Dissertation Abstract

 

School gardens have been shown to help improve student health by impacting food preferences and physical activity; to enhance learning in many subject areas; to encourage critical thinking skills by utilizing inquiry-based learning; and to engender a positive association with nature. Children from disadvantaged environments disproportionately may miss out on each of these important experiences. School gardens can serve as venues to enhance social justice by helping marginalized students access these advantageous experiences they otherwise might not have. This study explored how school gardens can expand across varied schools and classes so that more students can enjoy their benefits.

 

Using a mixed methods design, four instruments were developed to investigate the research question: a survey of parents and guardians, student interviews, principal interviews, and a principal survey. An analysis of Likert scale questions found no significant differences between parent responses of two schools surveyed, suggesting the program was implemented equally reliably in both schools. The Parent/Guardian Survey return rate of 65.5% generated 768 individual comments, which were grouped and thematically and analyzed. General findings suggest areas of positive impacts in students’ willingness to try fruits and vegetables, students’ comfort in nature, and parent connection to their child’s school.

 

Barriers included limited instructional time, limited number of grades served, and limited curricula connection to subjects other than science. Opportunities which emerged from the data included overall robust stakeholder commitment including principals choosing to pay for the program from their own budgets, parents and guardians in some schools raising half the cost of the program. Recommendations for scaling include implementing an intentional improvement inquiry, measuring stakeholder involvement and evaluation of school garden impacts on student learning, ecoliteracy, and health.