Transformations of children’s environmental conceptions through their participation in a school kitchen-garden project

Abstract

Environmental conceptions justify the way we understand the ‘environment’, as well as the way we connect with it. Therefore, it is important to study the way environmental conceptions are shaped, especially during the various experiences of childhood, which is the time that a person’s identity is shaped. In the present study we focus on 8-9 years old children environmental conceptions and how they were affected by their participation in a school kitchen-garden project. Following a socio-constructivist approach, we asked from 24 children to construct three-dimensional (3 D) representations of the ‘environment’, using miniatures of biotic and abiotic elements (e.g. plants, animals, rocks), humans and human constructions and equipment (e.g. buildings, roads, bins). The analysis showed that aesthetic and “light” utilitarian perspectives were dominant in participants’ conceptualizations, as well as a stewardship connection with nature. It also turned out to be that, for most of the participants, the participation in a school kitchen-garden project enhanced a more realistic and at the same time, more relational representation of the ‘environment’.