ronment and garden as community. garden, and it would be purposeless, since land cultivation is
The garden as environment, a literal outdoor space, involved always rooted in a process of shared knowledge. A school garden
awareness of local climate conditions and the necessity for is always, simultaneously, environment and community.
drought tolerant plants and native species. An awareness of the As David Orr and others have stated, while it is vital to
garden as environment also promoted concepts of ecological and inform students of the scientific facts about environment, it is
social justice, with, for example, the decision to donate produce even more important to change the ways of living and thinking
from the garden to the local food bank. that have contributed to environmental destruction. Working in
In the garden as community, student teachers learned the the garden teaches teachers to approach the land in the same way
importance of respecting and interacting with their location; the they might approach their students, taking a holistic, process-ori-
learning garden was (and continues to be) strongly influenced by ented approach. Such a community depends on individuals suc-
local Okanagan Tradition, which challenged a focus on individu- ceeding within and for the survival of the community; in working
al achievement common to most academic programming. In this the land, students see how their efforts helped the land produce
way, the garden, both as physical at a level that is sustainable, in
space and as a conceptual model, context, with minimal impact
also challenged the roots of teacher
By learning in the garden, and in
on surroundings. In a garden,
training. students are not silenced into

considering the role of the garden
discipline or disciplined into
What is the role of a teacher
in the local and global agricultural
silence; the reasons for both
educator in guiding student teach-
talk and silence are apparent.
ers toward community based, eco-
community, students began
Community becomes both the
centred learning?
process and goal of learning.
Planning the garden, then challenging their own teacher Beginning with visions
planning and replanting the garden
during the second teacher educa-
training.
and ideals about the land and
learning, the student teachers
tion cohort, brought forward the and I grew alongside the gar-
importance of process. Nurturing den: unpredictably, in the con-
plants from seedlings, observing their growth, at the same time text of organic life. A garden reveals how the process of learning,
students and teachers learn from the garden, is a powerful way rooted in the context of one’s surroundings, becomes the lesson
to help future teachers learn how to learn. During the first year, itself. To learn in a garden with students is to be in a constant
threats to the garden community (physical, ethical, external, state of environmental and community activism. As veteran
internal) all somehow related to concepts of individual owner- social activist Grace Lee Boggs states, a community garden is a
ship. In a western model of education, it seems that just as people sign of “hope trumping social despair” at the grass roots level
care about land, they also want to control it. The experience of where we “regain our humanity in practical ways.”
the garden as a co-operative, shared model of learning made
us aware of land models based on ownership and profit. Build-

ing the garden made visible the larger learning community, and
Veronica Gaylie, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the
prompted new understandings of the role of teacher education
University of British Columbia Okanagan, has worked as a high school
within that model. Is the role of a teacher educator simply to
English teacher and is now a teacher educator in interdisciplinary,
teach students how to exert control over all other natural species,
ecology-based learning. She is the founder of the learning garden at
including their students?
UBC Okanagan.
When learning supports peace, community, and environ-
mental awareness, new values emerge that help learners make
Note: A longer and more complete version of this article can be
ecologically just decisions that challenge ingrained learning
viewed on the CLEARING website at www.clearingmagazine.org.
patterns. In this way, a garden challenges teacher education at its
very roots.
“Hope Trumping Despair”
The story of the learning garden is about the impact of local,
small scale actions on larger systems. One school garden, with
thanksgiving family getaway
sometimes just a single teacher’s involvement, can produce far november 25-28
reaching effects.
Celebrate Thanksgiving with North Cascades
Institute on a three-day Family Getaway. Hike in
Garden-based teacher education puts the ideals of environ- towering forests and along rambling streams,
mental education into practice. Conceptualizing new forms of
canoe Diablo Lake and enjoy stories and songs
around the campfire. Mothers and daughters,
eco-centred teacher education also helps remove the myth of fathers and sons, grandparents and grandchildren,
control and knowledge “ownership” for new teachers. It would
families of all shapes and sizes welcome!
www.ncascades.org/family 360 856 5700 x209
be impossible for one person to build and maintain a school
north cascades institute
Clearing - 2009 Compendium Edition http://www.clearingmagazine.org Page 27
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