Let’s tell about them about the arduous journey to the garden…

When I first thought about these topics and how they inter-connect I thought of course about nature. We know nature has the power to heal, to soothe, to teach, to nourish, to provide and to connect-as does food and as it happens, does learning. Where do these three ideas connect? In a garden, of course!

We, my students and I, started a garden last year. We decided to plant tomatoes this year (funds were limited). The garden was located in the confines of the kindergarten playground. But now, it is completely trampled. It is a great loss. But, not one noticed by these youngsters. There was not one mention of regret by the adults who supervise them. Had these children defaced a text, they would surely have been admonished. It seems only those who placed the plants in the soil were affected. I thought how can this be? It was a good fit-this assignment and this question.

Clearly, there must be a gap in the curriculum. So, this is where I began my inquiry-the Kindergarten Program Ontario (2016). I expected to find little or no acknowledgement of nature within its pages. I was surprized at what I found. (I am highlighting those excerpts which are relevant to my entreaty.)

The Ontario Kindergarten program (2016) promises to be an enlightened framework. It makes the statements that

The importance of early experiences for a child’s growth and development

is recognized in the design of The Kindergarten Program, which starts with

the understanding that all children’s learning and development occur in

the context of relationships – with other children, parents and other

family members, educators, and the broader environment.

The cognitive abilities, skills, and habits of mind that characterize lifelong learners

have their foundation in the critical early years.

(Ontario, 2016. p 9)

Clearly, the early years are the soil. What pedagogical approaches help nurture the soil. Following from the above principles, education then is a collaborative and co-constructed. The My eyes happily landed upon this-“environment as third teacher,” a basic principle of Reggio Emilia.

The document cites Fraser 2012. p 67, “A classroom that is functioning successfully as a third teacher will be responsive to the children’s interests, provide opportunities for children to make their thinking visible, and then foster further learning and engagement. “

And the next quote seems to make explicit the need for a garden

We need to think about creating classroom environments that give

children the opportunity for wonder, mystery and discovery; an

environment that speaks to young children’s inherent curiosity and

innate yearning for exploration is a classroom where children are

passionate about learning ...

(Heard & McDonough, 2009, p. 2 cited in Ontario, 2016.p29)

What better than a garden to speak to children, to provide reverence and mystery and to foster the spirit of adventure. Perhaps, the most compelling sub-section of the document titled, Learning in the Outdoors in which is the affirmation of Nature Deficit Disorder proposed by Richard Louv (2005) “linking disturbing trends to childhood obesity, attention disorders and depression.” (Ontario, 2016. p 34)

The document also describes four foundational conditions necessary for “children to grow and flourish.” They are engagement, well-being, expression and belonging. The document refers to these conditions as “ways of being.” It is the ultimate responsibility to the child to help him/her realize a healthy way of being. (These are of course not limited to kindergarten children. However, the curriculum documents are not organized in a holistic way for the other grades. There is a separate document created for each subject. Therefore -ways of being is in a disconnect and it becomes the job of the classroom teacher to foster these ways of being (and where else but in a garden.)

The approach to environmental policy in education in Ontario is underwritten by key documents, Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow, a Policy Framework for Environmental Education in Ontario Schools (2009). Consider the following excerpt (p 26)

Knowledge

Environmental education should enable students to learn about:

• the resources of the Earth, particularly soil, water, minerals, and air, their

characteristics, and their role in supporting living organisms;

• the nature of ecosystems and biomes, their health, and their interdependence within the biosphere;

• the dependence of humans on environmental resources for life and sustenance;

• the characteristics of human societies, including nomadic, hunter-gatherer,

agricultural, industrial, and post-industrial, and the impact of each on the

natural environment

and shaping Our Schools, Shaping Our Future, Environmental Education in Ontario Schools (2007. p 4).

Students will understand our fundamental connections to each other and to the world around us through our relationship to food, water, energy, air, and land, and our interaction with all living things.

The depth of understanding and experience that is advocated in these documents requires more than a playground -it requires a garden.

These documents underpin our curriculum. These documents are telling us that as necessary as a textbook, so should be a garden.

Yet, still, nine years hence, the following is still the case.

“Last term, Ryan Smithson mentioned in his Deep Learning Food Challenge that he and colleagues from his school in Manitoba had submitted a grant proposal to Manitoba Grants for Education for Sustainable Development that had a value of $2000. He wrote, “With that grant money we would be able to purchase such items as the soil, gardening tools, and seeds necessary to get this project underway. We also needed to make ties to the MB Curriculum, provide a detailed budget of where the funds would be allocated, and provide information pertaining to the logistics of the program.” Their team learned that 57 schools had submitted grant proposals.

I’ve heard similar stories from educators across the country.”

(Dr Catherine O’Brien, 2017. Collective Inquiry Challenge for EDUC 6108 at CBU)

This scenario and our trampled garden attest to the disconnect between what is on paper and what is happening. There is a gap between policy and practice.

Educators should not be scrambling to raise funds and support and justify what has already been deemed necessary and educate their colleagues as well as the students. If this is the policy where is the garden?

Perhaps the policy makers do not realize the overwhelming labyrinthine effort required to make these gardens happen. Perhaps we should tell our stories to them and realize a garden in every school.

Please add your story to the collective which I will forward to the Ontario Minister of Education.

References

Fraser, S. (2012). Authentic childhood: Experiencing Reggio Emilia in the classroom

(3rd ed.). Toronto: Nelson Education.

Heard, G., & McDonough, J. (2009). A place for wonder: Reading and

writing nonfiction in the primary grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit

disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books.

Ontario Ministry of Education (2009) Acting today, Shaping Tomorrow. Toronto: Author. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/curriculumcouncil/ShapeTomorrow.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education (2016) The Kindergarten Program. Toronto: Author. https://goo.gl/EYNZWR

Ontario Ministry of Education (2007) Shaping our Schools, Shaping Our Tomorrow. Toronto: Author. https://goo.gl/f3yRTQ