Wellbeing in school gardens: the case of the Gardens for Bellies food and environmental education program

TY - JOUR

T1 - Wellbeing in school gardens

T2 - the case of the Gardens for Bellies food and environmental education program

AU - Wistoft, Karen

AU - Dyg, Pernille Malberg

N1 - Karen Wistoft is professor with special responsibilities in learning, cooking, tasting and well-being in primary and secondary school. Here main task and current research purpose is to build up a new and highly innovative pedagogical and educational research environment dealing with students’ tasting, food knowledge and skills, well-being, and learning in school. Initially, she has proved it possible to establish this research in both indoor and outdoor education. She has conducted research in school gardens and outdoor teaching since 2009 and has written several articles and research report in relation to the empirical and educational findings. Pernille Malberg Dyg is a postdoc and associate lecturer at the Metropolitan University College, where she conducts research on school gardens, community gardens and outdoor pedagogy and food education. She holds a Ph.D. in food studies focusing on food education and farm-to-school programs. The research behind this article was part of a collaboration between Aarhus University Department of Education and Metropolitan University College. This work was supported by the Nordea Foundation through Haver til Maver (Gardens for Bellies).

PY - 2018/8/3

Y1 - 2018/8/3

N2 - The article explores the role of the outdoor environment in the Gardens for Bellies Danish school garden program in relation to student wellbeing. It is based on exploratory multiple case study research. The study indicates that the school garden program promotes students’ wellbeing through their positive emotions about being outside in the outdoor environment. Garden activities and their relations with peers, garden educators, and teachers seemed to positively affect students’ self-esteem. Over and above the positive social environment, students’ relations with the natural environment seem also to affect their wellbeing as they develop empathy for animals, insects, and plants. Whether this influences their wellbeing, interpersonal relations, and planetary care in the long run after the program is not, however, documented. Not all students thrive in the open, free, and sometimes chaotic space of the garden. However, the majority of students in the program seem to experience a sense of wellbeing.

AB - The article explores the role of the outdoor environment in the Gardens for Bellies Danish school garden program in relation to student wellbeing. It is based on exploratory multiple case study research. The study indicates that the school garden program promotes students’ wellbeing through their positive emotions about being outside in the outdoor environment. Garden activities and their relations with peers, garden educators, and teachers seemed to positively affect students’ self-esteem. Over and above the positive social environment, students’ relations with the natural environment seem also to affect their wellbeing as they develop empathy for animals, insects, and plants. Whether this influences their wellbeing, interpersonal relations, and planetary care in the long run after the program is not, however, documented. Not all students thrive in the open, free, and sometimes chaotic space of the garden. However, the majority of students in the program seem to experience a sense of wellbeing.

KW - School gardens

KW - Undervisning

KW - Grundskole

KW - Læring og læringsmiljøer

KW - Trivsel

KW - School gardens

KW - Students

KW - Social Relations

KW - Well-being

KW - Mental health

KW - Learning

KW - Case study

KW - Environmental education

KW - Wellbeing

KW - school gardens

KW - Children

KW - PEDAGOGIES

KW - KNOWLEDGE

KW - FRUIT

KW - COOKING

KW - HEALTH

KW - CONSUMPTION

U2 - 10.1080/13504622.2018.1434869

DO - 10.1080/13504622.2018.1434869

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1350-4622

VL - 24

SP - 1177

EP - 1191

JO - Environmental Education Research

JF - Environmental Education Research

IS - 8

ER -