Garden-based education can increase environmental literacy for elementary school children This U.S. study mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to determine if a hands-on, garden-based education program improved the environmental literacy of elementary school children from predominantly low income, Latinx households. Sponsored by a community-based organization, the Growing Sustainably program provides low income, under-resourced elementary schools in San Jose, California with raised bed gardens and support for hands-on science education that aims to increase kids’ knowledge of food systems and healthy eating. Most school garden programs serve children from more privileged backgrounds, so the authors wanted to measure the effectiveness of the garden program that primarily served a less privileged student population. The study focused on environmental literacy, which UNESCO defines as “a basic functional education for all people, which provides them with the elementary knowledge, skills, and motives to cope with environmental needs and contribute to sustainable development.”
The research settings were four 4<sup>th</sup> grade classrooms from two elementary schools in a low-income area of San Jose, California. The study assigned two classrooms to the gardening intervention and two classrooms to a control group that did not participate in the 7-week garden program. The researchers measured changes in students’ environmental literacy both quantitatively and qualitatively. For the quantitative component, children in both groups completed surveys before and after the Growing Sustainably program. Modelled after the Children’s Environmental Attitude and Knowledge Scale, the survey comprised 15 questions to assess children’s environmental awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and actions. For the qualitative component, participants in the garden program completed guided reflection journals after each workshop. Plus, program facilitators completed behavioral observational sheets for each session to document children’s behaviors and interactions during the garden activities.
These mixed methods yielded mixed findings. Analysis of the pre- and post-intervention surveys revealed that the environmental literacy of children who participated in the garden program increased significantly compared to those who did not participate. At the same time, the only category of environmental literacy with a statistically significant increase was awareness that humans impact the ecosystem—increases in knowledge, attitudes, skills, and actions were not statistically significant according to survey results. However, the qualitative measures suggested more environmental learning than the quantitative measures. Analysis of children’s journals determined strong increases in environmental awareness and attitudes, moderate increases in action and knowledge, and weak increases in skills. Analysis of observational data determined strong increases in children’s environmental awareness, attitude, and action and no increase in environmental knowledge and skills. In addition, qualitative evidence suggested that the garden program reduced children’s fear of nature and increased their excitement and appreciation of nature.
Overall, these findings support the view that hands-on, garden-based learning can increase environmental literacy in elementary school children. In this case, children from low-income Latinx backgrounds benefitted from garden-based education, mirroring findings from studies that have predominantly assessed children from more resourced schools and communities. Thus, the authors recommend raised-bed gardens as effective, low-cost options to increase children’s access to nature-based learning in low-income urban communities. Children who participated in the program demonstrated the strongest gains in environmental awareness followed by environmental attitudes and actions. In addition, the study suggests that studies which only use quantitative measures may underestimate meaningful learning gains, especially when dealing with elementary age children. Thus, the authors advocate for more mixed methods designs to provide more nuanced and holistic understandings of students’ experiences and learning.
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