Abstract
Background: School garden programs have grown in popularity in the United States. Educators’ attitudes, knowledge, and motivation are crucial to implementing comprehensive school garden programs. To expand school garden education, it is necessary to identify effective practices and determine the resources necessary to deliver these programs, as well as describe the benefits and barriers of using school gardens in order to provide the rationale for spending time and money on gardens. Methods: Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to describe principals’ and teachers’ current practices, and to identify perceived benefits and barriers and report needed resources to operate successful school gardens. A survey was sent to 250 CCSD teachers and administrators using an electronic web site link. One hundred and nineteen educators completed the survey, 105 of which met criteria to be used in this study. Results: Many educators with gardens perceive that students benefit from school garden programs. Significant differences between teachers and administrators in regards to the benefits of school gardens as well as operational factors such as when students used the gardens were noted. Conclusion: This suggests a need for improved communication between these two groups to align expectations of school garden programs.
Highlights
They may be impactful in addressing the current obesity crisis in the U.S since school garden programs have the potential for promoting healthier eating, which is a public health priority (Ozer, 2007)
The success of school garden programs depends on the efforts of educators; therefor it is important to investigate their thoughts and perceptions about gardening programs
The results showed that students in the group that participated in school gardening scored significantly higher on the science achievement tests compared to the groups that did not participate in school gardening (Klemmer, Waliczek, & Zajicek, 2005)
Summary
The educators at schools with gardens answered that the benefits of school garden programs were increased nutrition knowledge (76%) and teachers and students have fun in the garden (74%), followed by the gardens were a powerful learning tool (72%) and increase community engagement (64%) (Table 2). There were several significant differences between the groups regarding the benefits of having a school garden program, with the school garden group answering yes to the question significantly more often for: Increase nutrition knowledge, improve test scores, increase parent engagement, are a powerful learning tool, are fun for teachers and students, and are an important part of the curriculum (Table 2).
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