Investigating the effectiveness of subject-integrated school garden teaching

TY - JOUR

T1 - Investigating the effectiveness of subject-integrated school garden teaching

AU - Christensen, Jacob Højgaard

AU - Wistoft, Karen

PY - 2019/11

Y1 - 2019/11

N2 - This article maps out existing research regarding the effectiveness of subject-integrated school garden teaching. The school subjects of interest are mathematics, languages and science, and subject integration is defined as a link between these subjects and school garden teaching. The article is based on an integrative review and is derived from existing research, which claims that teaching in school gardens has a predominantly positive influence on students’ academic learning outcome. However, experimental studies indicate that some programmes are less effective than more traditional teaching in the subjects concerned. The review extracts and discusses factors that are consistently regarded as vital to ensure the effectiveness of school garden teaching in terms of the integration of mathematics, languages and science. It is concluded that developing a school garden curriculum is essential with a view to planning, carrying out and evaluating subject-integrated school garden teaching. The teaching should include experiential learning and hands-on activities as teaching methods, making the subject content less abstract, stimulating the students’ senses, and increasing the feeling of meaningfulness. Furthermore, collaboration across subjects and links between indoor and outdoor teaching are central factors in ensuring the effectiveness of subject-integrated school garden teaching.

AB - This article maps out existing research regarding the effectiveness of subject-integrated school garden teaching. The school subjects of interest are mathematics, languages and science, and subject integration is defined as a link between these subjects and school garden teaching. The article is based on an integrative review and is derived from existing research, which claims that teaching in school gardens has a predominantly positive influence on students’ academic learning outcome. However, experimental studies indicate that some programmes are less effective than more traditional teaching in the subjects concerned. The review extracts and discusses factors that are consistently regarded as vital to ensure the effectiveness of school garden teaching in terms of the integration of mathematics, languages and science. It is concluded that developing a school garden curriculum is essential with a view to planning, carrying out and evaluating subject-integrated school garden teaching. The teaching should include experiential learning and hands-on activities as teaching methods, making the subject content less abstract, stimulating the students’ senses, and increasing the feeling of meaningfulness. Furthermore, collaboration across subjects and links between indoor and outdoor teaching are central factors in ensuring the effectiveness of subject-integrated school garden teaching.

KW - Læring

KW - Grundskole

KW - Læring og læringsmiljøer

KW - Naturen

KW - School garden teaching

KW - Learning environment

KW - Curriculum

KW - Students’ learning

KW - Effectiveness

KW - Subject integration

KW - Learning

KW - School garden

KW - Teaching

KW - Undervisning

KW - Læring og læringsmiljøer

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074474308&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s42322-019-00043-5

DO - 10.1007/s42322-019-00043-5

M3 - Journal article

VL - 22

SP - 237

EP - 251

JO - Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education

JF - Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education

IS - 3

ER -