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"We won't hurt you butterfly!" Second-graders become environmental stewards from experiences in a school garden

School-garden program promotes positive attitudes toward the environment

This study investigated the potential of school gardens for promoting pro-environmental attitudes. The study – along with the school garden program on which the study was based — was framed around the understanding that positive attitudes towards the environment would help students become environmental stewards.

Sixty-six 2nd grade students, along with four teachers and one principal – all from the same school — participated in this study. The participating students were from four different classes, but all experienced the same garden-based science curriculum on insects and all had hands-on experiences in the school garden. The author of this study – who was also one of the teachers – developed the standards-based science curriculum on insects and collected data over the four-week implementation. She used four sources of data: (a) pre/post-tests, (b) pre/post environmental attitude surveys, (c) interviews, and (d) student conversations in the garden.

Results of the environmental attitude surveys showed no statistically significant shifts in attitudes. Results from the other data sources, however, did indicate an improvement in students’ environmental attitudes, in that they suggested a more empathic view of nature. The pre/post-test focused primarily on science content, but did include one question assessing attitudes toward the environment: Is there anything you can do to protect where butterflies live? Do you think this is important? If you do, why? While many students answered, “I don’t know” to this question on the pre-test, post-test answers indicated that many students had ideas for things they could do to protect where butterflies live and stated reasons for why this is important. Of the 16 students interviewed (4 from each class), 6 showed a positive shift in environmental attitudes. The other 10 had a positive attitude before the program and this remained positive at the end. Student conversations in the garden (captured through audio recordings) also showed a positive shift in attitude toward the environment. Many of the comments expressed concern for insects and wanting to protect them.

The results of this study are consistent with other research supporting the idea that studying insects can improve students’ opinions about insects. These results are also consistent with research showing positive shifts in environmental attitudes for students participating in outdoor education programs generally, as well as programs specific to experiences in school gardens. Such results suggest that school gardens have the potential to help students become concerned stewards for the environment.

Citation

Fisher-Maltese, C., (2016). "We won't hurt you butterfly!" Second-graders become environmental stewards from experiences in a school garden. International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education, 4(1), 54-69.

DOI

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