02/06/2016

Beyond the classroom: the school garden

Over the past semester, second-year Primary Education students created a school garden in efforts to expand their knowledge of the subject and explore the educational aspects of a tool employed by an increasing number of schools.

A school garden is simply a traditional garden in a school setting that is used to teach students in situ. Second-year Primary Education students Pau Borrell and Marta Miguel wrote a report about their experience. According to them, "this activity is suitable for children of all ages and helps teach them lots of things in many different areas".

They also stressed that, "working with the earth and plants and seeing how they grow gives students an understanding of the environment in which they live and their relationship with this environment. It provides knowledge of the reality that surrounds them and how to respect and take care of it".

In an extremely cross-disciplinary manner, this activity allows children to cultivate highly important values that range from perseverance, observation, reflection and forecasting to patience, camaraderie, friendship and environmental friendliness. It also promotes collaborative work, as students learn to assign tasks in pursuit of a common goal.