Creating a strong and cohesive community is certainly a task for any educational institution. And common goals and objectives are something that can turn a formally assembled group into a community. It is through and during joint activity that emotional connections and shared history are created between people.
The idea of a garden
An activity such as creating a garden with vegetables, fruit trees, herbs, or simply flowers has its traditions in the education system. For years, some kindergartens have been a good example of growing their own organic produce. Improved green spaces are mostly created in kindergartens and are seen mostly as a means of providing children with greater access to healthy foods.
School gardens would be a great way to bring together the community, successfully bringing its members together and strengthening relationships between them in a healthy and safe way. Schools and together with the community can find a contemporary fencing solution to protect the garden from any unpleasant damage.
Benefits of the school garden
What better way for any child to learn that it’s okay to make mistakes than in a garden where correcting mistakes easily becomes a lesson in observation?
As it grows, the garden becomes a shared commitment, a space for learning from each other, a place for natural communication between people of different social statuses, and between young and old.
The garden also serves as an open learning space. Students get first-hand information about different types of plants, insects, and soil properties, observe changes in nature related to the change of seasons, and more. But the benefits aren’t just for science teachers. When subject teachers start spending time in the garden, they discover something else.
Cultivating a Community
School gardens help to create a school community because it is a space where family and school team members are seen as equals in terms of their knowledge, experience, and contribution.
It can also help community members realize that cultural and status barriers don’t have to be an obstacle to building meaningful relationships with each other. School gardens can become a place where friendships blossom between families, teachers, and staff.