics there exists a multi-page rulebook for teachers wanting to take on a task like this. Fortunately, I think our band of new teachers was more than convinced by a statement from our garden host teacher who reminded us that while fresh-picked fruits and veggies are delish, A school garden isn’t really about harvesting produce it's about students harvesting knowledge, skills, and meaningful experiences.
This was so cool to see and really got me thinking about the many disciplines that exist in the garden. This was a clear example of Arts meeting science, and gardening. I am certain Jo from the Orchard garden would have us write a poem about these fantastic beings, and I am sure Susan would make them musical! Moreover, I think there are applications to language, culture, drama, physical and health education, Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies, and likely every subject in our schools. What a neat run-in! Anyways, that’s it from me for this week. Enjoy the Long Weekend!
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