Multicultural School Gardens: Entrance Slip

This paper is of great interest to me as an enthusiastic horticulturalist. In just the context of student driven garden experience, this article describes the many learning opportunities for knowledge and skills, as well as providing a space for cultural exchange. Even outside of the context of a student garden, I have personally experienced these benefits with my own exposure to community gardens and within the gardening community as a whole. As a teacher, a central goal with gardens for students would be having the students' view point shift from the environment and food being objects or places, to having them realize and explore the connection they have with the environment and their food. The question posed within the article of exploring what children are looking for in a "natural connection" and whether or not they even seek such a connection is fascinating, especially considering the availability of predominantly indoor activities children seem to gravitate towards such as anything requiring a screen. I feel building this connection and view of being a part of the cycle would in turn create and nurture the concept of sustainability and their part in the environment as well as their nutrition knowledge. The end result of the physical skills they would develop is food, a tangible product of their hard work and patience over a season of lessons in and around the garden. Aside from all of this, the concept of adding another dimension of learning is brilliant - the garden seems to be a fantastic place for ELL students to really develop their language skills and have opportunities for cultural exchange within their community (communities). The comment that students regarded the garden as a slower space, in contrast to the traditional classroom where they would feel rushed, is of great benefit to ELL. Removing the stress and pressure of using and learning English seems to me a very good way for ELL students to practice speaking and learn how to listen to English thereby assisting in their English skill development as well as cultural learning. How to properly interact with others within a new culture is seems more readily observable and learned in a less structured space such as a garden. Another brilliant idea that was brought up in this article is the garden buddies program. Involving family members, who could also be ELL and feeling somewhat alienated from their community, and community members is such a wonderful idea to again build that supportive space where ELL development could be fostered with both practice and experience. The idea to springboard off of this experience into ELL development of reading and writing skills seems so streamlined, with activities as drawing and writing descriptions of plants over their growth etc. Lastly, the set up involving a pre-assessment and an end survey seems very valuable and could contribute greatly in a measurable way to the inquiries about garden classrooms and ELL development in and around those gardens.