Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:19 pm
In today’s post we will talk about educational gardens, mainly about what is a school garden, what are its objectives and what should be the benefits of school gardens.
The proper development of children and their livelihoods is essential, including adequate education and nutrition. School gardens are a good way to achieve this and have important benefits for children’s health and cognitive development.
Below we will see more details about the objectives of school garden projects and the benefits of having school gardens.
While in industrialized countries intensive agriculture and current eating habits are increasingly harmful to our health and the environment, many underdeveloped countries do not have the means and training to achieve an agriculture capable of feeding all people sufficiently and safely.
Together we can ensure that school gardens play a significant role in the fight against these problems that threaten today’s society: food insecurity and climate change.
To do this, it is necessary to promote habits that improve health, such as healthier eating, and good nutritional, agricultural and environmental education to make children aware of the need to change things, since future actions and measures to eradicate these problems depend on them. School gardens should be aimed at responding to these problems and needs.
✅ Objectives of school gardens.
According to FAO and other national and international organizations the objectives of a school garden should be the following:
- Improve the quality of education through a more dynamic pedagogy that includes multidisciplinary curricula combining theoretical, practical knowledge and livelihood techniques.
- To strengthen practical skills in agriculture and horticulture through the creation and maintenance of home gardens.
- Provide active learning by linking horticulture to play and recreation, as well as to other subjects such as mathematics, biology, reading and writing.
- Provide practical nutrition education that encourages the production and consumption of healthy foods and a healthy lifestyle.
- Increase access to education by attracting families to schools that address issues that affect their daily lives.
- Increase the nutritional quality of the food children eat and reduce the number of children who are malnourished or inadequately nourished.
- Improve children’s attitudes and knowledge about agriculture and rural life.
- To educate in environmental sensitivity by contributing to the sustainability of the planet through the inclusion of environmental and ecological training (See article on the importance of Organic Agriculture).
- To offer students an instrument of survival or support to the family economy for times of food shortage or economic difficulties.
- Especially in underdeveloped countries, increase school attendance and, in many households, compensate for the absence of parents in terms of transferring knowledge necessary for the vital development of children and youth.
- Promote income-generating opportunities.
- In cities, improve the urban environment and sustainability.
✅ Benefits of a school garden.
Many of them are related to the objectives that are intended to be achieved, but many others are added benefits that arise as a consequence of the development of agricultural activity in schools.
- They are beneficial for learning: “I hear and forget, I see and remember, I do and understand” (Confucius, 551-479 BC).
- They foster knowledge of fruit and vegetable varieties that were unknown to children and/or their families.
- They provide a place to acquire knowledge related to nature, agriculture and nutrition.
- They improve the diet and are a source of healthy, natural and varied food, important for the physical and mental development of children.
- They help to fight against problems related to children’s nutrition: obesity, malnutrition…
- They represent a space for enjoyment and recreation within the school.
- They promote entrepreneurial skills.
- Improve the environment and sustainability of cities.
- Contribute to the regeneration and conservation of the environment and its resources.
- They favor socioeconomic development.
- They are an important social tool since they involve teamwork among children in class groups, as well as their interaction with teachers and families, developing ethical values of coexistence, participation and collaboration.
- It increases the relationship between human beings and nature.
- Reinforce the knowledge of basic subjects such as reading, writing, biology or mathematics.
- Improve children’s intelligence.
These are just some of the benefits of school gardens for the life of children and the rest of the educational community; if you know of others, do not hesitate to leave your contribution in the comments thread of the post.